Hope Lost For Windows Phone 8.1 ?

[SROSeaner]

I remember buying my Samsung ATIV S a few months after the release of Windows Phone 8.1. Absolutely loved it, and thought at the time I was making a good choice for a Windows Phone as Samsung was doing well as a company, and Nokia was struggling... boy did I make the wrong decision there! Wish I went with Nokia.

Anyway, does it seem like the consensus that Samsung has given up on bringing ATIV S into the 8.1 era? I'm tired of Samsung (and my carrier, Rogers Canada) being unable to keep this great phone model updated with the current software. We are already looking at Windows 10 soon and the ATIV S feels like such a dinosaur on 8.0 now... and missing out on better 8.x apps (ie. Xbox Music).

What's your opinion everyone? Hope Lost for 8.1 on ATIV S? Should I stop waiting and complaining and get myself a Nokia/Microsoft phone?

 

[Ebuka Allison]

I remember buying my Samsung ATIV S a few months after the release of Windows Phone 8.1. Absolutely loved it, and thought at the time I was making a good choice for a Windows Phone as Samsung was doing well as a company, and Nokia was struggling... boy did I make the wrong decision there! Wish I went with Nokia.

Anyway, does it seem like the consensus that Samsung has given up on bringing ATIV S into the 8.1 era? I'm tired of Samsung (and my carrier, Rogers Canada) being unable to keep this great phone model updated with the current software. We are already looking at Windows 10 soon and the ATIV S feels like such a dinosaur on 8.0 now... and missing out on better 8.x apps (ie. Xbox Music).

What's your opinion everyone? Hope Lost for 8.1 on ATIV S? Should I stop waiting and complaining and get myself a Nokia/Microsoft phone?

The Ativ S has 8.1.1 on several regions. Maybe you need to flash a rom or something

 

[SROSeaner]

I saw that, but it seems to be other ATIV S models (I have SGH-T889M). Guess not all ATIV S models are created equal

Just figured since they did those regions back in the fall, Samsung would start the other variations of ATIV S. Waiting for an official phone OS update is brutal

 

[Dusan Randj]

Well, I8750 started 8.1.1 rollout back in October/November I think. Month later there was rollout for Ativ S Neo, than MSFT-SAmsung court confrontation, which was set and Ativ SE got 8.1.1 just few weeks ago. So, maybe in a month or so they'll continue with publishing Ativ S to 8.1.1 including your variant. At least I hope so, it's real shame this phone is without 8.1.1.

 

[don braithwaite]

There seems to be no love for our weird little SGH-T889M variant. Nobody has been able to get a straight answer out of Samsung or the Canadian carriers as to whether there will ever be an update to our ATIV S model. I had a bit of hope when the SE was updated a few weeks back by one of the carriers in the U.S., but now my hope is fading. I noticed the other day that Bell has completely pulled the ATIV S off of their web site and I think Rogers pulled it a while back. That doesn't bode well for us. I suspect that even if Samsung did release 8.1 for this phone that neither of those carriers is interested in updating it. I have heard that some people have had success getting a discounted upgrade to a Lumia device on Bell. My contract is almost up so now I'm just going to wait it out and see what comes out this Summer and probably buy an unlocked phone that will work on our network's frequencies.

 

[Stefan Holder]

Why not just install the dev preview?
Dancing on the rings of Saturn. L1320

 

[anon(8316658)]

I saw that, but it seems to be other ATIV S models (I have SGH-T889M). Guess not all ATIV S models are created equal

Just figured since they did those regions back in the fall, Samsung would start the other variations of ATIV S. Waiting for an official phone OS update is brutal

you have 2 problems: 1. T889M is not the same as I8750. T889m has some hardware features enabled while the I8750 hasnt so the firmware isnt the same 2. the carrier. Maybe Samsung could release a firmware for the T889m but your carrier wont customize it for they needs. In the end you wont get any updates.

What could you do? Simple. Just sell your phone and buy an unlocked Nokia or Microsoft (wait for the new WP10 devices). If you need a phone from your carrier then.. hmm.. I dont know... I wouldnt buy a WP device from carriers, they wont support it but the same goes to some android devices too so...

 

[SROSeaner]

I also happened to check my carrier's (Rogers Canada) availability for Windows Phones... they completely dropped it down to two models only: Lumia 830 and 635. That's so sad to see Windows Phone disappearing like that. I hope that is only a reduction in preparation for Windows 10 and not a sign of WP's death with Rogers. (heck, even BlackBerry has one phone more than Windows with Rogers).

 

[Ebuka Allison]

I also happened to check my carrier's (Rogers Canada) availability for Windows Phones... they completely dropped it down to two models only: Lumia 830 and 635. That's so sad to see Windows Phone disappearing like that. I hope that is only a reduction in preparation for Windows 10 and not a sign of WP's death with Rogers. (heck, even BlackBerry has one phone more than Windows with Rogers).

Sorry what other devices are available? The 830 and 730 are the same phone with different cameras. The 635 is the low end phone and Verizon has a monopoly on the Icon.

 

[slivy58]

I've pretty much written off the SGH-T899M seeing any kind of refresh at this point, my carrier (Telus) dumped it approx 10 months in, curious whether the 635/830 will see the same fate and wouldn't be a bit surprised if they do.

I'm not so enthusiastic about WP now compared to when I purchased the Ativ S, moved from there to the 1020, other than the camera I was like meh, now we're toying with the 830 and I'm like "my 2+ year old Ativ S was better than this???"... Overall user experience just hasn't advanced like it should have in my opinion.