Windows Phone 7 "NoDo" update released

Microsoft has finally gotten around to releasing the first major update for Windows Phone 7 devices, NoDo. According to a post on winrumors, the update was released a few moments ago for unbranded handsets.

The company is believed to be releasing the update gradually worldwide and it is expected to be available to all Windows Phone 7 users by the end of the week.

According to twitter page for the first user who got the update the update is build number 7390, and adds the much-publicized Copy and Paste feature as well as bug fixes and slight speed improvements to app loading, especially in relation to game load times. The update also adds specific marketplace search improvements, to make it easier for users to find applications they actually want.

Recently, Microsoft has been pushing the platform harder, with new ads, and even showing off future updates which include IE9 with hardware acceleration and multitasking to be added later this year. Paul Thurrott is claiming that "NoDo" was blocked by carriers back in December 2010. The NoDo update was, in reality, blocked by OEM's themselves, who asked for more time to fix issues with hardware compatibility.

As far as we see it, the next update for Windows Phone 7, Mango, is definitely on track for a fall release this year. A full list of improvements from the Microsoft support site can be seen below:

• Copy & paste. You asked for it—now it's here. Just tap a word and drag the arrows to copy and paste it on your phone. You can copy text from emails, text messages, web pages, and Office Mobile documents, and paste it anywhere you can type. To learn more, see Copy & paste.
• Faster apps and games. Nobody likes to wait. That's why we've whittled down the time it takes for apps and games to start up and resume. It's all part of our focus on getting you to the things you love, easier and faster.
• Better Marketplace search. We've streamlined Marketplace search to make it easier to find specific apps, games, or music. Press the Search button in the Apps or Games section of Marketplace and you'll see only apps or games in the results. Press Search in the Music section of Marketplace to search just the music catalog.
• Other Marketplace improvements. We've improved the stability of Marketplace while you download apps. We've also improved the experience of downloading apps larger than 20 megabytes, upgrading from trial apps to paid apps, using a credit card with an address outside the United States, sharing links to apps via email, sorting Xbox LIVE games by release date, and creating an Xbox LIVE account from within the Games Hub.
• Wi-Fi improvements. We now display your phone's Media Access Control (MAC) address in Settings. (You might need this info if you try to connect to a Wi-Fi network that uses MAC address filtering. To learn more, see Connect to a Wi-Fi network.) We've also removed the limit on the number of Wi-Fi profiles that you can store and reduced the time it takes to start your phone if you've stored lots of Wi-Fi profiles.
• Outlook improvements. We've improved the experience of viewing iPhone photo attachments you receive from a non-Exchange-based email account (such as a Google Mail, Hotmail, or Yahoo! Mail account), using the Global Address List (GAL) when connecting to Exchange Server 2003 using Exchange ActiveSync, and working with email display names that contain brackets (for example, "David Alexander [Contoso]").
• Messaging improvements. We've improved the experience of receiving Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages if your phone uses a PIN-locked SIM.
• Facebook integration. We've improved the experience of syncing Facebook accounts.
• Camera improvements. We've improved the stability of switching between camera and video modes.
• Audio improvements. We've improved the experience of using a Bluetooth headset to make calls when you're playing music or videos.
• Other performance improvements. This month's update also includes software from several phone manufacturers that improves the performance of specific models. Naturally, if you don't have one of the affected models, we won't install this portion of the update on your phone.