Microsoft’s attempt at being a dominant force in the mobile OS ecosystem is off to a rocky start as issues continue to plague its Windows Phone 7 (WP7) platform.
After instances of severe glitches resulted in the software giant halting its maiden software update rollout in late February, the update process resumed last week only to face further problems.
Users of Samsung WP7-based handsets apparently reported on a Microsoft support forum that they faced an error code while trying to apply the newly-released update. The problematic patch was ironically meant to facilitate future platform updates.
Microsoft acknowledged the problem on its Twitter account and, in a blog post dated Mar 4, provided instructions on how users could circumvent the error.
Microsoft was unable to provide TelecomAsia with region-specific data on affected customers, but users who reported being affected by the latest Samsung update glitch in the Microsoft support forum include customers of SingTel in Singapore and Optus in Australia.
This latest snag follows an earlier issue this year, where users of WP7 handsets faced issues associated with phantom mobile data usage. Microsoft later revealed the problem was the result of inefficient syncing between its Windows Phone Mail Client and Yahoo Mail.
A Microsoft spokesperson told TelecomAsia it had worked with Yahoo to ‘identify a fix, which will be rolled out in the coming weeks’.
The spokesperson said Microsoft had also identified an issue with its Exchange ActiveSync email synchronization protocol, which could affect email programs such as Outlook and Gmail. A fix for this solution is expected to be available via a ‘near-term expected update from Microsoft’.
These teething hiccups could likely delay Microsoft’s anticipated WP7 update dubbed “NoDo”, scheduled for the first two weeks of March. “NoDo” is expected to bring improvements to the WP7 platform, such as copy and paste functions.