May 30, 2011 12:37 GMT  ·  By

Mango, the next Windows Phone iteration, which should arrive on devices as soon as this fall, is set to be followed by Windows Phone Apollo in 2012, if some of the latest reports on the matter are to be believed.

Apparently, Microsoft would have the next mobile platform release called Windows Phone 8 Apollo, but specific info on what that would mean for the features list the OS would included did not emerge for the time being.

However, rumor has it that the new software would mark a unification between the desktop platform and the operating system aimed at mobile devices, though it remains to be seen what exactly that would mean.

According to the guys over at WMPoweruser (citing monsmartphone.net), Apollo would arrive with the same APX app format as the desktop client, and would be ported to the NT kernel.

The new platform flavor, Windows Phone 8 Apollo, is expected to make an official appearance into the wild as soon as next year, most probably well into the second half.

We're already accustomed with Microsoft releasing new Windows Phone versions in fall each year, and Apollo might not be an exception. Not to mention that the Windows 8 desktop platform is expected to arrive next fall as well.

The Apollo codename already emerged into the wild in connection with Microsoft's future plans, but it remains to be seen why it would have been selected for Windows Phone 8.

For the time being, we can only sit and wait for more info on the next platform release from Microsoft to start emerging, something that would certainly happen as we near the actual release time frame.

This fall, Microsoft would bring to the market the Windows Phone Mango platform, with a ton of new features when compared to the current release.

Windows Phone 8 would change things a little bit more to the better, that's for sure, though it would retain the looks of WP7. For the time being, take the available details on Apollo with a grain of salt, but stay tuned for more on the matter.