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Microsoft suspends WP7 updates for Samsung Omnia users
SOFTWARE HOUSE Microsoft has admitted that its Windows Phone 7 (WP7) update has problems with Samsung smartphones.
Microsoft had released its first update to WP7, one that it hoped would be a low-key update prepping WP7 devices for the so-called 'copy and paste' update that's expected sometime in March. Instead, hours after Microsoft started pushing out the update Samsung Omnia users were complaining that their devices were being bricked by the update.
Unlike Apple, Microsoft seems to have addressed the issue head on and put its hands up and admitted that a "technical issue" exists with the WP7 update process and that it affects some Samsung phones. It also said that the update process had not gone perfectly and that it was suspending sending updates to Samsung WP7 owners while it fixes the issue.
Microsoft's Michael Stroh, the very same chap who announced the availability of the update two days ago, was left to defend against the headlines that had claimed Microsoft's first WP7 update was nothing short of a disaster. Stroh said that Microsoft's internal data showed a 90 per cent success rate in patch installation, and that half of the 10 per cent failure rate could be attributed to a lack of disk space or a "bad Internet connection", whatever that means.
Going by Microsoft's own figures, a five per cent failure rate is far from acceptable. The actual number of devices affected is hard to say as Microsoft still won't release figures on how many WP7 handsets it has sold, but even a conservative estimate of one million sales would mean 50,000 WP7 users are left with a duff phone.
Stroh's post did not mention anything about other devices that have had issues with the WP7 update. It had been reported that some LG Optimus 7 handsets were also a little worse for wear after users tried to install the update.
For Microsoft the widely reported problems with the first WP7 update is an embarrassment and a missed opportunity. If Microsoft had managed to smoothly roll out an update to WP7 to many devices on many mobile operators, that might have become a selling point against the fragmented world of Android.
While Stroh's post is commendable in addressing the issue in a hands-on manner rather than denying its existence, it doesn't say much about Microsoft's capabilities as a large scale mobile software vendor. Microsoft must have known that given the hype surrounding the copy and paste update, interest in any WP7 update would be intense and for it to fail so miserably due to a technical issue highlights poor testing procedures.
Suggestions to make the update process a lot smoother include checking there is ample free hard drive space and a good Internet connection. It's hard to see how anyone could download the update without a working Internet connection, so perhaps a spring cleaning of the downloads folder is required.
Stroh tried to calm WP7 users by saying, "So when your turn to download it arrives, chances are good this will be a non-event." That might be true for some WP7 users but for Microsoft, this relatively minor update has been nothing but a farce.
Who knows what technical problems will be in store when the Vole finally puts out an update that actually has new features. µ
Tags: Microsoft
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10% failure rate due to mainly that the user did not manage to download the update poackage completely, or did not have enough HD-space.
These are the two main reasons adding up to about half of the failures. Then there is a sh*tload of other reasons like the user closing the lid on his laptop, badly configured antivirus, policy restrictions imposed by the IT department and what not.
Then there's a handfull of people that got their Samsungs "bricked" (of which most could just hard reset the device and restore the functionality of their phone)...
Since WP7 is mainly cloudbased, a minimum of data would have been lost for these few unfortiounate soles that got their Samsungs bricked...
The current Windows Phone 7 update has caused people's phones to brick, rendering them inoperable.
All data on those phones is lost. Photos, documents etc etc.
Remember the Microsoft Sidekick phones? In late 2009, Microsoft lost everyone's cloud data on those phones too. Microsoft didn't have a backup.
All these mobile failures, brickings and data losses seem to happen to Microsoft phones. It's becoming a pattern with Microsoft and Windows Phones.
I just updated my Samsung Omnia 7 couple of days back and did not come across any problem. The issue has been blown out of proportion due to the competitive market where the competitors don't leave a single opportunity to malign each other. If Microsoft delays the update to Samsung phones then I stand to lose out as a consumer....
C'mon guys. You give Apple such a hard time, in most cases for no reason at all, and when Microsoft miss the target by a mile, you praise their honesty in accepting that they made a mistake?
Frankly, I expect more from the Inquirer.
In fact, I have always suspect that The Inquirer is a Microsoft website and now you are just giving me more ammunition for that...
This is *Classic Samsung*. These guys have terrible drivers for their hardware.. They are Korea's very own ATI.
And before you leap, I can speak from xp as owner of a Galaxy S, and prior to that, arguably the best cell phone of it's era, the i8910.
The update worked just fine for me on my Samsung. Far from a "disaster" from what I see, but reporters today LOVE to over-state things thinking they know more than they actually do.
stop crying...
just root it, and flash vanilla android ROM. no more tears.
if youve seen 3 updates roll by, then you're highly likely out of warranty and have nothing to lose.
if you're that desperate and aware of the update, then you must also be technically able.
Don't be so mean...
The chemical composition In the fuel which feeds the iPhone versus Android debate hinges on ease of updates, product readiness, and the ever-presence/all needy collection of aps. As a Galaxy S owner (AT&T Captivate) I am getting quite a tan on my glutes from this bonfire and just when I think Samsung is ready to show up with a bucket of updates to help douse the flame, they trip, fall flat on their face and pour the water all over themselves.
So take heart WP7 owners, it’s not just you that have been burned by Samsungs inability to quickly rollout and accept updates. We Andoid users have watched no less than 3 updates roll by and are STILL on old ‘offical’ firmware….