Windows Phone 7.8 to Arrive in Early 2013

Yes, someone was listening

Nov. 28, 2012 Paul Thurrott

Microsoft announced today that it will deliver Windows Phone 7.8 to “as many devices as possible” in early 2013. It is working with its hardware and carrier partners to get it tested, approved, and rolled out, which is always a bad sign. But at least they’ve finally addressed this issue publicly.

I raised my own concerns about Microsoft’s silence over this release last week in Windows Phone Team: This is No Way to Treat Early Adopters. I’ve not heard from the Windows Phone team directly about this post, which doesn’t surprise me. But I am glad they got the message and took it to heart.

“With Windows Phone 7.8, we’re also bringing the new Windows Phone 8 Start screen to existing Windows Phone 7.5 devices,” Microsoft corporate vice president Terry Myerson wrote in a post to the Windows Phone Blog. “During the development process, I used builds of 7.8 on my Lumia 900 and it felt like a completely new phone: resizable Live Tiles totally change the way I do things, providing faster access to more of my favorite people, photos, and apps.”

Myerson says that Windows Phone 7.8 will deliver a few other features to Windows Phone 7.5 devices:

More accent colors. It doubles the number of theme accent colors from 10 to 20, as with Windows Phone 8.

New lock screen features. You will be able to automatically display the Bing Picture of the Day and take advantage of the new ‘A1B2C3’ PIN/password challenge that debuted in Windows Phone 8.

New apps. While not strictly a Windows Phone 7.8 feature, new apps are coming for both Windows Phone 7.5 and 7.8 customers including Words with Friends and Draw Something (already available), as well as Angry Birds Space, and Angry Birds Star Wars.

Oddly enough, hardware makers and carriers will be selling new Windows Phone 7.8 phones in various markets soon as well. Myerson explains that these new phones will be low-end models aimed at meeting everyone’s budget and needs.

“As we work to quickly get this in the hands of our loyal users, we’re also striving to deliver a high-quality release and ensure a smooth transition for our widely expanded services,” he concludes. “Thank you for your support of Windows Phone.”

You’re welcome. Thanks for noticing. :)

Discuss this Article 30

zorb58

on Nov 28, 2012

Alright! I'll go ahead and mark my calender for August 2013! After all, I heard that some AT&T phones just now got Tango....

rx78

on Nov 28, 2012

It is all, including new start screen, seems like very minor tweaks. Why it takes so long?? Should be pushed to 7.5 phones on the same day win8 phones became available, with a balloon and "thank you, early adapter" card. Few Xbox points thrown in would be nice too. I just don't get it...

ian.berg

on Nov 28, 2012

My Windows Phone 7.8.1 wish-list includes orientation lock, to keep the screen in portrait or landscape display, and a screen capture function. Maybe there are apps which could be developed?

deagle

on Nov 28, 2012

Paul seems increasingly frustrated with Microsoft (as per these Windows Phone articles and recent podcasts).

I don't think this bodes well - either for Microsoft or for Paul's ability to cover the inside track of this important organisation... which I have personally found invaluable over the years.

I think it may be generally a time of disillusionment for tech reporters... a fellow podcaster Andy Inhatko also seems to be losing the faith - but in that case of Apple / IOS. Ditto Mary Jo Foley re Microsoft.

Maybe the price that has to be paid for the level of competition in the tech space is a lack of loyalty from manufacturers to their customers. Witness Microsoft Phone 7.5, Apple IOS Maps, lack of Android upgrades by OEMs such as HTC - none of which are perceived as consumer friendly but in fact do represent hard headed business decisions.

kanderson

on Nov 28, 2012

I recently started visiting Paul's site and to be honest, I'm not sure what the difference is between this and any other tech-centric website is. He's as critical, if not more, of Microsoft as the next Apple or Google leaning site can be.

Perhaps I was under false pretenses to believe that this would be home for Microsoft news that sought to report Microsoft decisions and products with inside sources from a Windows users perspective. Perhaps I don't understand how blogging works, but instead of writing the same WP7.8 update entitlement article plastered over the internet, you spoke with someone on the team to figure out how and why a certain decision was made. The logistics of moving an update, excluding a feature, implementing a new one, rewriting code, or simply being silent on an issue.

