Microsoft is pulling its first Windows Phone 7 update for Samsung smartphones, in the wake of a technical issue that bricked some users' devices.
Microsoft is
apparently pulling its first Windows Phone 7 update for Samsung smartphones,
until it can solve a technical issue that stalled an unknown subset of users'
devices.
"We have
identified a technical issue with the Windows Phone update process that impacts
a small number of phones," a Microsoft spokesperson wrote in a Feb. 23 email to
eWEEK. "In response to this emerging issue, we have temporarily taken down the
latest software update for Samsung phones in order to correct the issue."
The update will
apparently be redistributed "as soon as possible," the spokesperson added.
Microsoft
originally described the update to media as a "smaller infrastructure update
that will help future updates," including one scheduled for the first two weeks
of March that will add cut-and-paste and faster mobile-application loading.
"While it may not sound exciting, it's important because it's paving the way
for all future goodie-filled updates to your phone," Michael Stroh, a writer
for Microsoft's Windows team,
posted Feb. 21 on the Windows Phone Blog.
Within a day
of Microsoft beginning to roll out the update, however, users began reporting
that it stalled their smartphones. The company's
Windows Phone 7 help forum erupted with commenter
threads about the issue, with titles like, "WP7 Stuck on Step 7 of 10, how long
should this update take?" and "Update error with Optimus 7." A number of users
reported that their Samsung smartphones were "bricked" by the update.
At the Mobile
World Congress in Barcelona, Microsoft announced further Windows Phone 7 updates
for the second half of 2011, including multitasking, Twitter integration with
the platform's "People" Hub, and Office document sharing and storage via
Windows Live Skydrive. Internet Explorer 9 will also be added to the platform.
Microsoft
claims that Windows Phone 7 has been selling at a rate comparable to other
first-generation smartphone platforms, but the exact number of devices reaching
consumers' hands remains unclear. At the end of January, the company confirmed
that manufacturers have sold retailers some 2 million Windows Phone 7 units.
Nokia recently agreed to make Windows Phone 7 the software platform for its
phones, a move that could increase Microsoft's smartphone presence in
international markets; given Nokia's relatively small smartphone footprint in
the United States, however, the deal's effect here could be more negligible.
Microsoft
hopes that Windows Phone 7 will reverse its declining market share in
smartphones, where it faces intense rivalry from not only Google Android, but
also the Apple iPhone and Research In Motion's BlackBerry franchise.
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