Podcasts and Smart DJ in Windows Phone Mango

The next release of Windows Phone, called Mango, is expected to arrive on the market with a great deal of enhancements when compared to the existing flavor of the platform, some of which would affect the experience users receive from the Music+Videos Hub on their handsets.

In Mango, users would have access to on-phone podcasts, as well as to features like a new Smart DJ, as well as to other improvements, such as a simpler search in the Marketplace, or interface changes in the Music+Videos Hub.

Windows Phone Mango would bring podcast on the phone, and users in the US would be able to find them in a special section in the Marketplace.

Podcasts can be easily streamed on the mobile phone, or automatically downloaded to the device, provided that users are subscribed to a specific series.

Users will be provided with the ability to control the number of episodes that would be kept, or the order in which they would be played back.

Podcasts are downloaded only when the handset is connected to a power supply. Moreover, they will be downloaded via a WiFi connection by default (users will be able to change this, if they like to).

Mango also comes with the new Smart DJ, which was designed to create a music mix similar to a chosen artist or song, putting together the tracks it finds on the handset.

Users with a monthly Zune Pass music subscription would benefit from the tracks available in the catalog as well, since Smart DJ will search there too to find songs.

“We’ve sprinkled the Smart DJ feature all over the Music + Videos Hub: It’s available from artist cards, the music player, and every artist, album, and song in your collection via the tap-and-hold menu,” Josh Phillips, program manager, Windows Phone Engineering, notes in a blog post.

“Since we have a hunch that you’re really going to like Smart DJ mixes, we’ve add them to the History pivot and made them pinable to the Start screen, so you can quickly find favorite mixes again.”

With Mango, finding stuff in the Windows Phone Marketplace got easier. Searching was enhanced with auto suggestions, so that one would find music or podcasts faster than before. Results will be delivered in categories, including artist, album, song, or playlist.

“Marketplace search is also context sensitive. Start a search from the podcast Marketplace and you’ll land right into the podcast results pivot. Same goes for music,” the said blog post continues. There is also a Related pivot through which similar artists will be listed.