Windows Phone “Tango” build 8713 spotted in the wild

By Tom Warren, on 22nd Nov 11 10:48 pm with 34 Comments

A new Windows Phone “Tango” build has been spotted in the wild.

Windows Phone build 8713 was discovered at WP Bench’s server logs. WP Bench is a popular benchmarking application for Windows Phone users. The statistics page from WP Bench, spotted by the guys at WPSauce, appears to indicate that Microsoft is significantly further along with its Windows Phone builds. Windows Phone build 7.10.8200 was previously discovered earlier this year and is believed to be a Windows Phone “Tango” build. The jump in builds could also indicate that Microsoft has moved on to “Tango” part two. Microsoft is rumored to be preparing two releases of Tango to extend its hardware support.

Windows Phone “Tango”, set to feature on Nokia’s U.S. device, is believed to be an interim release between Windows Phone 7.5 “Mango” and the next-generation of Windows Phone, currently codenamed “Apollo.” Windows Phone build 7.10.8200 was recently discovered in server side logs of a Windows Phone application. A screenshot, believed to be a Tango build, also leaked and demonstrated a new device search feature for Windows Phones. Microsoft’s chasis 2 specifications (Tango) will also include a 480×320 BlackBerry style design and LTE support. The software giant is expected to ship Windows Phone “Apollo” with 1280×720 resolution and dual core CPU support.

Microsoft is expected to detail Windows Phone “Tango” at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January. Nokia is understood to be preparing its U.S. Windows Phones for an announcement at CES. The Finnish handset maker is working with AT&T to launch its Nokia Lumia Windows Phone at CES 2012. Microsoft is planning to support Nokia’s re-entry into the U.S. market with the Windows Phone “Tango” update, including LTE support. Sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans have indicated to WinRumors that Nokia is in talks with several U.S. carriers to provide an LTE compatible handset as its first U.S. Windows Phone device. AT&T is expected to be the primary launch partner of any Nokia Windows Phone devices in the United States. Nokia is also in talks with other U.S. carriers to bring its Windows Phone devices to market on rival networks.

  • BucksterMcgee

    Hmm, if they have dual core support, does that mean support only for 2 cores, or multiple cores? I would imagine if they have support for more than 1 core then it wouldn’t matter much if it was 2, 4, 8, or 16. But, then again I’m not familiar with OS core support.

    Anyway my point is, would Apollo only bring support for dual cores or for any of the new quad core ARM chips that are coming out in 2012? I guess maybe they would try to keep the chassis spec so there is a more unified structure to the different Apollo phones just like now, but opening it up might also allow for wider adoption. A fine line to walk.

    • Jon Keebler

      The current WP7.5 OS is built off a hybrid C.E.6 and C.E7 Kernel which has limitations to 512MB RAM and single core processor. The “Applo” WP8 build will be based on the NT Kernal which all Windows Desktops are designed on. So in short, Yes it will.

    • http://thounsell.co.uk/ Thomas Hounsell

      It’d be SMP support they’d add, which would allow it to scale infinitely in theory. Obviously, there’ll be limitations, but it’s unlikely that it’ll be any low number – certainly more than two. If they do switch to NT as rumoured, they’d have a mature SMP-ready platform that’s proven on up to 256 cores, so there’d be no problem there.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Sebastian-Swann/100001887920756 Sebastian Swann

      I supose it will support many cores. In C# and .NET you got tasks and if system knows that there is free core available somewhere it will execute it there. It doesn’t matter if you have 1 or 100 cores. You got 10 tasks and 10 cores, they will execute at once as long they don’t have to wait each for other to get some data. Anyway, support for many cores will be there from start, they just may lock it initially to two cores and unlock when they decide to jump to next level.

    • Guest

      2 cores are multiple cores. MP support is normally a foundational item, whereas 2 > 4 > 8 > 16 is usually an optimization issue. Architecturally the first is more challenging. But the second is also time consuming. So probably 2 to start and 4 if you’re lucky.

  • Avatar Roku

    Microsoft needs to stop chasing the Android feature set (dual core, LTE, 720p) and focus more on delivering features that leap frog over Android and iOS. If they are constantly delivering features a year or more after Android, they will never make any inroads.

    They need exclusive games and apps. Getting the top apps on Android and iOS is not good enough. Windows Phone needs to have top apps that are not available anywhere else.

    • Anonymous

      I have to agree. Microsoft is the largest software company and I think they should create more high-quality apps. Instead, some MS apps have very bad ratings in the Marketplace.

    • Guest

      Dual core support, LTE, and 720P aren’t really optional. I don’t think they can ignore those to focus on other things that differentiate the platform. They need to do both. And yeah, that’s difficult given how quickly Google and Apple are progressing. But that’s the price for allowing themselves to fall so far behind in a segment they helped pioneer.

    • http://twitter.com/TroyGates TroyGates

      Those that you mention are still very new and most consumers haven’t purchased yet. Microsoft is right where they need to be if they have those before the summer time. LTE is here for a long time, as is 720P. Its not like those will be outdated by the summer. By the end of 2012, WP hardware will be just the same as iOS and Android with a small variation (quad core lol). 

      The biggest difference by the end of 2012 will be that WP will have a very solid OS base with the speed and OS integration that scales much better and faster than iOS or Android. iOS especially will need a major overhaul in its base in the future to switch from the “app” only mentality over to tight OS integration of features.

    • Guest

      Everything you said may be true or prove so by year end, but right now they have to compete against a dominant Android and Apple with what they have. And missing features, particularly ones that catch attention like lack of MP support, aren’t helping. Google and Apple has the luxury of an established position. MS doesn’t. And if MS/Nokia don’t start building some sales momentum for WP& soon, the platform is in trouble.

