Microsoft's future update plans for its Windows phones throughout 2012 have just been depicted on a roadmap released on the Internet. The roadmap shows how Microsoft decided to release two significant updates to its mobile operating system in 2012. Microsoft previously made a "Mango" update in the fall of 2011. The new updates are said to be follow-ups to enhance what the old update has done.

The first 2012 update, known as the "Tango" update, has had several rumors surrounding it ever since Mango came out. Tango supposedly will correct any compatibility issues that users may have with older hardware or lower-end modern hardware, which lets Microsoft and its partners distribute the phone more easily in emerging countries in the form of more cheaply made devices that can offer similar functionality to those distributed in developed nations. The roadmap doesn't mention whether Tango will include anything beneficial for "first world" persons.

Next up after Tango is an update code-named "Apollo," which introduces updates that are a bit friendlier for everyone. The Apollo update, according to the roadmap, is supposed to bring forth the advent of "competitive superphones" that run Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system. As talk spreads like butter, people are expecting the operating system to expand its compatibility with different resolutions, offering better possibilities in terms of high-definition displays. The update is also suspected to introduce support for multi-core CPUs, making up for the setback previously in Windows Mobile. The Apollo update might release in Q4 2012.

The roadmap doesn't seem to make any mention of compatibility with the new 4G networking standards in either of the two updates. Normally, at least one of the two updates should express compatibility as carriers are starting to demand that the operating system comply with the 4G LTE standards. Nokia is rumored to be testing 4G LTE technology in a re-rigged version of its Lumia 800 phone to make nice with AT&T and Verizon.