jennell2jenson: Windows Phone 7 Updates Detailed in Handy Microsoft Chart

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Windows Phone 7 Updates Detailed in Handy Microsoft Chart

Do you own a Windows Phone? Is your life incomplete without the ability to cut-and-paste text using that phone? Are you wondering when the update to deliver that cut-and-paste (along with some other tweaks) is supposed to arrive on your device?

Then Microsoft (and its Windows Phone Website) has a handy set of charts for you, detailing the update status for customers in both the United States and around the world. Each chart breaks down the update path into three categories:

Testing, i.e., the update is undergoing "mobile operator network and quality tests.

Scheduling, i.e., Microsoft is scheduling the update for delivery (this part is supposed to last "10 days or less," according to the chart.)

Delivering, i.e., your phone should receive the update at, well, some point. "Because updates are typically delivered to customers in batches," the chart explains, "it might take several weeks before you receive notice that an update is available to you."

In the United States, the HTC Surround, LG Quantum and Samsung Focus are all apparently in "Testing" for both the February software update (designed to pave the way for future updates) and the March "NoDo" update (includes both cut-and-paste and feature tweaks). The Dell Venue Pro and HTC HD7 are at the "Scheduling" stage for both updates. The HTC Arrive apparently comes with both updates preinstalled, so it doesn't fit into that particular matrix.

Oddly, the United States chart differs from the worldwide chart in that it doesn't mention each device's mobile operator. Also, while some global phones are in the "Delivering" stage, it doesn't seem as if any of the U.S. phones are there quite yet. If you own a Windows Phone 7 device, are you annoyed by this?

In addition to cut-and-paste, the "NoDo" update includes improvements to Messaging, WiFi and Outlook. It also improves "the stability of switching between camera and video modes," the experience of "syncing Facebook accounts," and "the experience of using a Bluetooth headset to make calls when you're playing music or videos."

Microsoft's February update, designed to help with future updates, stalled a small number of users' smartphones and caused roughly two days' worth of drama on Microsoft's online help forums. In the wake of that, Microsoft seemed more cautious in how it proceeded with "NoDo," even pushing the release date back from the first two weeks of March to the latter half of the month. But based on all those "Testing" notations on the chart, it seems like a lot of U.S. users will have to wait a little longer before they can actually use that cut-and-paste.