Difference Between Android and Mango (Windows Phone 7.1)

Android vs Mango (Windows Phone 7.1)

Mango and Android are two operating systems which can be found in modern smart phone devices. Mango is the code name for Windows Phone 7.1, and it’s developed by Microsoft. Android, on the other hand is developed by Google in Collaboration with other members of the Open Handset Alliance. Both Mango and Android are available on sophisticated devices with fast processors, enough memory to run applications with storage as well as advance displays. These operating systems facilitate running multiple applications simultaneously and memory management is handled by the operating system.

Android is a collection of a mobile operating system, middleware and set of key applications developed in collaboration with Google Inc. & members of Open Handset Alliance. Android comprises of several versions and better capabilities introduced with each version. The latest version released is Android 3.2 which is optimized for 7 inch tablet PC’s. Android is distributed as free and open-source software.

Android devices include a multi touch screen. Text can be input using a virtual keyboard. Android keyboard from its inception has been finger friendly, and the Android screens are also designed for the touch of finger-tip. The responsiveness of the touch screen may vary with the hardware.

Android

Android home screen includes a status bar which shows the time, signal strength and other notifications. Other widgets and short cuts to applications can also be added. By touching the launcher icon users can view all installed applications.

Android allows SMS and MMS. SMS messages can be composed and sent via voice commands. One can take the advantage of the many free applications available in the Android market place for chatting and connecting to the many social networking platforms as well e.g. – Skype, Facebook for Android. As for email, Android allows to use Gmail as well as other web based email services. An Android device is expected to be registered under a Gmail account to access many Google services such as back up settings to Google servers. Email accounts based on POP, IMAP or exchange can be configured manually as well as using the secondary email application available with Android. An option to synchronise multiple accounts into one inbox is also available. Email settings can be customized to notify when new emails arrive.

The default Android browser allows opening multiple web pages simultaneously. But doesn’t necessarily allow tabbed browsing as one would expect. The browser manages book marks, allows search by voice, let users set home pages and Zoom-in and out is also satisfactory. However there are many free browsers available for users to install from Android Market, Opera Mini , Dolphin browser and Firefox to name a few. The biggest advantage Android has over other platforms is its support for flash.

Android supports a huge array of Audio and video formats. However the music application has room for improvement compared to Android’s competitors. Music is categorised by Artist, Album and songs. Allows users to maintain play lists as well. A picture gallery is available to organize images in the phone. As minimum hardware requirements for an Android camera is 2 megapixels. User may have to adjust their expectations on the picture quality unless the device manufacturer is generous with the hardware specs. Other than the default camera application, Android Market has quite a number of camera applications with interesting features as free downloads and paid applications for as low as $3.

Document editing is not available on Android by default. If the user wishes there are paid applications which allow editing documents on Android; Doc, ppt, excel; all of it. Free applications can be found for document viewing including pdf and other formats.

Many popular mobile games are available for Android platform as well. With a satisfactory touch screen and accelerometer, Android serves well as a gaming phone. Many free and paid games are available on Android market place as well.

Mango (Windows Phone 7.1)

Mango, also known as Windows Phone 7.1, is the code name for the newest Windows Phone 7.x version. Windows Phone 7 lacks backward compatibility, this means that applications written for previous versions of Windows Mobile cannot be run on Mango. Mango is distributed as proprietary software and hence Microsoft has the legal rights to make any changes to the operating system.

Mango features a touch screen for input. The responsiveness of the screen has been much raved for its accuracy, responsiveness and speed. According to minimum hardware requirements to Mango, all devices with Mango should have at least a 4-point multi-touch screen with 480 x 800 resolution.

Mango home screen has components called animated “Live Tiles”. These tiles will show the current status of your applications such as notifications, number of messages received, number of calls etc. Users can arrange the “Live Tiles” as they wish by “pinning” people to the home page, adding images etc.

Mango allows users to message their contacts via multiple channels such as Text messaging, Windows Live chat and Facebook chat. Users into heavy text messaging will find it interesting that text messages can be composed using voice recognition as well.

As for email, Mango provides configuration for Windows Live, Gmail and Yahoo mail. POP and IMAP accounts can be manually configured on Mango as well.

As for the legacy Phone contacts, Mango has replaced it with “People’s Hub”. Contact details can be entered manually via the virtual keyboard or can be imported from the users many social networking accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. An innovative “Me” card is designed to allow the user to update her status/profile picture across multiple social networks. The heavy emphasis on social network integration on Mango makes it evident that Windows Phone 7/Mango is more focussed towards the consumer market.

Mango comes pre- installed with Internet Explorer Mobile browser. IE Mobile allows tabbed browsing, muti-touch and Zoom in and out. As of now, Mango does not support any Flash content.

Multimedia content is managed by “Zune”. “Music and Video Hub” in “Zune” allows playing music, watching video and also accessing Zune marketplace to purchase or rent music. The “Pictures Hub” in “Zune” allows managing your picture albums on Facebook, Windows Live and photos taken from the phone.

Minimum system requirements for windows demand a 5 mega-pixel camera with an LED flash. Having said that it is noteworthy to mention that the image quality will vary based on the device. The camera application is reportedly fast to load with a neat user experience which organizes recently taken pictures to the left.

All Office applications and documents in Mango are managed by “Office Hub”. Microsoft Office mobile allows Viewing Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote documents. However, only PowerPoint presentations cannot be edited on Mango.

Gaming on Mango is facilitated by “Xbox Live”. A dedicated gaming market pace is also accessible to Mango users.

Android Vs Mango

The main similarity between Android and Mango is the fact that both operating systems can be found in modern smart phone devices. Both Android and Mango are available for devices made by HTC, Samsung and LG. Both operating systems support multi touch and uses virtual keyboards for text input. Completing tasks using voice command is available in both Mango and Android.

Most features inbuilt in Mango can be achieved via 3rd party applications in Android. In this perspective Android offers many options as it has a larger developer community. The main difference between Android and Mango is their licensing. Mango is proprietary software developed by Microsoft while Android is distributed as free and open source software. However, comparing the market share one cannot ignore the lead Android devices have over Mango.