New 'Tango' low-end devices cannot run Background Tasks [Developers]

How about MS cut down on the cost of the OS itself, and we can have 1 GB of RAM for the same price.
WP is still going nowhere. Too bloody expensive visavi performance, and not a single hardware feature that will entice buyers. Most exciting thing in the last couple of months = cutting RAM in half. Good night and goodbye WP.

Bad move, Microsoft! People want consistent experience. This starts to look like different variations of Office suite.

Hey Jay - I think you should do a followup post that summarizes in simple point form the changes, as it seems that people are unnecessarily freaking out and not really understanding the live tile situation.

I can't see this being a deal-breaker for most people. We only got Background Agents when Mango was released and we didn't have much need for them before that. Now that we have them, I've had to disable all but the HTC hub weather task as they tend to drain the battery, for little benefit.

This is ridiculous. 256MB of RAM costs less than $5. Just make the minimum 512MB and avoid this crap. What is Microsoft thinking?

I don't have time to read all the comments so I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but since the article mentions live tiles functionality, I though I'd give my 2 cents. Background agents have nothing to do with live tiles from a developer perspective (at least not directly). A tile can be updated while an app is running, by the app itself. What happens if it's not running though? An option at that point is to run a background agent, which means that essentially an app will be active every X amount of time, thus you go back to the previous point (i.e. update the tile when the app is active). There is another way though, which is tile notifications (different from toast notifications). This means that a server will need to push the updated tile info to the device.
Background agents are much more powerful than just updating live tiles, and the two are not connected in the way that many readers think. If an app uses background agents just for setting live tiles, I believe there will be workarounds (or MS can even enable an API that offers  a live tile agent). Worst case scenario, an app can update its tile only when it launches. On the other hand, it makes sense I guess disabling the full background agents, since having apps run in the background consistently is not a good idea on lower-specced devices.

Wait, will this affect live tiles? Sorry for being dumb but that's what I got from the article.

I am so surprised at the worry expressed.
Live Tiles could still work from inside the app. So a messages or pictures could still be put on a tile once the app is open.
Background agent. Just runs a bit of code for 15secs per app per half hour. It can then update the tile. You can already turn these off yourself. They also downloads stuff when on charge for 10mins, so an app can do some harder work. This could be say all of the day news stories and images for offline viewing.... but a well written app will no doubt look again for news once opened. 
 
So all in all not a big deal. I don’t think this phone is for people worried about upto date news feeds on live tiles. I think its for soccer moms who wont notice that the tile updated after an app was opened and not by itself.
On top of that, I bet first party apps like eBay do still support background agents. They're just stopping it for of the street devs so that phone doest get bogged down.
 
Also Windows 7.5 doesn’t support a many high spec things people are asking for.... new phones will be shown off at when Apollo is done. Even if a phone were shown off with a much faster CPU and a gigs of RAM what is the point in having it now? Just so you can load Bug Village 4 secs faster? Having high spec now is pointless, it would be like owning a Rocket car with no Fuel. 

Metro interface featuring live tiles; now without live tiles. Wasn't this the whole point of metro? Push doesn't count.

Well all the apps will work, just not in the way you want then to. I wouldn't call it fragmentation until there are apps "limited" to a device because of it's hardware.

OFFICIAL WPCENTRAL APP runs in the background :(  JAY better get to work on a low end app :P  hehehe

If I understand this with background task correctly, it's what you administer on the settings page for applications. I have only a weather app active now, but think some mapping/tracking sw also need it. It would consume memory, so it is sensible to disallow it w 256mb. I still want a 610 for my eight year old.

First of all, while it's true that Android is gaining popularity among technology enthusiasts, like us, due to the dual-core and quad-core phone models that are being released, those aren't the phone models that are driving marketshare. Think about it - the Samsung Galaxy S II "only" sold 10 million devices... That's about 12 days worth of Android sales, given the 850,000 activations per day. Low-end Android devices that come in uncontrolled varied hardware specifications and experience are the driving force behind the OS.

