Next Windows Phone Release to Be ‘Tango,’ Apollo After

The next flavor of Windows Phone might arrive on shelves with the codename of Tango attached to it, some of the latest reports on the matter suggest.

This operating system version should be released after the availability of Windows Phone Mango later this year, and before Apollo, another future iteration of the mobile platform.

Previously, Microsoft was rumored to come to the market with Apollo after the release of Mango, but it seems that the company might actually release another OS flavor before that.

The intermediary platform version should be only a minor update, similar in a way to what NoDo was earlier this year.

It would also mark the transition from Windows Phone 7 to Windows Phone 8, as Apollo was rumored not too long ago to be the next major flavor of Microsoft's mobile platform.

Info on this Windows Phone release comes from DigiTimes, which recently broke the news on Compal landing orders for Windows Phones from Nokia.

“Compal has signed with Microsoft for licensed use of the Mango platform and Tango, a platform to succeed Mango, the sources noted,” the news site states.

In 2011, Compal should start shipping the first Windows Phone devices to Nokia, as the latter is preparing to move from Symbian to Windows Phone as the primary OS on its smartphones.

According to some reports, Apollo should become Windows Phone 8, the mobile OS version that Microsoft might unveil to the world next year, and which should arrive on the market in late 2012.

However, little is known for the time being on Tango, the OS flavor that would arrive after Mango, and which is expected to be only an intermediary, minor update.

For the time being, however, we'll take the info with a grain of salt, but we'll also keep an eye out for additional info on this, so stay tuned to learn the news.