Microsoft confirms spring updates for Windows, Windows Phone

Announces 7 new—and two old—partners that will build Windows Phones.

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[lonewolfe2015]

Exciting times as a WP enthusiast, this is what the platform was originally billed to become and it has been a slow climb towards the unification goal. Holding off on my upgrade until I see some of the first dedicated 8.1 phones announced.

 

[under]

Interesting that Sony isn't part of the listing of vendors. Perhaps they want to make their own announcement?

 

[Deleted member 192806]

The absence of enterprise features especially in this security conscious world has been a big hole in the Windows platform.

Edit: wasn't that absence due to a lacking of capability in current hardware?

 

[sonolumi]

Enabling more manufacturers to produce phones with the Windows Phone OS? Good.

Enabling it to potentially be shipped on budget hardware that's not up to the task? Not so good.

Plenty of budget Android handsets merely carry the name, the experience is another thing entirely. I would not like to see that happen with Windows Phone as that kind of bad rep is never helpful.

I can see plenty of businesses being happy at Lenovo's presence though. Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM Lenovo.

 

[coachmark2]

This is excellent news. I cannot see any part of this announcement as a negative for anyone other than Microsoft's rivals.

Also good to see Lenovo on there. Oh a K900 on US LTE with Windows Phone 8.... Do want.

 

[firsttimeposter]

MS should do a Surface phone with an OEM partner similar to what Google does.

 

[jdale]

With the coming of Windows 8.1 Update 1, Microsoft is showing real progress in competing against Oracle's version numbering scheme for Java (currently on Java 7 update 51, displayed in different locations as 7 U51, 7.0.510.13, and 10.51.2.13).

But this shows a lack of ambition on Microsoft's part. Oracle's version numbering is obtuse, but it's not completely opaque. To be a leader in this field, Microsoft needs to target Intel.

 

[Kevin Lowe]

firsttimeposter[/url]":1iix1u27]MS should do a Surface phone with an OEM partner similar to what Google does.

I like the Nexus line, but given Google's OEM partners' feelings on it, I can understand why MS may not want to move beyond tablets into phones.

 

[Upsilon1]

sonolumi[/url]":3iq68owe]Enabling more manufacturers to produce phones with the Windows Phone OS? Good.

Enabling it to potentially be shipped on budget hardware that's not up to the task? Not so good.

Plenty of budget Android handsets merely carry the name, the experience is another thing entirely. I would not like to see that happen with Windows Phone as that kind of bad rep is never helpful.

I can see plenty of businesses being happy at Lenovo's presence though. Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM Lenovo.

In Windows phone world...the OEMs and carriers can't add poor, buggy software that can't be uninstalled by the user. The problem with low end Android devices is that many OEMs that target d low end is that the OEMs saddle a already powerful OS(Android) with bloated skins, uninstallable software processes.

Knowing Microsoft, they will likely disable advance processor/ram intensive functions on such devices anyway.

Lenovo on board is a welcome note.....its a nice consolation seeing them on the windows phone OEM list after not getting confirmation if Sony has joined or not.

So, How do Lenovo go on with Windows Phone OS and Motorola a premier Android device manufacturer all under the same roof whenever they complete the purchase of Motorola?

Perhaps Lenovo only signup for Windows Phone in order to keep Microsoft lawyers from breathing down their necks...only time will tell.

 

[Korgoth]

sonolumi[/url]":39gsmn1v]Enabling more manufacturers to produce phones with the Windows Phone OS? Good.

Enabling it to potentially be shipped on budget hardware that's not up to the task? Not so good.

Plenty of budget Android handsets merely carry the name, the experience is another thing entirely. I would not like to see that happen with Windows Phone as that kind of bad rep is never helpful.

I can see plenty of businesses being happy at Lenovo's presence though. Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM Lenovo.

The SoC selection is still limited, and Windows Phone runs very well on low end hardware. I own a Lumia 521. I bought it because my contract ended and I wanted something to use while I waited for the Nexus 5 to come out. Yet the Lumia works so well that I haven't been able to justify to myself spending the $400 to get a Nexus 5. It's a $60 phone (or was at the time) that does GPS/Spotify when I'm in the car, takes serviceable photos, and runs smoother then ICS did on my previous phone, which had twice the ram.

If anything adding Windows Phone to the low end Android handsets these manufacturers make will improve the experience.

 

[Wisetrader]

I have got a real bad feeling about Joe Belfiore being head of Windows division. Under him Windows phone platform has stagnated since 2012. Only in the last week we have some info about WP8.1 , But for the last couple of years nothing nada zip. So many people gave up on the platform or never bought in in the first place because it was an unfinished work and nothing official was ever said about the future roadmap.