Microsoft is simply making an equivalent of those phones, in terms of price points, while minimizing the impact on user experience. At USD 250 with no contract, the Lumia 610 delivers almost all of the usual Windows Phone experience. Can you honestly say that about Android phones that cost the same? An Android phone at that price point* will have a 600 - 800 MHz processor, a QVGA  - HVGA screen, and most likely a 3 Mpx - 5 Mpx camera with no autofocus. And we all know how an Android phone with a 800 MHz processor with 256 MB performs (clue: no where as smooth as a similarly specced Windows Phone).

Let's put it this way, if Tango can bring in more Windows Phone users, then Microsoft will most definitely end up putting more resources on the mobile OS, which would in turn speed up and improve the development of Apollo, and ultimately convince premium OEMs like HTC, Nokia, and Samsung, to bring devices for technology enthusiasts, like us.

*Examples: Samsung Galaxy Fit, HTC Wildfire S, LG Optimus Me, etc.

ONCE AGAIN!!! I DONT SEE WHY EVERYONE IS BTCHING AS THESE DEVICES WILL MOT ENTER DEVELOPED NATIONS OUTSIDE OF THE PREPAY REALM.

@J4rrod I'm not pissed because of these phones. I'm pissed because when I expect MS will finally come with a TRUE hi-end spec, they came with this.
I was waiting a phone with dual-core CPU, a decent GPU, 1gb RAM and 32gb storage to replace my aging Optimus 7, and not because I'm a spec-whore, it's because I want a phone to last at least 2 years, after all, for the price they are asking for those "hi-end" WP7 now, you can buy an Atrix or Galaxy SII.
I have a Xoom and I know how much Android sux, but at least I see Google going forward, not backwards. The only thing I want is to see MS going forward too, nothing more.

Interesting article...
I think something is being missed in this conversation, and that is the market's which "Tango" will be targeted at. 
These low specs are to make the phones cheap, and to allow Nokia to make enrodes against Android in developing countries, like Kenya.  I mention Kenya because of this ZDNET article: "Windows Phone prospects in the developing world | ZDNet http://zd.net/xq81RE "
In it, the author notes that most buyers purchase their phone without a contract, making a low up front cost an important thing.  He then goes on to say that one of the biggest expenses of a smartphone is the data plan, and most of the carriers offer data on a prepaid basis, and it's still expensive.
Now say you have a high end "non-tango Phone" and have the Pre-paid data, with all the background tasks, and live tiles updating, you could blow through your data limit, and get socked with overages(if you have that), or if you are paying on a per byte basis, you would be charged for that updating, even when you aren't using your phone.  But then you have a "Tango" phone, because generic background services are disabled, you don't have to fear using all of that data.  But if you wanted to stream music/podcasts, you could.
Also, if I'm reading the Windows Phone developer blog right, even if you target "Tango" with your app, if you run that App on a higher end phone, it will automatically take advantage of that new memory.
 
Thanks for reading!

Its depending how you swing the word. I say no, its not defragmentation.

Doesn't seem to be a big deal. Does not affect tiles or fast app switching. If you had to remove something which will leads to a noticeable difference between low end and mid range, this isn't a bad choice. I suspect the alternative would of been a lot fewer compatible apps on 256mb devices.

You do realize that these specifications are aimed at Developing/Emerging markets. Therefore, the "fragmentation" we will probably be the same for everyone in that particular market. So, if a customer goes to a store to choose a device, they're most likely to all be Tango devices, all with the same limitations. Also, I would keep in mind that the carrier networks in these markets may not be so great and the low specs and data usage of the devices is a reflection of that.

What a lot of people are not understanding is that this phone will be unheard of to most of us in a couple months. This is for developing countries. Not people who have much of an option or care that it's not exactly the same experience.

I hate to be negative, but in my experience working with users, we are going to see a lot of irritaged users when the low-end devices roll out.
 
