Microsoft confirms WP8.1 on all WP8 phones

[Carib1964]

Microsoft has confirmed that Windows Phone 8 users will be able to update to Windows Phone 8.1.
Microsoft confirms: Windows Phone 8 users can upgrade to Windows Phone 8.1

 

[rculver9056]

Yay! When...?

 

[rculver9056]

Yay! When...?

Spring, says the linked article.

 

[undulose]

"Sullivan reiterated during his interview that Microsoft has a policy of supporting updates for 36 months on a device."

Woah, it is more supportive than Google which supports its Nexus line-up only up to 18 months!

Sent from my Nokia Lumia 1520 (RM-937 Malaysia) using Tapatalk

 

[desitunez]

Microsoft to Continue using NOKIA name/branding on Smartphones after buyout.

Computerworld reports that Windows Phone PR head Greg Sullivan has confirmed Windows Phone 8 handsets will be upgradable to Windows Phone 8.1, as long as the carrier distributes the update.
"We will not have the same experience as we had when Windows Phone 7 was upgraded to Windows Phone 8," Greg Sullivan said in an interview Wednesday at the International CES show.
Microsoft has a policy of supporting updates for 36 months on a device, Sullivan said.
He noted WP8 was a "powerful OS" that can support upgrades and that "we won?t run out of head space on Windows Phone 8 any time soon.".

In an interview that was chockfull of other titbits,

Computerworld claims that Microsoft will continue to use the Nokia name on some smartphones.
"We will have the license for the Nokia name," Sullivan said


Interesting !!!!! ...

 

[N_LaRUE]

Re: Microsoft to Continue using NOKIA name/branding on Smartphones after buyout.

Computerworld claims that Microsoft will continue to use the Nokia name on some smartphones.
"We will have the license for the Nokia name," Sullivan said


Interesting !!!!! ...

It's been known for some time that MS has the rights to use the Nokia and Lumia brand names for 10 years. Whether they will use it for that length of time is debatable. I expect them to use them to the point that people become 'comfortable' with MS now owning Nokia and Lumia.

Using history as a guide I see the Nokia name going first (my guess would be there's a fee involved as Nokia still exists) probably 1-2 years. Lumia will follow that 1-2 years later. That's just a guess mind you but I'm probably not far off.

 

[AngryNil]

Re: Microsoft to Continue using NOKIA name/branding on Smartphones after buyout.

It's been known for some time that MS has the rights to use the Nokia and Lumia brand names for 10 years.

What we previously heard was that MS had the rights for the Nokia name on feature phones, but not on smartphones. Will certainly be interesting how they handle the naming if they do have the rights, Nokia obviously has clout but I can't wait for branding on the front of these devices to be ditched.

 

[maclancer]

If they support a device for 36 months, that means that 1520 users will be able to upgrade beyond WP9. Possibly to WP10. Which its great

 

[Jas00555]

If they support a device for 36 months, that means that 1520 users will be able to upgrade beyond WP9. Possibly to WP10. Which its great

except they don't update like that (; . 1520 owners will get 8.3 + firmware. If someone like myself is in the developer program, then I'll get every OS update, just not the firmware.

 

[Mike Gibson]

Re: Microsoft to Continue using NOKIA name/branding on Smartphones after buyout.

Computerworld reports that Windows Phone PR head Greg Sullivan has confirmed Windows Phone 8 handsets will be upgradable to Windows Phone 8.1, as long as the carrier distributes the update.
...
In an interview that was chockfull of other titbits,
...
Computerworld claims that Microsoft will continue to use the Nokia name on some smartphones.
"We will have the license for the Nokia name," Sullivan said

Interesting !!!!! ...

Thanks for the link to that article. Some really good tidbits:

1. They'll continue to use the Nokia name on some smartphones. My guess is that they'll use Nokia overseas and Microsoft here in the US.

2. Sullivan basically confirmed that either Windows RT or Windows Phone will go away. My guess is that Windows RT will disappear (its name is poison) and Windows Phone will take over. Smartphones are a strategic product.

