Microsoft confirmed Mango Windows Phone 7 handsets would sport a front facing camera as well as Skype integration and a mobile Lync client. The confirmation came via the TechEd event in New Zealand, where two Microsoft employees mentioned that Microsoft's Lync VoIP client also be available on other mobile platforms, including iOS, Android and Symbian. But the Lync client would be first available on the soon to be launched Mango Windows Mobile 7 software.

The employees stated that the mobile Lync client would support both voice and video on Android, Apple's iOS and Windows Mobile 7, explaining "it will dependent on the device, but it will be enabled at some point at time." They pointed out that some devices don't have a front-facing camera so having a videoconference via a mobile Lync client wouldn't necessarily make sense.

The Microsoft Lync client for mobile devices is a long time coming. I was actually told by Microsoft in NYC during a live demo of Microsoft Lync that mobile versions of the Lync client would be coming out "very soon". Soon must be relative, since they told me this back in November 2010!  I guess now it's now "very very soon", like any day now - hence my headline.

According to Neowin, "Mango is the major update to Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 platform, which brings many new features such as multitasking, IE9 support, deep social networking, integrated chat and more. The RTM software is expected to be available to retail devices in the next few weeks and new Mango hardware is releasing around the world slowly, with Fujistu releasing the first handset today."