Have you ever been curious about a new phone but didn't want to have a sales associate hanging over your shoulder while you checked it out? If so, you're in luck as Microsoft has released a Windows Phone 7.5 Mango 'trial' that you can access from your iPhone or Android smartphone without leaving the house.
The semi-guided tour can be accessed by visiting https://aka.ms/wpdemo with your phone's browser. The HTML5-based site mimics the look and feel of Windows Phone on your device. Once started, you can select multiple different demos including People, Family, Pictures, Local Scout, Calendar, Outlook, Messaging and Phone.
While exploring each category, a blue dot will appear that prompts you where to go to reach the next step and ultimately the end of each section. You are free to ignore the prompts and explore at your own leisure but ultimately you will need to follow along to complete the task.
The web app was surprisingly responsive when I tested it on an iPhone 4 and I imagine it would perform similarly on an Android phone.
At the end of the demo users are prompted to share their experience via social networks like Facebook and Twitter or go directly to a list of available Windows Phone handsets. Those phones include the Samsung Focus S, HTC Titan, Samsung Focus Flash, HTC Radar 4G, HTC Trophy, HTC Arrive, Nokia Lumia 800, Nokia Lumia 710, HTC HD7 and the Samsung Focus.