Tiles are similar to Android widgets, except they're integrated into dashboard in a more "cohesive" manner. On my droid phone, I optionally have to add a special widget (if there's even one for the app, and I sometimes have to download it extra), set the size it takes up on the dashboard page, etc. On the Win phone, the icon you click to start the app is same one that's showing the live data. It's omnipresent. A subtle difference.