Official 8.1/Cyan for the Icon?

[JamesPTao]

At&t has been what I've used for 15 years. The coverage is great. The phone selection is good. And if I like a European phone I cqm buy it and it works on at&t

 

[Indistinguishable]

I'd probably be on at&t myself but for the better coverage on Verizon. Would be cheaper for sure, but hey don't you have a ULdata plan you would lose? Even my 6GB is better than what att would give me.

I had unlimited data, but I was only using like 1gb/month. Unless I'm on business trips, I'm on WiFi like 90% of my day. So I went with a cheaper plan that's 2gb/month. I should mention also that my company pays for me and my wife's plan.

The three things that matter most to me when it comes to carriers are: 1.) Windows Phone availability. 2.) Cell reception coverage. & 3.) Windows Phone OS/Firmware support.

Verizon is picking up the slack on #1 with the 930, HTC One W8, & 830. But AT&T still has the 1520. And my guess is that both AT&T & Verizon will get the next Lumia Flagship. AT&T not having Qi does suck.

Verizon and AT&T are pretty close on #2. I think AT&T has made great strides in terms of Cell coverage & strength. In terms of data speed & coverage, Verizon now is ahead by a landslide with XLTE.

And with regards to #3, AT&T is pretty much cleaning house with Cyan/8.1 support. They've released Cyan/8.1 on four out of their six WP8's. Verizon hasn't released it for a single one of their four WP8's.

I'm leaning towards AT&T for my next contract. The longer VZW waits to roll out Cyan for my Icon, the more likely I'll go over the top.

 

[pdt]

After researching various sites and consulting with Indistinguishable's joints, I believe if Verizon chooses to release 8.1 for the Icon they will do so after they release a new model which comes with 8.1 (such as the 830 next month). I suspect they will do this as an effort to sell more phones to those eager for 8.1.

There are no marketing reasons to wait. Probably just one more round of bug fixes and this will be out.

 

[Iain_S]

well yes there is, new 8.1 devices are coming to Verizon very soon

 

[Indistinguishable]

There are no marketing reasons to wait. Probably just one more round of bug fixes and this will be out.

"Bug fixes"

 

[anon(7901790)]

well yes there is, new 8.1 devices are coming to Verizon very soon

Source of your information please. What new WP devices are coming to Verizon? Whenever, an update is coming down the pipe, people start touting the, "new devices coming" mantra. If that was true, then we'd NEVER get updates on our devices; because there is ALWAYS a new device coming out.

 

[Indistinguishable]

Source of your information please. What new WP devices are coming to Verizon? Whenever, an update is coming down the pipe, people start touting the, "new devices coming" mantra. If that was true, then we'd NEVER get updates on our devices; because there is ALWAYS a new device coming out.

The HTC One W8 & the Nokia Lumia 830 are both coming to Verizon soon. Do you really need a source for that? It's been on WPcentral multiple times.

 

[Blkacesvf41]

Source of your information please. What new WP devices are coming to Verizon? Whenever, an update is coming down the pipe, people start touting the, "new devices coming" mantra. If that was true, then we'd NEVER get updates on our devices; because there is ALWAYS a new device coming out.

Not only WPCENTRAL but also:
Pocketnow.com
Theverge.com
You can also follow @tktechnews on Twitter, they pay people to get the latest leaks and news.

 

[tallarob]

I agree that I want Verizon to check out this update fully to minimize problems, but they should hire a 2nd guy and make them both full time.

 

[bradm77]

I want the update too, but as someone who once upon a time bought the Droid Bionic the very day it came out, I am OK with VZW making sure it is solid before releasing it. The Bionic ended up being a very good Android phone - about 3-4 months after it hit the shelves. My god, what a nightmare it was in the early going! It was the smartphone equivalent of eating chicken that is still pink in the middle.

 

[Indistinguishable]

I want the update too, but as someone who once upon a time bought the Droid Bionic the very day it came out, I am OK with VZW making sure it is solid before releasing it. The Bionic ended up being a very good Android phone - about 3-4 months after it hit the shelves. My god, what a nightmare it was in the early going! It was the smartphone equivalent of eating chicken that is still pink in the middle.

1.) The Nokia Lumia 930 has been out for a couple months with little to no problems.
2.) We've had the Windows Phone Developer Preview out for about half a year now with numerous bug fixes.
3.) The OS is fine and has been thoroughly tested by everyone on the Developer Preview & Microsoft. Cyan is fine and has been tested by 930 carriers/customers & Nokia.

What's Verizon going to find that the above have not? Verizon network problems? Probably. Multiple months to get those fixed? Come on, now...

I don't think that Verizon is waiting for the HTC One W8 or Nokia Lumia 830 for marketing reasons. I do think that they have a limited # of personnel assigned to WP8 projects and there's a priorities list. Upgrades to software/firmware are no where near the top of that list.

