It's hard to tell whether further details surrounding the apparent plethora of Windows Phone 7 updates tabled for 2011 clears the issue up, or makes it more complicated.

Either way, Windows Phone Secrets claims Microsoft has as good as confirmed two of the updates currently scheduled to roll out to consumers over the coming twelve months – the first due in February, the second more major update pencilled in for an unspecified launch later in the year.

Donut download

The blog claims consumers should have their hands on update 1 – dubbed 'NoDo', in reference to Microsoft's decision to avoid mini-updates in the fashion of Android 1.6, known as Donut – in a matter of weeks.

On board will be copy and paste, support for the Qualcomm 7×30 smartphone chipset, a CDMA location stack, and a number of software fixes.

The update is also likely to be officially announced at CES 2011, released to manufacturers before the end of January.

Major Mango

It's Mango, the larger update of the two, that is generating most buzz, however.

Supposedly sporting an entertainment bent, Internet Explorer 9 looks like it'll make the cut, along with the Trident 5 rendering engine, HTML5 and Silverlight, and gesture support.

So extensive is its roster rumoured to be, in fact, it's even being suggested that Microsoft may promote the update publicly as Windows Phone 7.5 - though just where it fits into the roll out of updates as a whole is unclear.

All that's currently known is, Mango won't directly follow NoDo, meaning there will be at least one update between the two.

As such, 2011 looks like it'll be a busy year for Microsoft's fledging format, with Windows Phone positioned to react to the moves made by the competition through what would appear to be a bevy of forthcoming updates.

[source: Windows Phone Secrets]