New details have been uncovered about the Windows Phone Tango update, by members of the Russian WP7forum, while testing the new OS on a developer device – the HTC Mazaa. While the news brings details about the various improvements that Tango will bring to Windows Phone, it also brings word of the limitations in place for lower-end devices that Tango will enable.Windows Phone Tango will apparently bring the minimum memory down to measly 256MB RAM, which brings with it the caveat that Windows Phone devices with that much memory will not be able to support all apps, their third-party Live Tiles will not work, and they won’t playback videos with more than a 4Mbps bitrate.
Tango devices with 256MB of RAM also won’t be able to upload images automatically to SkyDrive, and, they don’t support on-phone podcasts management. Windows Phone Tango lowers the bar for the camera on the device as well – the minimum is now 3MP, presumably without 720p HD video recording as mandatory.
Improvements come in the form of SIM contacts migration, enhanced roaming options, automatic app update via Zune, more pre-installed apps, more languages and C++ support (as we’ve heard before), as well as improved MMS capabilities finally featuring audio/video support, and multiple photo attachments.
Windows Phone Tango will bring many cool improvements but also some tight restrictions for low-end phones. Russian site WP7forum tested Tango on a dev phone (the HTC Mazaa) and they've dug up some very interesting details on the matter.
Let's start with the bad news - Tango will enable phones with just 256MB RAM (all current Windows Phone models have 512MB). That's quite low for a smartphone (even Symbian uses more nowadays) and such won't support all apps, plus third-party Live tiles won't update automatically.
The list goes on - Tango phones with 256MB RAM won't be able to play videos with bitrate over 4Mbps (that applies for videos on the phone and streaming video), they won't let you manage podcasts on the phone (you'll need to use Zune on your PC) and photos can't be uploaded automatically to SkyDrive.
This sounds pretty harsh, but we're likely talking about very low-end devices - Microsoft will even let makers use 3MP cameras (the current minimum is 5MP). We're not sure what that means about the 720p video recording that is mandatory for WP phones right now.
Plus, Windows Phone Tango will bring some great usability improvements. It will let you import/export contacts from your SIM card, offer finer grained roaming options and download and update apps automatically through Zune. Tango will also more than double the number of pre-installed apps and support new countries.
MMS support will be greatly improved too - in its current form you can attach a single photo and that's it. With the Tango update, Windows Phone will let you attach multiple photos but also videos and audio files too.
So, Windows Phone Tango will bring some needed improvements to mid- and high-end phones and enable affordable, low-end phones that can pry some users away from the grasp of feature phone
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