 

[imdickie]

The bottom line is updates do not drive revenue. VZW is famous for assigning resources to segments that drive or preserve revenue. Take for example your experience in calling for technical help vs calling for a new activation or customer retention. In my experience when you call for VZW for help the hold times are 6x that of new account activation or customer retention. It is so bad that when I call VZW for anything I always call the new activation line and have them transfer me to where I intended to go in the first place.

 

[jazz70]

I don't think that Verizon is waiting for the HTC One W8 or Nokia Lumia 830 for marketing reasons. I do think that they have a limited # of personnel assigned to WP8 projects and there's a priorities list. Upgrades to software/firmware are no where near the top of that list.

I agree any visit to a local VZW store will give you a pretty good indication of how much of a priority Windows Phones are for Verizon, absolutely no priority.

In my experience with 2 local VZW stores near me the sales associates will steer you toward the latest Android phones, barely have any knowledge or working WP display units to even look at and handle

 

[MikeSo]

I agree any visit to a local VZW store will give you a pretty good indication of how much of a priority Windows Phones are for Verizon, absolutely no priority.

In my experience with 2 local VZW stores near me the sales associates will steer you toward the latest Android phones, barely have any knowledge or working WP display units to even look at and handle

Two months after the Icon came out, I went to two stores and a Verizon mall cart and none of them had it. Had to go to their flagship store to try it out and buy. The others didn't even have one of those non-functioning mockups (and the one store where I asked about it he had no idea what I was talking about).

I am amazed that anyone owns one, to be honest. And I have no reason to believe that the Cyan update is any sort of priority for them... hopefully Microsoft is putting some pressure on them so we'll see it out soon.

 

[anon(7901790)]

I don't think that Verizon is waiting for the HTC One W8 or Nokia Lumia 830 for marketing reasons. I do think that they have a limited # of personnel assigned to WP8 projects and there's a priorities list. Upgrades to software/firmware are no where near the top of that list.

Because Verizon is a business who's purpose is to sell a product and service, it is about revenue. However, they are not purposely delaying the update in hopes people will switch to a different phone. The amount of revenue that would generate is negligible, since the people switching phones are already customers.

Like Indistinguishable and a few others have said, it's about priorities. Verizon's first priority is to ensure the safety and security of its network, it's second priority is to get new subscribers and to keep its current subscribers. Both of which generate revenue. Since an OS update (regardless of the OS) affects the first priority, it is doing its due diligence to ensure that is MILLIONS of subscribers are getting what they are paying for; a safe and secure network. If the Verizon is unable to provide what it is contracted to provide, then it starts losing subscribers and potential new subscribers will be less likely to sign up. Which then affects revenue.

The only exception is the iPhone and that is because Apple pushed hard and got an agreement from Verizon and the other carriers to handle its own updates. Which, by the way, have in some cases back fired on Apple, but NOT the carriers.

 

[MikeSo]

People bring their own phones over to carriers all the time without problems. People like me already use WP 8.1 Update on Verizon without issues. The idea that these delays are because of some grave security concerns is ludicrous. Technical testing, yes. But it doesn't take very long for them to do. These delays (on Android as well) are for support, network capacity and sales reasons.

 

[aceoforder]

I spoke to a Verizon Business rep yesterday and asked about the availability of WP8.1/Cyan on the Icon. He got in touch with their Smartphone Engineering team and reported back to me that the update for the Icon will be released on September 1st and seemed appropriately clued in.

Obviously, take it with the grain of salt that "speaking to anyone who is not the actual Engineering Team" necessitates.... But there you go!

 

[MikeSo]

I spoke to a Verizon Business rep yesterday and asked about the availability of WP8.1/Cyan on the Icon. He got in touch with their Smartphone Engineering team and reported back to me that the update for the Icon will be released on September 1st and seemed appropriately clued in.

Obviously, take it with the grain of salt that "speaking to anyone who is not the actual Engineering Team" necessitates.... But there you go!

Hey at least it's a date to look forward to, no matter if it happens or not. Thanks for asking. Now we'll see if he was right.

 

[DavidinCT]

I spoke to a Verizon Business rep yesterday and asked about the availability of WP8.1/Cyan on the Icon. He got in touch with their Smartphone Engineering team and reported back to me that the update for the Icon will be released on September 1st and seemed appropriately clued in.

Obviously, take it with the grain of salt that "speaking to anyone who is not the actual Engineering Team" necessitates.... But there you go!

Cool, just hope it's sooner, this is almost 3 weeks away, when AT&T devices have it right now...

Yea, I would rather have them delay it a little to make sure the bugs are worked out of it, to have a bug free experience but, ANOTHER 3 weeks....yea, this is getting old.

 

[Kasey Pierce]

I'm upset at the wait only because i was really excited for the Fitbit app. Now it turns out it will only Sync with Cyan...and who knows how long that will take to come out.