Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer promised that Windows Phone Mango would include "hundreds" of new features. It looks like another one of those features has emerged, and it's one that Microsoft hasn't talked about before: Mango includes support for creating WiFi hotspots that will allow up to five users at a time to share a 3G data connection.
A screenshot of the feature in action was published by WPCentral; this led to speculation that either Mango itself had the capability built in, or that some carriers had devised a custom application to provide a similar facility. Then, investigation by Rafael Rivera showed that connection sharing is indeed built in to Mango itself. WPCentral reports that the feature works, but perhaps unsurprisingly, burns battery life.
Not known at this time is how it's enabled, or who will have access. The most likely outcome is that it will be one of the many settings that carriers can control. The ability to tether to a phone and use it as a hotspot is for many networks an option that must be paid for—and enabled—on a per-user basis.
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