Official 8.1/Denim for the Icon?

[aximtreo]

Not sure how that is a "lie" it is ready for 8.1 when it's available..

Wow, this is taking forever, here we are the 8th of December all seemed solid rumors were all BS, as normal, as we would of had this a few weeks ago if they were true.

Same old news, waiting for a phone update from Verizon....this is so old, I would change carriers if Vzw didn't have such great coverage compared to the other vendors. Also, almost everyone I know (friends and family) are on VZW, so it would cost more from another carrier.

And one of the biggest reasons, Unlimited LTE data...

Yeah, feel your pain. I got the 1520 for AT&T, ported my number from Verizon and the family plan. It cost me close to $80 bucks per month for this experiment. After two months, I ported back to Verizon and my ICON. The 1520 is listed here for sale. I'm glad I'm not a "Power User" and have to put up with this update crap. I really would be upset.

S.c.r.e.w.e.d. anyway about it...

 

[DavidinCT]

I bought the Icon in February when it came out thinking that it was "8.1 ready." And that was confirmed when, not too many months later, the 930 was launched with 8.1 & Cyan. Yet here we are in December still waiting... It is abundantly clear that Verizon is to blame.

Right and I agree with you but, the phone itself IS 8.1 ready....It's not a lie and yea the morons over at Verizon ARE the problem and to blame, nothing new...

 

[Tjarren]

Right and I agree with you but, the phone itself IS 8.1 ready....It's not a lie and yea the morons over at Verizon ARE the problem and to blame, nothing new...

That's not very nice. They're not morons. They're just ... evil.

 

[Indistinguishable]

Right and I agree with you but, the phone itself IS 8.1 ready....It's not a lie and yea the morons over at Verizon ARE the problem and to blame, nothing new...

Yes, the phone is, and always has been WP8.1 ready. And i'm not saying that listing it as such is a lie. But what I am saying is that it makes the product deceptive. It's been WP8.1 ready since launch 10 months ago. Yet here we are without it.

It's Verizon that is causing the hold up. But Microsoft's former, and should be current, flagship phone that looks bad.

 

[MikeSo]

I've given up hoping for the update at this point, but follow the thread with interest anyway. I'm very happy with 8.1.1 Preview on my Icon. Although Verizon probably lost a lot of WP customers over this (including me when my contact is up) we're such a small group of users that it was probably worth it to them. They probably managed to convert some users to iPhones or Galaxy S phones, the only ones they seem to care about. So win win for them, I guess.

 

[khador]

Congrats on your ambassadorship.

Sadly, attribution is immaterial at this point, 5 months after Cyan was released to carriers.
I recently switched from Verizon over to Cricket wireless. All five phones are Moto Gs.

Funny to see another Icon afflicted user switch carrier. I also switched from Verizon, but to T-Mobile and picked up the Nexus 5. For me I'm not missing Verizon one bit, I live in a city and get great coverage from all carriers, so there wasn't any reason to stick with them. I really did like the Icon, it was a great phone.

Great choice in the Moto G, that phone is incredible for the price. Often see a lot of people on this site talking about how great the low/mid range windows phones are, but I doubt they'd say that after using the new Moto G. I originally picked up a Nokia 635 from T-Mobile so I could get the ETF reimbursement, that phone is absolutely awful, a joke compared to the Moto G. Hard to believe the Moto only costs $50 more.

How are you finding the Moto G?

 

[khador]

Hard to fathom how Sprint can release 8.1 for the Samsung Ativ S Neo and the Icon is still out in the cold.

Obvious that if anyone wants to use Windows Phone it'd better not be on Verizon.

 

[GoJays]

Hard to fathom how Sprint can release 8.1 for the Samsung Ativ S Neo and the Icon is still out in the cold.

Obvious that if anyone wants to use Windows Phone it'd better not be on Verizon.

I kinda wish Verizon would follow the same path as Sprint at this point (i.e. Release cyan (or denim) and rid their hands of windows phones).

