Microsoft to change Windows Phone Update communication strategy

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Lots of heated debate has accompanied Eric Hautala's blog post on the official Windows Phone Blog. While discussing the latest Windows Phone maintenance release (8107), he talks about the new policy regarding the "Where's My Phone Update" page. In short, the detailed breakdown by county, handset, and network will no longer be supplied after

There are also a few changes on the way for the blog and website. As we continue our growth, we won’t be individually detailing country, model, and carrier details on the Where’s My Phone Update? site any longer. And instead of my weekly blog posts, the official Windows Phone website will be the primary place for news and information about our updates, just as Microsoft Answers is there for your support questions.   

There's no official reason on why the change is being made, but as you would expect the debate on the blog post and on other blogs is heated and lively. When the next major update rolls out, there's going to be a lot of confusion from existing users on whether their phone has the update ready - and if it's not being delivered is that down to Microsoft, the handset maker, or their network.

Given the kudos that Microsoft are receiving about the smooth Mango update across the full range of Windows Phone handsets, it seems strange to make what feels like a backwards step. But something spring to mind that may be worth considering; the one delay in the Mango update was the Samsung Focus on AT&T, and that gathered a lot of poor press in America; this could be a strategy to help minimise the problems when the 2012 updates are not delivered to every single Windows Phone handset.

Still, it's a strange decision which appears to lessen the community engagement Microsoft currently have regarding updates, and will add a huge amount of uncertainty to the process.

Source / Credit: Windows Phone Blog