There are many people interested in smart phones who do not want to buy Apple iPhones, but up until now, there haven’t been a whole lot of options that can compare. However, Microsoft seems poised to give the smart phone market their best shot. News has been brewing from a variety of sources about what is now being touted as the Mango (some called it Tango), as a major competitor to the high-end market. The mid-market price point is making a lot of people excited, because instead of going out the gate with a high-priced option, the company is going with a middle of the road price option that will directly compete with Droid and iPhone and knock them down a few pegs.

The stripped-down phone has been named Tango in recent posts, and most are enjoying the play on words that comes along with an operating system that will be native to the device, Mango. Tango Mango is something that Microsoft officials are keeping tight-lipped about.

What people are talking about most often is not so much the name, although there are plenty of pundits that enjoy making fun of the company’s naming conventions. Technology buffs are looking at the recent release of the names of the manufacturers that are working closely with Microsoft. Nokia and Samsung are prepping to hose the phones and will hope to combine the software they are developing with a stripped-down phone version that will have plenty of features, including mobile computer networking, with a more intuitive design.

The learning curve that many people have to go through when it comes to getting into the smart phone world is vast, which is why Microsoft is choosing to go with a bit more simplistic approach. While most devices that are being pushed by large companies try to mimic the abilities of Apple, the Windows phone is not trying to be another carbon copy, they are truly trying to innovate. Innovations might seem few and far between with phone technology, especially since most people believe that there is nothing new under the sun in regards to the latest and greatest in communication devices. However, leave it to Bill Gates and company to try and shake things up with all new media implications.

In a recent showcase, the Windows and Nokia model "Apollo" was presented as a stand-alone option that will have voice to speech recognition, text to speech, and so much more. You’ll see a fully integrated and intuitive design that is set to be released early 2012 at the very soonest, with many technology bloggers giving it a Mid-2012 time frame.

To clear up some confusion, the Windows Phones Mango, Tango 1, Tango 2, and Apollo are all being released sooner than later, and the phone’s OS will be interesting to see. Some videos have leaked to showcase the interesting functionality of the phone, which very well maybe the one true iPhone killer that some fans of Microsoft have been waiting on for some time now. It will be interesting to see if that is in fact what will occur, even though it seems like a tall task.