While Windows Phone 7 phones from manufacturers like HTC were receiving the update, Microsoft had to suspend the update for Samsung phones until it fixed the bug. The company has resumed rolling the update to Samsung phones on March 2.
The only way to update a Windows Phone 7 phone is to connect it to your computer and update it via either Zune software or the Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac. Only the update notification is sent over the air to a phone. The February software patch is being sent out on a rolling schedule; a message will appear on your phone when it’s available.
Microsoft said some of the one in ten Windows Phone 7 users experienced problems with the update either due to a bad Internet connection or insufficient computer storage space. However, the technical issue with the Windows Phone update process that rendered useless the small number of Samsung phones was not detailed.
“During the past week the engineering team has pinpointed and fixed problems that were preventing a small percentage of Windows Phones from installing the February software patch,” Microsoft’s Michael Stroh wrote on the Windows Phone Blog. “We apologize again for the delay and continue looking for ways to improve the update process,” he added.
Preparing For The Next Update
The troublesome Windows Phone 7 Update, the first one for the OS, did not bring any major features, but is only meant to pave the way for a future upgrade, expected over the coming weeks. This future update is supposed to finally bring copy/paste, Twitter integration, and an improved Internet Explorer 9 browser to the platform.
According to research firm The NPD Group, Windows Phone 7 held a two-percent share of the U.S. smartphone market in the fourth quarter of 2010. Microsoft also announced last month a partnership with Nokia to create new Windows Phone 7 devices.
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