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Some HTC and Nokia smartphones running Windows Phone 8, Microsoft’s weeks-old operating system, are rebooting of their own accord.
By Nov. 7, users of the Windows Phone 8X by HTC and the Nokia Lumia 920 began reporting issues to a number of user help forums, including WP Central and the Microsoft Community forum.
“I’ve had my 8X for a couple of days, [and] it’s been having multiple reboots. … Seems like Microsoft rushed WP8 a bit,” user Baldwin471 posted to the Microsoft forum Nov. 12. “Any idea if there is a fix in the works? It needs to come quick, because these reboots are getting on my nerves.”
Another forum user concurred: “Same here. It was fine for the first week, but is now rebooting several times a day. Every time so far (that I’ve noticed) has been when it’s been sitting on my desk doing nothing.”
On the WP Central blog, several Windows Phone 8X users reported seven or more reboots a day.
Trying to diagnose the phone, user anth77uk reported uninstalling the Facebook application, after which the rebooting stopped. For a time. He returned the phone for a new one and eventually experienced the same issue.
Other forum posters additionally complained that the 8X’s soft-touch paint—which in one case peeled off after the device was dropped—inconsistent battery life and “light leaking out through [the] corner of the screen/USB port.”
Forum user lostdaynight, feeling generous ahead of a Lumia 920 purchase, said, “This stuff is par for the course with most new smartphones. Apple had yellow screens, scuffs, shattered glass, purple light pictures … you name it. Samsung has had too many issues to count. No one is immune from this stuff.”
Joe Belfiore, who runs the Windows Phone team at Microsoft, Tweeted Nov. 17: “Reminder: if you hit a #WP8 issue, please post on [the Windows Phone forum] or tweet @winphonesupport. Thx!”
Over at the WindowsPhoneSupport Twitter account, no help had yet been offered, and on the blogs, no official advice had yet been doled out.
Microsoft didn’t immediately respond to a response for a comment.
Nokia, however, has issued a statement saying that a “small number” of Lumia 920s have reported experiencing “unusual performance.”
Nokia added, “We are investigating but suspect some apps may be at the root of the issue when left running in the background. While we learn more, we advise people when finished with an application to navigate away using the back button to ensure it is no longer active.”
The Lumia 920 sold out in Germany over the weekend, and the ailing smartphone maker enjoyed a jump in its stock price the morning of Nov. 19.
AT&T began selling the Windows Phone 8–running Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 Nov. 9, and now also offers the Windows Phone 8X by HTC. On Nov. 9, AT&T also began selling the Samsung ATIV smart PC, making it the only carrier to offer Windows 8 tablets for the holiday shopping season.
Microsoft, betting big on its new operating systems, has also introduced the Surface tablet, which runs Windows 8 and sells on the Microsoft site, as well as at a number of retail pop-up stores that will be in place through the holidays.
Introducing Windows Phone 8 Oct. 29, Microsoft executives called it “the most personal smartphone there is.”
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, at a Sept. 19 event introducing the 8X, similarly told the audience, “Beautiful design is at the heart of both the hardware and the software. … These phones are the first to, from the inside out, put people first.”
