Windows Phone Update 8107

[shoe]

They would have to be giving them away for .01 cents and no contract extension before I would even consider it

[je6105]

Sounds like someone got tired of us rattling the cage. Reading the afore mentioned article it is their policy to keep us uninformed ( we're not worth the small effort? ) but at this juncture the great Oz has spoken. It is better to quell the masses than have an out and out revolt.

All things considered; my HTC device having only one firmware update post-Mango being prime among them, I still have plenty of time to hack my device. I am already developer unlocked (thanks to ChevronLabs) and interop unlocked (thanks to Heathcliff74 @XDA). I still have the possibility of installing root tools and maybe even rolling back firmware to install custom ROMs.

At this time I am more likely to update via a cab installer (which is official update file without any crapware) and keep on rolling hopefully until WP8 devices are released.

I know that hacking and tweaking isn't for everybody. I didn't expect myself to have any ambition for it either. WP7 was supposed to free you from your smartphone ( anybody remember some of the early ads? I thought the skydiving ad ad was hilarious) but carriers like AT&T have other ideas based purely on short term profit. I bet they didn't even bother to test 8107. Prove me wrong!

I will not shell out more dough for a device until my term is up or an act of God breaks my phone. I prefer to stick with GSM for reasons I care not to divulge but I'll see what's out there when the time comes.

[ParrotHead_FL]

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aBenjamin wrote:

I haven't heard any news around the older windows phones.. I'm a Quantum user too Atleast you don't have to worry about any keyboard bugs with that nifty slide-out keyboard! 

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Actually, that's not so. I use the slider keyboard, but I still have a bug when texting--my typing stops appearing in the text box. I have to tap it with my finger to shift the focus back to it, then resume typing.

Also, my phone no longer splits long text messages that I send into multiple smaller messages. Instead, the recipient simply never gets them if they're over 160 characters.

[Jamon723]

Well, now it finally happened to me too. At least I finally feel noticed

[aBenjamin]

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ParrotHead_FL wrote:

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aBenjamin wrote:

I haven't heard any news around the older windows phones.. I'm a Quantum user too Atleast you don't have to worry about any keyboard bugs with that nifty slide-out keyboard! 

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Actually, that's not so. I use the slider keyboard, but I still have a bug when texting--my typing stops appearing in the text box. I have to tap it with my finger to shift the focus back to it, then resume typing.

Also, my phone no longer splits long text messages that I send into multiple smaller messages. Instead, the recipient simply never gets them if they're over 160 characters.

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Ah, never noticed this issue. I switched back to android about a week after the 7.5 update. Waiting for 8

[Voitan]

Hi all,

   I have been waiting for 8107 update for awhile, since the keyboard on my HD7s keeps disappearing everytime I text someone (I send over 1k texts a month easily..) and I was kind of figuring that AT&T was holding up the update since I have been reading on Microsofts Blogs about the update.. Quite frankly I am frustrated by this because my phone does have a serious problem and there is an update to fix the problem available.. The the carrier I signed a contract with has decided to block it from being released. This makes absolutely no sense to me, especially since i am paying for service. And there really isn't a way for me to load the update on to my phone manually (I could do it if I had unlocked the phone and had the update file but I prefer to wait for the official rollout of software releases..) I have been really unhappy with my At&t service as of late and now this.. I was thinking of getting the Nokia Lumia but I really cannot think of a reason to continue to support a carrier that does these kinds of practices.. Now I may have to think of breaking my contract, paying the ETF and moving to a carrier that i can support and works great in my area... I'm sorry AT&T, but this is unacceptable to treat your consumers this way..

[FlexViking]

Well, after an online conversation with Microsoft Support, and being told several times "You need to contact the phone manufacturer" I went and bought another Android phone, even though I REALLY didn't want to.  I have no faith in Microsoft to want to change the relationship with AT&T ... let alone actually execute on it.

At least with Android, I'll be a couple steps ahead of AT&T with the large community working on custom ROMS.

[teslapod]

Is everyone aware that 8107 was released in India and Romania in January? AT&T is the so-called premiere carrier of WP in the USA and can't seem to make a "bug-fix" available? What a joke.

I also have a Samsung Infuse and AT&T has tried and failed to release gingerbread for that phone. What a pathetic record of failure.

[ParrotHead_FL]

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FlexViking wrote:

I have no faith in Microsoft to want to change the relationship with AT&T ... let alone actually execute on it.

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You really think this is how Microsoft wants the update process to work? It's pretty clear that they don't. How do you propose they force AT&T to do right?

