Microsoft To Delay March Windows Phone Update
Problems with a previous Windows Phone update have forced Microsoft to push back its planned March update
Micosoft has confirmed it will delay its March Windows Phone 7 update due to problems with the February update that affected about 10 percent of the users who attempted to install it.
The February update was intended to improve the update process itself, but some customers have experienced problems with the update, particularly those with Samsung handsets, according to Microsoft.
More time needed
As a result of these issues the company has decided to take additional time to study the issues involved before releasing this month’s update, according to Eric Hautala, general manager for customer experience engineering at Microsoft.
“I’ve decided to take some extra time to ensure the update process meets our standards, your standards, and the standards of our partners,” Hautala said in a statement last week.
The update will be released in the latter half of March rather than the first half of the month as originally planned, Hautala said.
He said the delay should not affect the timing of other updates in the pipeline.
“This short pause should in no way impact the timing of future updates, including the one announced recently at Mobile World Congress featuring multitasking, a Twitter feature, and a new HTML 5-friendly version of Internet Explorer Mobile,” Hautala wrote.
The March update is intended to improve copy and paste, Marketplace search and other Windows Phone features.
During a keynote speech at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last month Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that the company planned to make Internet a “first-class citizen” on Windows Phone 7, bringing together HTML5 support and powerful graphics hardware acceleration, designed to drastically improve user experience.
IE9 on Windows Phone will use the same core browsing engine as on PCs, offering super-fast web surfing and helping to build its strength against other mobile platforms.
Multi-tasking
Microsoft also talked about the importance of multi-tasking, and claims it can now offer fast task switching without causing serious detriment to the battery life. In particular, Microsoft said, this will improve the experience of using third-party applications.
Microsoft recently sealed an important deal with Nokia which will see Windows Phone 7 software used on tha majority of Nokia smartphone handsets.
