- November 11th, 2010 by Nathan Fischer
Microsoft Windows Phone 7 is officially on the scene and other than hardware issues we’ve been seeing on the web so far, everyone is talking about OS updates. You see, when your smartphone software has an update available, you might not always get it when it’s ready. It still has to pass carrier and hardware testing. Microsoft was hoping to avoid fragmentation by making sure that all of its updates will become available for all handsets at the same time. But does that mean everyone will be on board at the same time?
In short, no. Carriers still need to test software and the way it works with their networks, so Microsoft says that the carriers can still block or slow updates if they want to.
ZDNet has the story:
We build updates for all Windows Phone users, but must certify them with the carriers. They’ll happen on a regular cadence like they do on the PC. If a carrier wants to stop an update they can. But they will get it out on the next release.
Updates are cumulative. If one [carrier] doesn’t get their testing done in time, the next push date comes and it goes out then. Carriers could in fact block updates to sell you a phone. That can happen. But we don’t expect that to happen. We are not going to push updates onto carrier networks that they have not tested. Microsoft is being very trusting of the carriers here. This is very different from the situation with Windows Mobile where every phone was very different. With Windows Phone, there is no impact on OEM code, network code, and so on. Yes, there are upgrades that will require a full test pass. But most will not.
For now, while carriers can definitely block the updates as they please, Microsoft assures us that Windows Phone 7 won’t have much of an impact on the network or hardware that would cause delays or stoppages in software upgrades from reaching customers. Let’s hope so!
[Via ZDNet]
