Microsoft showed up its Windows Phone Tango update which now runs on Windows Phone devices with RAM as less as 256 MB. Everybody is happy with this development as it would make the reach of Windows Phone wider as prices go down. But we didn’t know till now was that Tango come with a few limitations.
Devices like Nokia Lumia 610 and ZTE Orbit run on the Windows Phone Tango update which will have a few features lacking due to less RAM.
Microsoft has finally detailed all the limitations and they are as below:
Windows Phone Marketplace app restrictions – Some processor-intensive apps have specific memory requirements, and will not work on devices with 256MB of RAM.
Podcast subscriptions and video podcasts – Devices with 256MB of RAM will not be able to manage podcast subscriptions of watch video podcasts.
Bing Local Scout – Microsoft is disabling Bing Local Scout on 256MB of RAM devices.
Fast app switching – The fast application switching, introduced with Mango, will be disabled on 256 MB of RAM devices.
SkyDrive automatic photo upload – Automatic upload of SkyDrive pictures will not be possible on 256MB of RAM devices, but users can still upload these manually.
HD video playback – 256MB of RAM devices won’t be able to play video compressed with certain codecs.
Background agents – Microsoft has removed background agents’ functionality for devices with 256MB of memory.
Yes it is a little saddening but then there are a few recommendations and new features that are coming with Windows Phone Tango too. With Tango optimizing start time and reducing memory usage seems to be the key focus by Microsoft on the low specifications for 256MB of RAM devices. It has urged developers to handle feature reductions such as the removal of background agents and fast app switching in order to deal with the low RAM.
Coming to the new features, the Windows Phone Tango update now has
Better media messaging – Users will now be able to attach multiple pictures and videos, voice notes and ringtones to text messages and can be included in IMs too.
Location awareness icon – If an app accesses your phone’s location information, an icon right next to the battery icon will notify you about.
Export and manage contacts to SIM card – Seems like all Windows Phone devices will allow you to export contacts to a SIM card, or create and edit individual contacts on the SIM card.
So to Tango or not, is a very tedious decision but then it all not that bad. What do you feel? Shoot your views below.