Microsoft Passes Blame For Windows Phone 7 ‘Phantom Data’

Microsoft says a third party service is causing Windows Phone 7 handsets to send ‘phantom data’. But it won’t say who is to blame.

The problem came to light last week when reports started circulating that unbeknownst to their owners, some Windows Phone 7 smartphones were sending and receiving data over 3G without the user’s knowledge.

It is thought that as much as 50MB of phantom data was being exchanged daily, via customer’s 3G data service, even when Wi-Fi was available, pushing many customers over their monthly data usage allowance.

The Phantom Of the Opera-ting System

Microsoft told eWEEK Europe UK that it was investigating the reports and now the company has apparently identified the problem.

“We have determined that a third party solution commonly accessed from Windows Phones is configured in a manner that may potentially cause larger than expected data downloads,” a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed.

“We are in contact with the third party to assist them in making the necessary fixes, and are also pursuing potential workarounds to address the configuration issue in case those are needed,” the spokesman added.

“At this point in our investigation, we believe this is responsible for most of the reported incidents.”

Microsoft did not identify the third party involved, but the reports of the problems with the Windows Phone 7 handset could not come at a worse time. Microsoft is struggling to reinvent itself in the mobile space with a credible alternative to Google’s Android, BlackBerry OS, and Apple’s iOS.

Sales Concerns

Redmond launched Windows Phone 7 in October, and had broadly favourable reviews, but sales have reportedly gotten off to a slow start, not helped by limited stock.

Microsoft has so far refused to reveal how many end users have purchased Windows Phone 7 handsets, although it has confirmed that it shipped 1.5 million devices to mobile operators and retailers globally.

Earlier this week an LG Electronics executive labelled the sales figures for Windows Phone 7 as ‘underwhelming’, but he said that the devices showed potential.

“From an industry perspective we had a high expectation, but from a consumer point of view the visibility is less than we expected,” James Choi, a marketing strategy and planning team director for LG Electronics, told the blog Pocket-lint in an interview published on 14 January.

In November it emerged that Windows Phone 7 views microSD cards as a “permanent modification” and rewrites removable memory, meaning it cannot be shared with other devices.