Windows Phone 8.1 won’t leave Windows 8 owners out in the coldRedmond has confirmed its Windows Phone 8.1 upgrade will run on existing Windows 8.0 phones, brushing off fears by some developers that the upgrade, tipped to be pretty major, would not be compatible on older Windows devices.
These include Nokia’s popular Lumia line, HTC 8S and 8X and Samsung models. When Microsoft transitioned from WP7 to ‘8.0’ devices on the ageing OS were, indeed, left on the old platform devoid of backward compatibility.
“We will not have the same experience as we had when Windows Phone 7 was upgraded to Windows Phone 8,” Greg Sullivan, Windows Phone PR director, told Computerworld at CES 2014, last week.
WP8 is a “powerful OS” capable of support upgrades, he said.
However, Sullivan also revealed Redmond’s plans for Nokia post purchase – including its intention to continue to offer high grade cameras on Lumia smartphones – such as the 41MP camera on the high end Lumia 1020.
And it looks like Microsoft’s strategy is on the right track.
Local research today shows smartphone buyers rate the camera quality “important or critical” when purchasing a mobile.
Microsoft blogger, Paul Thurrotts also confirmed the windows Phone 8.1 upgrade will be arriving in April, although that was the smallest piece of info he divulged in his revealing blog on the (rumoured) Windows 9 release.
