The Windows Phone 7.5 Mango users get their first video calling App in the form of Tango, which is already available for PC, iOS and Android users. So the Windows Phone users with front facing cameras finally find a use for them, even as Microsoft still finds a way to use Skype in its own mobile operating system.
“Being a mobile-centric company, it was important for us to support Windows Phone as we believe it will be the next big platform in the smartphone market,” said Uri Raz, cofounder and chief executive officer of Tango.
Tango is the first video chat app on the Windows Phone 7 devices, and will only be available currently on Samsung Focus Flash, Samsung Focus S, HTC Titan, and HTC Radar. The Windows Phone 7 devices from Nokia – Lumia 710 and Lumia 800, do not have front facing camera, so video chatting is not possible through these handsets Nokia.
The Tango app will definitely not be restricted to the Windows ecosystem only; it can be installed on devices with Windows Phone 7, iOS, Android, and even Windows computers.
At the same time, it is not very likely that Google Voice app will come to the Windows Marketplace so the decision to install this app should be an easy one. If the description of the app is anything to go by, the Tango app is likely to work on 4G devices also. The video calls, however, can be sent or received through 3G or WiFi only, so users shouldn’t try to make video calls through the 2G network.
Creating a Tango account is extremely easy, though users will need to make sure the app is allowed to push notifications. Those friends who are using Tango are automatically added to the contact list in the app, and users can also view the call history. The app is available free for download on the Windows Phone Marketplace. Skype, whenever it comes, is likely to be a flagship app for the Windows Phone 7 platform as it enjoys a huge user base and will also likely be integrated with Xbox 360. But then, the Tango advantage of being the first on Windows Phone platform will stay with it.