Shortly after the leaked internal AT&T email hit the net, Microsoft responded with a blog post confirming that NoDo update is one step closer. Eric Hautala, GM, Customer Experience Engineering, made the informative post which didn’t exactly confirm the April 19 release date, but simply that “Windows Phones sold by AT&T are a big step closer to getting updates.” Of course, with this confirmation the Where’s my phone update? page now has new information displayed accordingly. Hautala also confirmed the HTC Surround will not be receiving the NoDo update at the same time as the LG Quantum and Samsung Focus. Hautala states the following as to why the singled out delay is taking place:
The updates we deliver contain a complex stew of software code. The content often includes not only our fixes and improvements but also software supplied by companies that make the phone itself and the chips inside it. One of these third-party software “packages” earmarked for the HTC Surround needs additional testing by both Microsoft and AT&T. I apologize for the delay. As soon as I have more news, I’ll let you know.
To conclude the blog post over at Windows Phone Blog, Hautala reveals the AT&T only features that are shipping with NoDo update. This would explain why all the delays took place. There are two features that AT&T has bundled with the NoDo update:
The first is “WISPr” protocol support, which makes it possible for your phone’s data connection to automatically switch over to AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots when in range. The update also includes support for AT&T Address Book.
So there you have it folks, AT&T is finally coming around and apparently they had these two exclusive features to work with. Lets hope that if they add more exclusive things in the future that they don’t take just as long to implement.
Um…no. Let’s hope that AT&T and other carriers stop coming up with useless software to mess up the Windows Phone 7 devices with and just let the update fly as they are from Microsoft. I’m sick of carriers thinking they are software companies. They have never added any appreciable value-added capacity. All this did was cause a ridiculously unnecessary delay to NoDo. All I want from a carrier is fast, reliable connectivity at a reasonable price. That’s it. I don’t need that stupid “WISPr” or their lame address book.
agreed
Agreed 1000%