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Microsoft: there's a limit to Tango's love (for 256MB devices, anyway)
Microsoft's going after the low-end market with devices like the Lumia 610 and its brethren. The handset's biggest limitation is that it only packs 256MB RAM and Redmond spent last week imploring developers to slim down their apps or face ghettoization. Now the company's revealing what else will be missing from Tango's cheapie iteration: Video podcasts, Bing local scout, fast app switching, automatic photo uploading, HD video playback (with certain codecs) and background agents will all be disabled. On the upside, this efficiency drive should ensure Windows Phone's apps remain as lithe and responsive as its interface is. Developers interested in learning more can head down to our source link for a dash of nitty and a spoonful of gritty. Update: To clarify, the fast app switching situation is a little more nuanced: apps which uses upwards of 90MB will be "tombstoned" on deactivation, but those occupying less memory should fast resume just fine.
Microsoft lowers hardware requirements, opens Marketplace to 23 more countries
If there was a theme for today's Nokia keynote, and, by extension, Microsoft's plans for Windows Phone, it's that the OS is being targeted toward lower-spec phones worldwide. The SDK update that'll soon roll out to developers will include an emulator for developers to ensure their apps work on devices like the Lumia 610 that only has 256MB RAM. The company's promising that nearly all apps will work on the cheaper hardware, promising that fragmentation will be kept to a minimum. Any app that runs poorly on the slimmer hardware will be flagged as unsuitable in the Marketplace. Speaking of which, Microsoft has announced it'll be rolling it out to a further 23 countries shortly including China, the UAE and much of Eastern Europe -- increasing the total market reach by up to 60 percent.