 

[lmnopotts]

Officially recommended anything other than an Icon last night to family. Both my brother and sister are looking at windows phones as their iphones are falling apart. They asked what I have then asked about features they've seen on commercials recently which resulted in, "Oh, I have the Icon... no it doesn't have that... it doesn't do that..." months ago I was able to say there's a huge update coming soon, now I can't even say that. Convo ended with me telling them to look for OS 8.1

Embarrassing really at how amped I was to switch manufacturers and OSs to have it's back turned on.

FWIW, a friend in a Verizon business location says it's in Microsoft's hands, not Verizon's. The Icon failed their tests as something about a radio feature was pinging the network repeatedly and needed correcting and hasn't been returned to them yet. Their location has set up business locations with windows phones that have been asking for 8.1 and their customers are getting pissed there's been no update. The next tests will probably only take 5 days (half the time as usual) so they can get it out quickly, but nothing has hit their desks yet. No, no names/locations/print but I trust him.

 

[AR2186]

Officially recommended anything other than an Icon last night to family. Both my brother and sister are looking at windows phones as their iphones are falling apart. They asked what I have then asked about features they've seen on commercials recently which resulted in, "Oh, I have the Icon... no it doesn't have that... it doesn't do that..." months ago I was able to say there's a huge update coming soon, now I can't even say that. Convo ended with me telling them to look for OS 8.1

Embarrassing really at how amped I was to switch manufacturers and OSs to have it's back turned on.

FWIW, a friend in a Verizon business location says it's in Microsoft's hands, not Verizon's. The Icon failed their tests as something about a radio feature was pinging the network repeatedly and needed correcting and hasn't been returned to them yet. Their location has set up business locations with windows phones that have been asking for 8.1 and their customers are getting pissed there's been no update. The next tests will probably only take 5 days (half the time as usual) so they can get it out quickly, but nothing has hit their desks yet. No, no names/locations/print but I trust him.

That sounds pretty consistent with the battery drain problems and heating up a lot of people have noticed. Its clearly not a Windows (Microsoft) problem given the HTC One M8 for Windows is out on Verizon, and it doesn't make to withhold the update to sell more m8's without exclusivity.

Its also consistent with what I was told, but I don't think we'll see it until the end of December at the earliest.
I'd recommend the HTC One to your family unless they are are avid photographers. The camera on my Icon got me really interested in photography, but since I'm not that good yet, my DSLR pictures tend to be a lot better due to flexibility of lenses and filters (basically I'm not good enough to manipulate the Icon's camera enough to replicate things I can do on my Canon, though some of that is purely due to hardware)

 

[Tomad9#AC]

Well I couldn't wait anymore and ditched the Icon. A great phone but the lack of apps crippled it. So I went with the Sony and so far so good, camera is just a notch below Icon but still excellent. Anyway I really hope to be back on the Windows platform sometime down the road.

 

[SteveNoza]

Officially recommended anything other than an Icon last night to family. Both my brother and sister are looking at windows phones as their iphones are falling apart. They asked what I have then asked about features they've seen on commercials recently which resulted in, "Oh, I have the Icon... no it doesn't have that... it doesn't do that..." months ago I was able to say there's a huge update coming soon, now I can't even say that.

When people see I have switched to WP they are usually jazzed about Cortana and interested in WP. When I tell them I don't have it, they're as confused as we are.

 

[AR2186]

When people see I have switched to WP they are usually jazzed about Cortana and interested in WP. When I tell them I don't have it, they're as confused as we are.

Preview for Developers is pretty painless and you can turn it off at any point, once Cyan/Denim come out, to revert back to retail. If it doesn't work to your satisfaction (battery drain or something else), you can download "Lumia Software Updater" from Microsoft Mobile and revert back to 8.0/Black. Only caveat is that you would effectively hard reset your phone on the downgrade.

 

[anywhereanytime]

FWIW, a friend in a Verizon business location says it's in Microsoft's hands, not Verizon's. The Icon failed their tests as something about a radio feature was pinging the network repeatedly and needed correcting and hasn't been returned to them yet. Their location has set up business locations with windows phones that have been asking for 8.1 and their customers are getting pissed there's been no update. The next tests will probably only take 5 days (half the time as usual) so they can get it out quickly, but nothing has hit their desks yet. No, no names/locations/print but I trust him.

