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Why Nokia Lumia phones won’t get Windows Phone 8

Last week, we asked readers if they also think Nokia got the short hand of the deal when Microsoft announced Windows Phone 8, leaving all existing WP7 handsets cold with no promise of a WP8 update.

The folks from Nokia Philippines emailed earlier today to chime in on the discussion and offered a few interesting points.

Yugatech 728x90 Reno7 Series

But before that, let me share with you the reasons why WP8 may not really make sense with older Windows Phone 7 handsets. The gist of it all is that majority of WP8 features that are introduced doesn’t really fit into the current hardware of most, if not all, WP7 phones.

Let’s run thru them one by one:

  • Support for dual-core or multi-core handsets. No current WP7 phones have dual-core processors so they will not benefit from this feature.
  • Support for higher resolution screens. Current WP7 handsets will not have their screen resolution increased when upgraded to WP8. It will remain as it is.
  • Support for microSD card. Current WP7 phones don’t have microSD card anyways so they won’t magically have one when you upgrade them to WP8.
  • Full NFC support. Again, if the current WP7 don’t have it on the hardware level, they won’t benefit from it with the WP8 upgrade.

Windows Phone 8 was developed from the ground up and is totally different from how Microsoft originally developed WP7. WP8’s code-base much closer to Windows 8 RT (the OS for ARM-based tablets) than to WP7.

Nikka Abes of Nokia Philippines emailed us and pointed out a few more developments under the Nokia Lumia line:

● Lumia smartphones are not doomed. They worked perfectly before the summit, they’re still working perfectly today, and they will continue to do so tomorrow – and become even better with new features.

● All Lumia smartphones will continue to enjoy updates, new apps and features for many weeks and months to come. Let’s list just a few things:

o Software updates for the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 begin this week, bringing new features like WiFi tethering and Flip-to-Silence and media content streaming.

o In July, the full Lumia range will get exciting new features like Camera Extras and Contact Sharing. Camera Extras is brilliant and beautiful, especially with features like Smart Group shot and Action Shot.

o In the third quarter, new games from Zynga like Draw Something and Words with Friends will be available in Marketplace for all Lumia owners.

o Let’s not forget that in May, we announced a number of new and exclusive application partnerships including the PGA Tour App, EA, Groupon, Tripdots, PayPal, Time Magazine, Newsweek and Box – applications from all these partners will also be available for Lumia smartphones, if they’re not there already.

o There are now 100,000 apps in the Marketplace available for Lumia owners – giving people so much to choose from.

o Updates to the free Location features on our devices: Drive, Maps, Transport, City Lens Beta and Pulse, all of which make Lumia smartphones unbeatable when you compare them with competitor smartphones.

o The new Windows Phone start screen, featuring 3 new tile sizes

The WindowsTeamBlog.com shared this video of the Windows Phone 7.8 demo running on a Lumia 900:

Now that’s something to look forward to.

Nevertheless, we cannot deny that the no-WP8-upgrade-to-all-WP7-handsets news is still a bit of a downer.

{source: gsmarena, windowsteamblog}

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

35 Responses

  1. Avatar for Http://Www.Youtube. Http://Www.Youtube. says:

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  2. Avatar for TotallyNuts TotallyNuts says:

    No matter what version they are. Windows Metro or Tile interface is very monotonous, boring, backward, no sense of style, blocky, out of style, no good, no glamour interface. I wouldn’t but cellphone with OS like that, not even for million of years…

    • Avatar for Saripsa Saripsa says:

      @Totallynuts, I’m glad not all human beings are like you. It was designed to be simple so you don’t have to tinker with your phone most of the time and focus on the things that matter most unlike the bloated Android shit which is a copy cat of iOS. Apple is okay but with no Steve Jobs it will not be the same company.

  3. Avatar for Duds Duds says:

    That’s how technology goes. Everyone should get used to this by now. For sure, Windows is already working for WP9 by now.

  4. Avatar for dave House dave House says:

    I am real fan of Microsoft and Nokia because, they prove to all users they can develope a reliable, durable and very great performance product to sustain the needs of the users. that’s why i will always fan of Nokia.

  5. Avatar for heartless heartless says:

    Pare pareho lang naman yang mga Brand na yan, like android phone, not all android phone are getting ICS update, not all iOS device will get the latest iOS. Same as windows phone they will not get it though.

    Basta ako masaya ako sa performance ng lumia ko.

    I remember when i use android phone (SGS2 and SGSL)

    at first mabilis sila then after a month of use ayun bumagal then issue ko ang battery life so ang ending flash ng flash ng Rom kung ano ang stable at makakapag patagal ng battery even yung sa performance (Kahit nga pag type ng message me lag eh)

    Pero sa Lumia ayun na solusyunan lahat ng hinahanap ko…

    But I’m not saying na mas better ang Lumia sa Android, still ang gusto ko pa din sa 2 eh android OS dahil sa wide selection of App, Games etc. but cellphone ang ginagamit ko eh which is pantawag and text.

    Kung tablet pa to i’ll choose Android or iOS

  6. Avatar for Jerwin J. Paglicawan Jerwin J. Paglicawan says:

    I have Nokia Lumia 610 and I regret purchasing the phone. It appears that the previous Windows mobile OS is better than the WP7. I’m a music lover and I don’t see any reason why the phone doesn’t have equalizer or sound enhancement?

  7. Avatar for Suplado Suplado says:

    i don’t understand why non-WP users are giving so much hate about this issue. parang mas affected pa sila. don’t buy WP kung ayaw nyo. wala namang pumipilit. sabi nga nung isang nagpost dito: “Those updates don’t matter as long as I’m satisfied with the way I use these gadgets.”

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