[jiovine]

I picked up my 950 at the Microsoft Store today and while deciding whether or not to go unlocked or branded the store manager and one of the techs said that moving forward phone updates will be coming directly from Microsoft and not the carrier. I know this has been mentioned in the past but it was the first time I heard that from someone from Microsoft. Anyone else hearing the same thing?

I opted for the branded phone in hopes that AT&T will support Wifi Calling in the near future. I really want to get rid of my second internet connection at the house and the microcell. My wife uses Verizon for work and you can't use the Verizon Network Extender and AT&T Microcell on the same network -- both utilize the same port scheme.

[ashram]

i heard the same about updates initially, but nothing official since... we'll have to wait for the 1st update to land to see if AT&T and unlocked phones get it at the same time or not.

[BaritoneGuy]

I think this is one of the reasons that we are seeing not so many carriers at this point. MS does not want another Android on their hands. I think the carriers will only have a say on firmware and even then only if it touches the radios.

[etphoto]

I could swear I recently read somewhere updates for WP10 will still be coming via the carrier.

[ncbartschi]

I was under the impression that all updates for W10 will come directly from Microsoft. Ie, the Developer preview program.

[Skyway]

I picked up my 950 at the Microsoft Store today and while deciding whether or not to go unlocked or branded the store manager and one of the techs said that moving forward phone updates will be coming directly from Microsoft and not the carrier. I know this has been mentioned in the past but it was the first time I heard that from someone from Microsoft. Anyone else hearing the same thing?

Ummm, MS was originally the ones who said this when they announced these phones. This is nothing new.

[Guzzler3]

At this current time, carrier branded phones will still get there updates from the carrier, after the carrier has vetted the updates.
Unbranded phones, get their updates from Microsoft.

Microsoft is working towards the Apple model of updates (bypass carriers for updates), but it's a slow process.

[DoctorPizza]

Until updates start coming out, we simply don't know. In theory, Microsoft can completely bypass the carrier for updates. The same was true of Windows Phone, however. Microsoft has every ability to bypass the carrier, it simply chose not to do so to try to keep the carriers happy. How will things play out with the 950/950XL? It's anybody's guess.

I think it's fairly clear, given the state of the shipping 950, that the carrier has done little or no validation or verification work. Just look at the problems with Visual Voicemail. So maybe this is a sign that AT&T won't interfere too much. But perhaps they had no option if they wanted to get the phone to actually ship.