That's a terrible way to run things and I can't believe he was rewarded by being put in charge of the fucking crown jewels - Windows.

Joe - now please don't clam up for the next two years and go radio silence on Windows 9. There are plenty more fish to choose from these days if you want to act coy.

 

[sapphir8]

So much for Microsoft and their timely updates to windows phones.

 

[Upsilon1]

sapphir8[/url]":afpgu4p3]So much for Microsoft and their timely updates to windows phones.

Nope this is not the timely update issues here. The timely update issue will come up whenever they update the OS and see how much time it gets to the end users of Windows Phone.

What you intend to say was speed of OS revisions for a OS still playing catch up to iOS and Android both in Mindshare and to some extent exposed APIs as well as features

 

[Voo42]

jdale[/url]":2i8s6by3]With the coming of Windows 8.1 Update 1, Microsoft is showing real progress in competing against Oracle's version numbering scheme for Java (currently on Java 7 update 51, displayed in different locations as 7 U51, 7.0.510.13, and 10.51.2.13).

But this shows a lack of ambition on Microsoft's part. Oracle's version numbering is obtuse, but it's not completely opaque. To be a leader in this field, Microsoft needs to target Intel.

Damn I didn't make the connection until you brought it up. To be fair they at least didn't go from 1.4 -> 5..

 

[sporkinum]

Maybe they can work in not making the fonts in IE look terrible. You can run the clear type tuner all day and still end up ugly. Most programs look fine, but anything using IE looks terrible. That and de-couple the need to sign in to your machine with a microsoft account to use the integrated Sky/One Drive.

 

[MartinHatch]

firsttimeposter[/url]":me0dgokp]MS should do a Surface phone with an OEM partner similar to what Google does.

you don't think that might be why they bought Nokia?

 

[dennilfloss]

No sign of Windows 7 Service Pack 2, eh?

 

[flunk]

dennilfloss[/url]":3fqo5x7y]No sign of Windows 7 Service Pack 2, eh?

It will not exist, Microsoft announced this over a year ago.

 

[drfisheye]

Wisetrader[/url]":24zfhni5]I have got a real bad feeling about Joe Belfiore being head of Windows division. Under him Windows phone platform has stagnated since 2012. Only in the last week we have some info about WP8.1 , But for the last couple of years nothing nada zip. So many people gave up on the platform or never bought in in the first place because it was an unfinished work and nothing official was ever said about the future roadmap.

That's a terrible way to run things and I can't believe he was rewarded by being put in charge of the fucking crown jewels - Windows.

Joe - now please don't clam up for the next two years and go radio silence on Windows 9. There are plenty more fish to choose from these days if you want to act coy.

He's not in charge of Windows in general, only on the UX. And I think the stagnation of WP had more to do with the resources he got to throw at it. Now that WP is moved to the Windows team, it finally gets some real attention from Microsoft.

 

[stickboy]

jdale[/url]":34tltvm5]With the coming of Windows 8.1 Update 1, Microsoft is showing real progress in competing against Oracle's version numbering scheme for Java (currently on Java 7 update 51, displayed in different locations as 7 U51, 7.0.510.13, and 10.51.2.13).

Ha!

But it seems to me that they've just renamed "service pack" to "update", so really Microsoft has been trying to compete on this front for a long while.

 

[Chikahiro]

Glad to see this! Honestly, 2013 was busy for MS. Maybe too busy/crazy, and something *had* to give between W8.1, Xbox One, and WP8.1. Hopefully things will be smoother here on out!

 

[pw38]

Ok anxious for wp8.1 but even with a the easy developer back door they've given us it looks like early summer at best and depending on carrier possibly a lot longer for average joes. If the thing is done they need to release it. Let developers have time with it while we get the user improvements right off the bat. This update process MS has for WP is sometimes excruciatingly slow and this comes from a guy who's bought unto the platform since day 1 of wp7. Hurry up!

 

[Genghis7777]

Wisetrader[/url]":1jps8uj1]So many people gave up on the platform or never bought in in the first place because it was an unfinished work and nothing official was ever said about the future roadmap.

Well I've had a couple of GDR releases and I'm currently awaiting my Telco to release GDR3. Nokia has done a couple of updates and I'm awaiting Black (which includes GDR3).

There is a certain amount of complexity involved in developing an OS and no amount of resource can speed it up. There can only be so many "cooks in the kitchen." If you look at the development of iPhone and Android, WP is actually moving at quite a fast clip.

