It seems the Whatever got posted on WP7 Russian Forum and WMPowerUser on Tango Update doesn’t convince me a lot and I can argue that its fake. So in this post I am just talking from two angles. One why is this fake and if part of its true how it will help the Windows Phone Ecosystem.
Why I think its Fake ?
Sim Contacts :
If you compare the Sim Settings with current generation phone and the one that is claimed as Tango, it seems to be photo shopped. I have two reasons here
- First the Text “Contacts Imported from Sim Card…… ” is missing and Export Contacts to Sim is exactly the same place. I really doubt that will go with such tight integration of Live Id with the Phone.
- The new Button does not align with rest of the button. Now you might argue that there is more text but I will doubt MS will flaw with the design and second it could have been “Export Phone Contacts”.
256 MB Ram leads to App Restrictions :
The Screenshot Displays Phone Memory right under storage details ( odd place ) under About Phone section with message that phone might not use some app and features can be disabled.
- First I am wondering why will WP MS team all of a sudden decide to start displaying Ram Details just to explain that it will not support features and apps ? It’s not seen even on First Generation Phone and 2nd Generation phone yet with Mango
- The message saying some features will not work ? Why would they say that ? Will not it confuse people saying “What features are not there” and will not it be negative impact ?
- Second it’s at a very odd place. Why under Storage ? And why is the screenshot half ? Photoshopped Again ?
- Third when windows phone does not even show up the processor speed why will they be interested to show RAM Alone ?
The screenshot below is for Samsung SGH i917 where it displays message ” That App requires a phone with more ram than the Samsung SGH i917″ So it’s a Tango Phone why is this displaying Samsung Focus ? You might argue that Tango was forcibly installed on Focus but then why is it displaying wrong amount of RAM ?
Also few more screenshot posted seems to be improvement than just tango updates. Next I am putting down my thoughts on why Tango will be useful if at all it’s true.
Why Tango will add more features ?
Since Tango will be for Low Spec phones, Windows Phone team might add some features which will do a bit of compensation and possibly bring new features to Zune as well so what you cannot do on a Tango Phone may be can be done from Zune.
Before we check those positive signals, one thing you should know that Tango is going to have low hardware specs which was told in the HongKong Event, which means possible less ram may be less CPU power but will that mean its going to spoil user experience, I guess no because Microsoft will improve the Zune software to let user find the other way round with smaller improvements like this.
Can Windows Phone Marketplace distribute and display Tango App for Tango Phones ?
Since the CPU / Memory might go down, it is possible that certain apps which were working on Mango and 2nd Generation Phone will not work. But it is possible that App Builders might develop apps which just works on Tango may be with fewer features.
For example it is being speculated that Live Tile support might not be there for Tango so if apps can align according that, quite possible Tango Phones will see Tango Version of the app and can download it.
Remember before you start scolding Windows Phone for this, this issue is common for example some Apps for iPad does not work with First Version of iPad and same goes for Android.
Can Zune get new features now ?
Since Tango will have lot of restriction on Podcast Management, Disabled Automatic Upload to Skydrive, Restriction on Type Video Streams that can be played I am speculating that Zune might get some major change and this is the right time.
For example Zune can do Podcast Management by downloading and syncing to phone, Zune Can allow users to Sync to Skydrive from Desktop, Videos can be converted by zune and then sycned to phone.
Opening up more marketplace means Zune should get better App Management system for example when you buy app from Zune its not possible to install it again using Zune, that should go away.
Some Features will roll to all the phones, Not just Tango
Now if the leaked MS Timeline for Windows Phone is correct, there are two updates coming for Tango and with the recent leak, It seems that one will be improvement for all the phones not just tango.
Multiple Images in MMS, Sending Voice as File if it can be done in Tango it can be done on any of the existing phones. So I guess this is coming for all.
