Microsoft is widely rumoured to be launching Windows Phone 8 (codename Apollo) later this year. Not surprisingly, current Windows Phone device owners are hoping that their current devices will be upgradeable. According to ZDNet’s Mary-Jo Foley, it is not looking promising.
First is the fact that Microsoft has not officially confirmed that an upgrade will be be made available for current devices. Asked the question during a meeting at Mobile World Congress, Terry Myerson, Corporate Vice President for Windows Phone, did not directly answer the question, focusing instead on application compatibility:
“We haven’t announced Windows Phone 8, but in terms of I can show you our goal to all Windows Phone 7 applications will run on Windows Phone 8. Application compatibility is always something, where there’s always stuff on the fringe… The spirit is our goal that all Windows Phone applications today run on our next release.”
Second is Foley what is hearing from her sources. They report that Apollo will not be provided to current Windows Phone users. They add that the decision may not necessarily be Microsoft’s but one to be made by the carriers.
Unless there is a real hardware limitation, can Microsoft risk alienating its small but growing Windows Phone user base? Or let its carriers do it? There could be a lot of angry Windows Phone users later this year…
Read more: ZDNet