For example, it was several years before Android let users install and launch apps from an external memory card.

 

[bburdge]

Genghis7777[/url]":2vx7mvkn]

Wisetrader[/url]":2vx7mvkn]So many people gave up on the platform or never bought in in the first place because it was an unfinished work and nothing official was ever said about the future roadmap.

Well I've had a couple of GDR releases and I'm currently awaiting my Telco to release GDR3. Nokia has done a couple of updates and I'm awaiting Black (which includes GDR3).

There is a certain amount of complexity involved in developing an OS and no amount of resource can speed it up. There can only be so many "cooks in the kitchen." If you look at the development of iPhone and Android, WP is actually moving at quite a fast clip.

For example, it was several years before Android let users install and launch apps from an external memory card.

Don't wait on the telcos for the GDR updates, you can download them straight from MS early with a few minutes work. This guide explains how to get the Preview for Developers app, which just requires a free sign up for the App Studio program. Once you have the Preview app it will push the latest OS updates to your phone.

It won't push new FW updates (the Lumia Black) which require interaction from the HW maker and significant testing by the carrier for approval. But you will get the new OS features.

 

[Old_Fogie_Late_Bloomer]

bburdge[/url]":35wp3nrq]

Genghis7777[/url]":35wp3nrq]

Wisetrader[/url]":35wp3nrq]So many people gave up on the platform or never bought in in the first place because it was an unfinished work and nothing official was ever said about the future roadmap.

Well I've had a couple of GDR releases and I'm currently awaiting my Telco to release GDR3. Nokia has done a couple of updates and I'm awaiting Black (which includes GDR3).

There is a certain amount of complexity involved in developing an OS and no amount of resource can speed it up. There can only be so many "cooks in the kitchen." If you look at the development of iPhone and Android, WP is actually moving at quite a fast clip.

For example, it was several years before Android let users install and launch apps from an external memory card.

Don't wait on the telcos for the GDR updates, you can download them straight from MS early with a few minutes work. This guide explains how to get the Preview for Developers app, which just requires a free sign up for the App Studio program. Once you have the Preview app it will push the latest OS updates to your phone.

It won't push new FW updates (the Lumia Black) which require interaction from the HW maker and significant testing by the carrier for approval. But you will get the new OS features.

I did this to get glance screen notifications, the one feature I really wanted. It doesn't seem to have given me everything, like double-tap to unlock, but I have a setting for screen orientation lock now, too.

Sadly, my issues with audio playback over Bluetooth haven't really improved, though it wouldn't surprise me if any potential improvements there would require changes to the firmware. On the plus side, it turns out my car handles playing music from a USB Flash drive pretty well, which I'd never tested before because I always just used my Note II.

I turned it the preview off for now, out of what is no doubt an overabundance of caution, and hopefully the official carrier-sanctioned update will be released before too long.

By the way, that glance functionality is so ridiculously simple that I can't believe it isn't on every smartphone ever. Pull the phone out of the pocket, and a low-power clock and notification display pops up. Wait a few moments and it turns back off. Or if you have your phone on your desk? Palm it, and bam! Saves the need for a notification LED (or at least compensates well for the lack of one).

Edit: Typo...

 

[fierywater]

Old_Fogie_Late_Bloomer[/url]":1ccm4w5s]By the way, that glance functionality is so ridiculously simple that I can't believe it isn't on every smartphone ever. Pull the phone out of the pocket, and a low-power clock and notification display pops up. Wait a few moments and it turns back off. Or if you have your phone on your desk? Palm it, and bam! Saves the need for a notification LED (or at least compensates well for the lack of one).

Agreed. I love the similar functionality on my Moto X. I really want to go back to Windows Phone at some point, but Nokia, in their infinite wisdom, left Glance compatibility out of the Lumia Icon. Sigh.

 

[lamarcheb]

Ostracus[/url]":17mav6qv]The absence of enterprise features especially in this security conscious world has been a big hole in the Windows platform.

Edit: wasn't that absence due to a lacking of capability in current hardware?

I don't understand the down votes. Its a legitimate concern. WM 6.5 supported the entire stack of EAS features. WP does not, such that iOS or Android has to be used in many cases. For instance, WP8 does not support SD card encryption; connection to Exchange servers that require it will be refused. Like the iPhone, many Lumia models do not have SD cards. However the iPhone 'lies' when queried about the SD card encryption by Exchange server. WP8 does not. And there's no indication that the upcoming updates will remedy this sad state of affairs.