We first heard about the existence of Windows Phone “Tango”, said to be the interim update between Windows Phone 7.5 “Mango” and Windows Phone 8 “Apollo”, back in June this year when Compal CEO Ray Chen let slip of the codename during a press event in Taiwan. Since then, this codename had always been treated as a rumor as Microsoft had never acknowledged “Tango”, until now. According to WeLoveWP.hk, Microsoft officially confirmed the existence of “Tango” during an MSDN Seminar held in Hong Kong yesterday, and provided several details about this upcoming update. According to WeLoveWP.hk:

• Windows Phone “Tango” won’t be a major update, but rather a minor update following “Mango”
• Windows Phone “Apollo” will be the next major update
• The focus of “Tango” is on developing countries (such as China and India) which had been traditionally neglected in the past. Microsoft aims to bring services such as Bing to users in these markets.
• Manufacturers will be able to sell cheaper devices in these developing countries pre-loaded with Windows Phone “Tango”

This information is consistent with what we’ve heard from Mary Jo Foley two week ago, when her sources revealed that Tango was “all about Nokia” and “focused on hitting the lower-price point for Windows Phones that Microsoft and Nokia execs have been promising.” The source also revealed that Tango is “focused largely or even exclusively on the Asian market.”

So while we still don’t know exactly what updates will “Tango” bring (besides the leaked images of universal search in “Tango”), at least we now have official confirmation of its existence. While the reports claims the focus is on developing countries, that doesn’t mean the update won’t benefit those in developed countries also – it seems like “Tango” has the potential to bring smartphone prices down to at least half of what it is today, as Andy Lees promised during his Worldwide Partner Conference 2011 speech.