A few days ago reports came out from Taiwanese news agency ChinaTimes.com (English version) that Ray Chen, President & CEO of Compal Communications, announced that they have signed a licensing deal with Microsoft as the first ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) to produce Windows Phone 7 devices. According to the report, the CompalComm CEO stated that Compal will manufacture Windows Phone "Mango" devices for Nokia in the fourth quarter of 2011, which may potentially include the recently revealed Nokia "Sea Ray" device.
What’s even more interesting is that according to the report, the CompalComm CEO stated that the licensing deal with Microsoft includes "Windows Phone 7.1 Mango" and "Windows Phone 7.5 Tango", which is said to be the platform that succeeds "Mango". We’ve heard from Mary Jo Foley previously that Windows Phone 8 is supposed to be codenamed "Apollo", set to be released sometime in late 2012. However, this is the first time we’ve heard of the codename "Tango". WMPU speculates that "Tango" will be a minor interim release which follows "Mango", but precedes "Apollo". The timing of the release may also follow "NoDo", set to be released sometime in early 2012, a few months after we see the first Mango devices later this year.
No further details is known about "Tango" at this stage, as we cannot confirm the reliability of this news, so take this news with a grain of salt. However, the codename certainly follows the Windows Phone naming convention ending with an "o", and we’re not surprised to see Microsoft releasing a minor interim update sometime in early 2012 given that they have stated the plan to release "major updates" to Windows Phone on an annual cycle.