 

[coldfilter]

Don't hold your breath the update is relies solely on the carriers willingness to distribute it. Can't see the carriers being bothered to role out the 8.1 to older phones ie 920,925 etc and nor can I see Microsoft strong-arming them into doing so

 

[maclancer]

Re: Microsoft to Continue using NOKIA name/branding on Smartphones after buyout.

My guess is that Windows RT will disappear (its name is poison) and Windows Phone will take over. Smartphones are a strategic product.

yup, Windows RT was never a good selling device and the future is obviously Windows Phone.

 

[coldfilter]

Don't hold you breathe the 8.1 rollout is Carrier dependent and i imagine for financial reasons they would be extremely reluctant to make it available to older phones
I also can not see Microsoft forcing the issue with them.
When left do their own devises carries are absolutely horrendous at rolling out updates and 8.1 will be no better in fact it will be worse because instead of updating all those 920s and 925s the carriers for financial reasons will be wanting all those users to upgrade to the latest phones

 

[N_LaRUE]

Don't hold your breath the update is relies solely on the carriers willingness to distribute it. Can't see the carriers being bothered to role out the 8.1 to older phones ie 920,925 etc and nor can I see Microsoft strong-arming them into doing so

The article more or less confirms what we've all suspected and that is the carriers will have the last say in the WP8.1 update. Which basically means a lot of us are not going to get it. The only hope is that MS provides another means of getting it. I think I'm going to be in this position as Nokia had a fallout with EE. I don't see EE being all that sympathetic to earlier adopters of WP. If the Amber update was anything to go by. Unfortunately to most carriers, a six month old phone is 'old'. One that's almost two probably looks like a relic to them.

I believe I mentioned many times that I hate carriers. This is the number one reason aside from their ridiculous pricing models. Next phone I get will be fully unlocked with no ties to any carrier.

 

[shmsnh]

The article more or less confirms what we've all suspected and that is the carriers will have the last say in the WP8.1 update. Which basically means a lot of us are not going to get it.

What about phones that are not tied to carriers? Do you think they will get updates as usual from Microsoft/Nokia?

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

this is probably carrier dependent but my 1520 better get the update with its 2 GB ram lol

 

[N_LaRUE]

What about phones that are not tied to carriers? Do you think they will get updates as usual from Microsoft/Nokia?

Completely unlocked phones (in other words ones that don't have a carrier associated with it when you got to Settings -> about) will get the update. It's only those phones that are 'branded' carrier phones that are pretty much screwed.

 

[tgp]

Completely unlocked phones (in other words ones that don't have a carrier associated with it when you got to Settings -> about) will get the update. It's only those phones that are 'branded' carrier phones that are pretty much screwed.

I'm curious how it will work with unlocked & unbranded phones. With Android devices the update still goes through the manufacturer. The exception is Nexus devices. GPE devices are somewhere in between. Microsoft doesn't have any Microsoft branded phones, which means that the (official) update will still go through the manufacturer.

 

[N_LaRUE]

I'm curious how it will work with unlocked & unbranded phones. With Android devices the update still goes through the manufacturer. The exception is Nexus devices. GPE devices are somewhere in between. Microsoft doesn't have any Microsoft branded phones, which means that the (official) update will still go through the manufacturer.

Well any Lumia device is more or less Microsoft now. As for the others...? Since WP is supposed to be a the same experience across all phones it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[JPDVM2014]

The article more or less confirms what we've all suspected and that is the carriers will have the last say in the WP8.1 update. Which basically means a lot of us are not going to get it. The only hope is that MS provides another means of getting it. I think I'm going to be in this position as Nokia had a fallout with EE. I don't see EE being all that sympathetic to earlier adopters of WP. If the Amber update was anything to go by. Unfortunately to most carriers, a six month old phone is 'old'. One that's almost two probably looks like a relic to them.

I believe I mentioned many times that I hate carriers. This is the number one reason aside from their ridiculous pricing models. Next phone I get will be fully unlocked with no ties to any carrier.

MS already did provide another means of getting the update...or at least most of it. The developer preview program. The only thing that would then rely on the carrier would be firmware updates. But if MS takes over the Nokia firmware updates, maybe they will add them into the developer program.