[mrpither]

1.  backup your phone as is (using Zune or WPConnector on Mac (which I did))

2. update your phone to 8107 and enjoy how it works better

3.  when time comes for AT&T update, update.  It is supposed to be beyond 8107 so their should be no prob.

4.  IFF there is a problem, restore from your backup back to old busted AT&T version then update to Tango/Wango/whatever we are at at that point.

Enjoy,

Hank

[FlexViking]

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You really think this is how Microsoft wants the update process to work? It's pretty clear that they don't. How do you propose they force AT&T to do right?

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Yea.  It works in other countries.  It really only seems to fall on it's face in the US.

[Loghorn]

What do you mean by "back up with Zune"? How? I do not see such explicit Zune capability.

[chrislynch06]

Manually backing up your Windows Phone through Zune is not possible today.  The device backup feature only executes when a software update is being applied.  There are backup tools you can find  to manually backup your device.

[Edited to comply with Guidelines]

[mrpither]

Well that's interesting/sucky.  I did a manual backup with the Windows Phone Connector on my MBPro and successfully restored from it when I had another issue with the phone.  I just assumed I had a subset of the Zune software capability, not more.  Time to file a bug report / feature request with Microsoft....

so add step 0 to my original plan:

0. get a Mac 

[aBenjamin]

This is an older article but it gives more insight into the update process. Hopefully this can bring some light to some of the questions raised here. 

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http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2011/03/10/phone-updates-process-and...

[chrislynch06]

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mrpither wrote:

Well that's interesting/sucky.  I did a manual backup with the Windows Phone Connector on my MBPro and successfully restored from it when I had another issue with the phone.  I just assumed I had a subset of the Zune software capability, not more.  Time to file a bug report / feature request with Microsoft....

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No need to.  MS is fully aware of that limitation, and will be corrected with the WP Companion App in Windows 8.  I hope that feature makes it into the Zune client for those who aren't going to upgrade to Win8.

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mrpither wrote:

so add step 0 to my original plan:

0. get a Mac 

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Uh, no.  That would be a step backwards just for that "feature."  There are backup tools available that do not require an unlocked device, and it's extremely easy.  PM me if you want more information.

[eegorr]

Well, I couldn't wait. After reading this board and seeing the reply from the "company representative" stating that AT&T would not be providing either of the last two updates (7740 or 8107) that are long overdue, I went ahead and forced the updates myself a couple of days ago using the method described on the wpcentral site. In fact, I updated two HTC Surrounds - my phone and my wife's phone. Everything seems to be working fine, so far.

The only question I have is whether or not there is an HTC firmware update that goes along with 8107 that I was not able to load. I saw mention somewhere that somebody who updated their HTC phone via Zune (I think it was a T-Mobile customer) actually got three updates: 7740, 8107, and some sort of HTC update.

It still sounds like AT&T does not intend to release these updates, but they will be included in the next major update (as all updates are). So the statement posted here was accurate and the official word as reported in the Seattle paper does not really provide any new information. I'm glad I went ahead and updated the phones - no doubt it will be several months before the Tango update is available, and that disappearing keyboard bug was driving me nuts!

[mrpither]

good news about the future win8 connector app.  I'm running win8 consumer preview on my bootcamp partition and really enjoy it when it isn't rebooting me for daring to watch a video OR just freezing up entirely for no apparent reason (this on a machine than runs windows 7 with no issues at all - odd that I'm having so much trouble with win8.  here's hoping the next beta / preview version arrives soon and is more stable.

[jdwinphan]

Looks like the 8107 scandal might affect Lumia 900 sales. People don\'t think AT&T will keep up with updates. Don\'t forget that Windows Phone 8 is but a few months away. Do you think AT&T is going to give Lumia 900 owners a timely update? http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/nokia-lumia-900-to-hit-at-t-on-april-8-but-what-about-apps-updat...

[jdwinphan]

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/nokia-lumia-900-to-hit-at-t-on-april-8-but-what-about-apps-updat... Looks like the 8107 scandal could affect Lumia 900 sales. With Windows Phone 8 coming in just a few months, does anyone trust that AT&T will release the updat in a timely fashion...or at all?

[spdickey1]

Microsoft, has delivered a string of useful updates. Sadly, many Windows Phone users never get to see most of them. And the reason is that the carriers are evil—pure and simple. They don't act in the best interests of users; they act in accordance with their own lazy self interests. And it’s time for this to stop.