If I had apps in Marketplace that featured Live Tiles or toasts, I'd be updating my descriptions now to indicate reduced functionality, and hope that will be enough to avoid getting slammed with a bunch of 1-star ratings from users wondering why the functionality is broken on their phone.
 
IMO, if all it takes is 512 MB of storage to avoid situation, then 512 MB should be the required minimum storage size, even for low-end phones. The Windows Phone brand really doesn't need the bad press from an issue that is totally avoidable.

¨Specifically, generic background tasks are not supported for devices with 256MB of memory.¨ So, I think that the OS Live Tiles (like Me Tile) will continues equals today. Only third party apps will not. I will miss only wheather apps. :(
Maybe, who knows, the OEM apps will continues support backgroung taks too.

I never really liked apps using Background Agents to update live tiles. I think Push Notifications are the appropriate mechanism to do this. Background Agents are essentially polling for updates, just seems inefficient when updates can be pushed instead.

Ok, so since the beginning we are using a generation(s) old hardware in order to prevent fragmentation, and now, in 2012, when the iPhone has a dual-core CPU and quad-core Android are coming, MS decides it's time to allow fragmentation for an even lower spec than the current one?
I'm done with WP7. I love the OS, the UI et. al, but I can't pay $500+ in a Lumia 800 or Titan which under the hood is basically the same thing of my old Optimus 7 without feel riped-off.
I will wait for WP8, but no more WP7 for me. I'm tired to be a beta-tester.

This is NOT fragmentation - this is feature differentiation: there are high-end phones with more software features supported, and there are cheaper phones with less features supported. Just like PCs, tablets, cars, etc.
Fragmentation is when phones are left behind without updates 6 months after release; fragmentation is when developers cannot use new APIs because majority of the phones don't support them.

I think this is a horrible decision. This will just continue to fragment and confuse users looking to purchase into the WP environment.

Fragmentation and confusion is not how you're going to get a platform to gain traction in this day and age.

How about a WP update that adds functionality, rather than creates an exhaustive list of existing functionality that manufacturers are now free to omit?

I would be annoyed if my live tiles stopped updating. But, does it matter to someone in, say, some very rural ex-Soviet place who gets their first smartphone? Or, for that matter, someone in the west who lacks the regular income stability needed to sign a proper contract and who has to dig deep to buy the phone retail with a prepaid card?

the downside is that what is advertised won't always be what's delievered
that leads to dissapointment
There needs to be a difference in the brand.  WP7lite?

I'd take that the WPCentral app probably won't work with the 610 then.

I'm hoping there would be a some sort of notification center included in Tango. This backgroundless tradeoff has some potential to break a main selling point for wp7 (live tiles). Lets hope there's more to this. On the other hand this would still be an awesome phone at 200 dollars without contract.

Is it at all possible that this limitation that seems to kills Live Tiles, which is a huge part of what makes WP7 awesome, can be a temporary thing until Apollo brings in the new Kernel which should theoretically allow this due to its small footprint.

Well most of us that had windows phone from day one didn't have apps with live tiles yet we still loved windows phones.....hey if I could get one of these with att unlimited feature phone plans I'd sign up.

Agreed. It really boils down to educating the consumer through the point of sale, be it online materials or the in store salespersons. The worst thing that could happen here is the consumer thinking that this WAS a full featured Windows Phone. Nothing spreads faster than bad publicity. And bad incorrect publicity for the platform would not be good for growth at this stage.

I don't like it at all. People who want smart phones are willing to pay a lofty bill for data plans would surely have enough money for nicer phones anyways. The news if this and also the update that carriers can block any update really worries me.

Then again, apple has some missing features such a siri on older generation phones but multitasking and live tile support are a essential part of what makes windows phone what it is. Sad.

This sucks, webos managed to multitask with 256 Mb of ram, same with Symbian and windows mobile

There is always going to be fragmention. The best thing MS can do is let consumers be aware of what this phone can and cant do.

Ah, that's a bummer.

I know its all about the dollars but there comes a point where if you want a smartphone you have to just spend another $10.