    • J A

      Dual core really is of no use other than to drain battery faster. WP does not need it at all because by itself it is the snappiest mobile OS and not even affected by the amount of data you have on the device unlike the competitors.

    • Guest

      That was true but isn’t for newer processors. And specs matter, for marketing if for nothing else. Plus, think ahead a bit. It wasn’t that long ago that people argued nobody needed a multi-core PC.

    • Guest

      Dual core is very useful for marketing~

    • Stubb92

      Gaming? Surely if Microsoft wants to stay competitive with Xbox Live and the like they need to have that extra power for gaming.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1724462076 Tim Mariner

      When you enter a market late (I know, MS helped invent the smartphone market, but the market has evolved), you’re not going to be successful by doing what the market leaders are doing, so you have a few choices for competing: price, differentiation, and aesthetics.

      I felt MS had a good opportunity to compete on price, but it (and the carriers) chose to price WP7 devices, at least at launch, in the same range as other devices.  I guess MS figured it had name recognition and had earned some clout and didn’t want to attract the ‘low-end’ label.

      The phone manufacturers haven’t helped one bit with aesthetics.  Almost all of the WP7 models so far have been Android clones or also-rans.  Only now are we starting to see some unique and innovative phone designs come to the WP7 ecosystem.  It would be great to see more of this.

      The final area, differentiation, is where I believe WP7 can (and does) shine.  MS, after a slow start, is starting to figure out how to market what makes the OS special.  There is still some room for improvement, but they’re on the right track.  In the end, with a little cooperation from carrier salespeople, this is how I believe MS will ultimately win the fight.

    • Guest

      Agree with most of this. But on your first point, MS didn’t price the phones. OEM’s did. MS only priced the WP7 license, and that’s a relatively minor part of the BOM.

    • Sirruss

      You were doing great until you stated that MS, “…is starting to figure out how to market what makes the OS special.” What ad are you basing that claim on? I still haven’t seen a single customer targeted marketing effort from MS that articulates how WIn Phone is different from iOs/Android.

    • Guest

      the big trouble for wp is that it always lack of support for latest technologies. It lacks so many features that HTC can only install wp in a old generation adroid hardware!

    • Anonymous

      lacking 720p support makes it impossible to build something like samsung galaxy note – it is a shame when “onenote” is a windows phone high profile feature. lte is a must-have. microsoft is just a software supplier to its hardware partners, now it virtually knocked out its partners from the high end tier because of no lte support. you can’t call something “flagship” when it doesn’t support lte.

  • Anonymous

    Chassis 1 is 1280×800, not 1280×720; and Chassis 2 was announced to be cancelled permanently about 3 weeks ago.

  • Anonymous

    I think the Video Services Integration ‘Chatter’ (Skype/Windows Live/Kinect/Lync/ etc) will be a key/main feature in Windows Phone ‘Tango’, in preparation for a Nokia Lumia 900 Device(s) with front facing camera support for the US Launch.

    Any other main features will probably be left until Windows Phone ‘Apollo’.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jairo-Luciano-Alves/100002545369889 Jairo Luciano Alves

    As I am no expert, could anyone help me understand what are the main differences one should expect from the shift to NT kernel in Apollo? And, more importantly, would those differences really differenciate WP8 from the competition like google and apple? Thanks.

  • Areaserved69

    Why the different screen resolutions, seems that would add fragmentation….

    • Anonymous

      Just consider who’s going to be buying the smaller resolution… these will be people that just need a phone. These won’t be people that are concerned about specs or updating their phone on a regular basis. These are people that will likely never plug their phone into their computer except to maybe add music here and there. Updates for smaller resolution phones won’t be as crucial, however, I feel Microsoft will keep up on updates and since they push updates to phones without the manufacturer or carrier then there won’t be any fragmentation unless they support one less than the other, which I don’t see happening.

    • Anonymous

      Where did you get the idea that OEMs and carriers are not involved in the update process? At  the beginning MS did indeed announced that updates would have been handled directly and solely by them but down the road they retracted to the old strategy: you get updates for your phone with AT&T only after the carrier has tested and approved it……………. unfortunately.

    • http://kissride.wordpress.com Candide Yams

      I figured the screen difference is also to attack Blackberry. It’s been said that the chassis introduced in Tango will essentially be blackberry sized phones. I think the new resolution is to bury Blackberry. I imagine a number of these phones will also be camera-less for corporate/enterprise reasons.

  • Anonymous

    Wonder if we will see a Windows Phone by Samsung running Apollo looking like the Samsung Galaxy Note and support CDMA Networks like Sprint and Verizon!

  • http://twitter.com/RogueCode Matt

    In the server logs for one of my apps it mentions the Mazaa running 8719.

  • Anonymous

    480×320

    That won’t do. while MSFT can automatically scale up and down using render trasnforms on your app’s page, this lower resolution and aspect radio won’t translate well. they should stick to 800×480 and its ratios for low end devices and push everybody else up. As an app developer, the last thing I want is dealing with screens smaller than the version one chasis.

  • Anonymous

    Why isn’t the Lumia 800 in the states?

  • http://twitter.com/billreiss Bill Reiss

    480 x 320 was killed wasn’t it?

  • http://cobases.com Michael Cobases

    As Nokia released Lumia 800 and as we all know then Nokia flagmanships usually include number 9 in the device names, like Nokia N9, there used to be N90, E90 and so on but Windows phone has number 800 so we can more likely to expect Lumia 900 soon and I think with latest Windows built preinstaled as Nokia usually delivers finished OS not like Google with beta versions.