Ask your friend "what went wrong since APRIL 2014" ... ATT released Cyan in August and it's now December. There has got to be much more to this BS story!

See if you can find out "approx. how many Icons were sold"???

The Icon was priced at $499 off-contract and $99 on contract (we bought several to keep our unlimited data plans) ...and came with built-in Office, full Exchange and Office 365 integration ... and MANY "business/Enterprise" class features and functionality. I just bought an iPhone 6 Plus for a customer project and - while an awesome device - it doesn't even come close to the Icon in "business functionality" ... the Icon is my daily smartphone and I would be lost without it!

The Icon must have sold less than 500,000 units to be shunned by Verizon and "retired" after less than a year?

 

[grafixguy#AC]

Take this for what it's worth. When I sent a pretty scathing email to one of the executive addresses on VZW's site, I got a call back from someone who really did seem to care how pissed off I was, though he could offer nothing except that he had heard it should be done by early in the new year. One thing he did say in passing was that they want to be sure it was a good update for 300,000 customers.

Whether he pulled that number out of his **** or it was real, it wouldn't be all that surprising if it was accurate.

 

[Indistinguishable]

Icon sales numbers ought to be of little significance in this conversation. This isn't just about the Icon. It's the Icon, 928, 822, Ativ Odyssey, Ativ SE, & HTC 8x.

 

[Tomad9#AC]

I put DP on the device and the battery drain and wireless problems were to much to deal with. I agree it is a great device for email and office but the other issues and one of the biggest factors is the lack of support or interest from either Microsoft or Verizon. Anyway we will see what the future holds.

 

[anywhereanytime]

Take this for what it's worth. When I sent a pretty scathing email to one of the executive addresses on VZW's site, I got a call back from someone who really did seem to care how pissed off I was, though he could offer nothing except that he had heard it should be done by early in the new year. One thing he did say in passing was that they want to be sure it was a good update for 300,000 customers.

Whether he pulled that number out of his **** or it was real, it wouldn't be all that surprising if it was accurate.

Thanks for the great reply and sharing of what you heard! Even the number 300,000 Icons would shed some additional light but certainly, with more "promotion" that number could have been double or triple. If I am correct the Icon "is" the Lumia 930 internationally but was a Verizon "US exclusive" that locked out ATT?

See this article http://winsupersite.com/windows-phone/windows-phone-stats-november-2014

Was the Icon simply a "bust" due to the way Verizon - and/or Microsoft - handled this US Verizon Lumia "flagship" ???

 

[jazz70]

Thanks for the great reply and sharing of what you heard! Even the number 300,000 Icons would shed some additional light but certainly, with more "promotion" that number could have been double or triple. If I am correct the Icon "is" the Lumia 930 internationally but was a Verizon "US exclusive" that locked out ATT?

See this article http://winsupersite.com/windows-phone/windows-phone-stats-november-2014

Was the Icon simply a "bust" due to the way Verizon - and/or Microsoft - handled this US Verizon Lumia "flagship" ???

you can see examples all over these forums and other sites of how VZ marginalizes WP by not having a display of the phones in a store, VZ service reps trying to steer you to another platform when you ask about WP, not having any knowledge of WP, or making false claims to consumers about WP due to bias or bad training

imho in the present environment of how the WP platform is treated by VZ I don't know how any WP has a chance on their network

 

[MikeSo]

This whole situation with the Icon has really soured me not just on Verizon, but on the whole carrier-centric model of the US cell phone market, period. A friend asked me to recommend a phone, and I just could not recommend any WP at this point. The Lumia 735 would be perfect, but she wants to use Straight Talk, and it's not sold in the US easily (she wanted to be able to return or get warranty work done easily in a store). It really struck me how hard it is to find a good WP unless you are on AT&T. I wonder when MS will realize that their whole "exclusivity" strategy is backfiring at this point. With more inexpensive carriers around, it would behoove them to sell multi-band unlocked phones of all models directly from their website. None of this "scouring resellers on Amazon for the correct model code sold at a markup" we have to do now....