The wireless carriers in general, and AT&T in particular, can not be trusted to do the right thing. They block upgrades for only one reason, to force consumers into chucking their old phones for expensive new upgraded devices.

AT&T, I’d like the on-screen keyboard to stop disappearing when typing. Microsoft fixed this bug in January, after putting that update through a series of tests that, get this, were partially designed by AT&T. There is no good reason for me and other Windows Phone users not to have this update already. No good reason at all.

-Paul Thurrott

The reviewers haven't gotten their hands on the phone being released next week. Hopefully it will have the latest updates. But shame on AT&T for blocking update after update from Microsoft. Why are you being so evil?

[jdwinphan]

I **really** wanted to get the Lumia 900, but I\'m scared to. I mean, the Focus S that I bought is useless part of the time since I can\'t type and AT&T won\'t put out the bug fix. I have zero confidence that Nokia and Microsoft will have any leverage over them in the near future. The Lumia will require an update in a few months to stay up to date and I\'m sure that it won\'t be done in a timely manner by AT&T. I\'ll wait for \"Apollo\" to drop in the fall and hopefully I\'ll have an alternative carrier to get service from.

[MRJSY571]

I have a HTC Titan and a Samsung Infuse 4G as well.  Both phones behind on updates because of At&t and their foolishness.

[Loghorn]

Yes, definitely AT&T is a greedy monster monopoly. It is interesting how they push iphone instead of Windows phone. For example, today I got a wireless bill from AT&T, and there was a lot of advertising material included that enticed me to get iphone. Not a word about WP as if it does not exist. Amazing. No wonder that they do not care about the updates.

[coffeemike]

My takeaways from all this:

1. AT&T has chosen to prefer fewer releases of larger updates than smaller updates. (See the 28 March article at wpcentral - http://www.wpcentral.com/att-planning-post-8107-os-update-current-windows-phones) That's their business choice and stance, for better or worse.

2. Intermediate releases, such as 8107, have been as much, if not more, focused on fixing bugs and usability issues than on new functionality.

3. So, while it may be on AT&T's plan to wait and roll out a bunch of fixes and functionality in the major releases, it leaves many of us with severe limitations now.

4. Did AT&T ignore the update, did they not realize how severe the disappearing keyboard bug was, or is their WP7 user base not large enough to register as having a severe problem? No idea - I can't say who knew what. I'm inclined to believe ignorance over malice, but I'm an optimist like that.

5. Do any of us know what releases (CR1, CR2, CR3, etc) are planned, and which ones we might expect to see? No. The only facts we have on this are a few that Jamileh has been able to garner for us in this thread (thanks!), and the information given to wpcentral.

So, yeah. Bug fixes are not new releases, they're bug fixes and deserve more consideration. And, as I've said before, we the users really need some better way to see what's on the horizon and what AT&T's official position on it is.

FInally, am I buying a Lumia 900? You bet - already preordered. Despite significant concerns about the update cycles for the platform, and with rumors and speculation running around about WP8 around the corner (let alone the next iPhone instead), I'm taking the plunge. It still feels like we're in early-adopter world with Windows Phone, and SOMEBODY has to step up an add to sales count, user base, vocal word of mouth, et cetera. Happy to take the risk and see what comes.

[ParrotHead_FL]

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Loghorn wrote:
Yes, definitely AT&T is a greedy monster monopoly. It is interesting how they push iphone instead of Windows phone. 

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I haven't figured out the business side of that. As I understand it, iPhones are heavily subsidized--so AT&T doesn't make their profit there. They make it on the monthly service. But iPhone users are notorious for using mass quantities of data, which taxes AT&T's network and requires heavy capital investment to increase capacity. So in the end, are iPhone users really that profitable? And if not, why is the iPhone given such prominence by AT&T?

[tehlostone]

I force updated my phone a few days ago. Running great now.  I aswell want a Lumia 900, but I may just wait until it goes to another network.  I have been with ATT since 2001, not pleased with my service anymore.

[Tink7632]

Posted complaint with BBB

[jdwinphan]

I would say #Wait4WP8. This is especially true if you stay on AT&T. They\'re always last even when they do update. The Lumian 900 and Titan II are both second generation Windows Phones like the Titan and Focus S. Granted, they have the 8107 version of the software, but they are still Mango devices. Hmm...they have 8107, so there MUST have already been enough testing by AT&T about how it would affect the network. Call customer service and tell them that you want/NEED the 8107 update to fix your broken phone.

[teslapod]

AT&T = Honey Badger