I'm sure his fans are not asking him to be a blind enthusiast, but perhaps be critical of a decision with all the facts, instead of piling on with speculation.

As of recent, this site seems to be full of the same backhanded compliments and acknowledgements, speculative questioning, and unfounded entitlement as The Verge, Engadget, and Mac Rumors.

I cannot speak on whether this is the reflection of disillusionment of an enthused Microsoft fan or if Paul finally realized that ad space sells on sites that get clicks from Anti-Microsoft aligned readers or Microsoft enthusiast who feel the need to defend the company.

Mary Jo Foley also seems a bit disenfranchised with some of Microsoft's recent offerings but her continued enthusiasm seems to not have waivered.

I hope Microsoft can do something that will make Paul happy and bring him back to actually reporting Microsoft news like a Microsoft enthusiast would love to do.

pthurrott

on Nov 28, 2012

That's insulting and, frankly, idiotic. I have always been about one thing: Supporting users of Microsoft's products and services. That audience is very diverse, and like the computing market has expanded beyond the PC. But I have never been, will never be, a Microsoft cheerleader. I called for this company to be broken into two or three parts when the US antitrust trial was happening. This isn't a change in direction, it's just a consistent, decades-long career of doing exactly the same thing: Helping people. Not helping Microsoft.

Why this isn't patently obvious is unclear. But then, you just started reading my site apparently. So your opinion is of course particularly compelling.

Ron H

on Nov 28, 2012

Well said Paul!

AlcorZA

on Nov 28, 2012

Actually Paul, I find your site and articles to be very common-sense driven and I wholeheartedly agree with your description of how you support users... its clearly evident in the way you write.

Sorry kanderson - you're clearly smoking your socks bro. By your own admission you've just recently started reading Paul's site... you really haven't gotten the essence of it.

I've been reading Paul's site now for a few years and always found it to be informative, helpful and entertaining. Its the one RSS feed I look forward to most everyday and along with Mary Jo, you'd be hard done-by to find a better source of Microsoft and Windows news anywhere. I've seen a few other "rags" out there... who hardly surprisingly actually reference both Paul and Mary Jo and aren't nearly as entertaining or interesting.

Serge Montangero

on Nov 29, 2012

Completeley true that you are not a Microsoft cheerleader and that you are supporting the users. However, also true that you seem to be increasingly frustrated with Microsoft. Case in point, the title of the previous article that you cite here "Windows Phone Team, This is No Way to Treat Early Adopters", just because they failed (until then, and according to you) to release status reports concerning the 7.8 project. Irrespective of whether they had to release status reports, this sounds like a flimsy criticism to support such a blame to begin with. And there are enough real things with WP that are incomplete or dysfunctional, and that you have reported about, to justify that you are speaking for the benefit of the users.

phreezerburn

on Nov 29, 2012

Oh please. I've been an M$ sycophant since grinding my way through that horror of a Windows port for the DOS F77 compiler way back and we had to pay for those ourselves, $1200 wasted dollars on a student loan. I tell you the one thing M$ doesn't need is it's very own fanboy blogs run by starry eyed propagandists. Oh and if you'd bother to have read more than a few headlines, that those sites named are one and all run by the closest thing Apple has to a clergy wouldn't have sailed right past you. Comparing Paul to such is idiocy incarnate.

You want shining happy feeling all day about your MS product, then continue to use with your blinders intact. Anyone thinking things like Apple's hideous maps, insane battery drain or Windows Phone 8 itself randomly rebooting just happened to magically appear only after the release date on the very same hardware they were supposedly tested on for thousands of manhours before certification and that the companies themselves were innocently caught unaware only after selling a boatload of product shouldn't breed... ever.

FirasR

on Nov 29, 2012

@deagle & kanderson:

For me personally I call this honest reporting (in regards to your reference to Paul, Mary Jo and Andy's reporting styles). The reason I believe they might seem overly frustrated with the respective companies they are covering is that honestly they are. As an IT Manager of an all Microsoft solution based group of companies, Android phone user (switched from iPhone recently) and several Mac computers at home I can relate to their frustration and in fact it's reassuring as I thought it was just me being grouchy and easily irritable as I get older. In fact, it's clear that as such great and history changing companies such as Apple, Google and Microsoft become huge they do tend to lose touch with their consumers and early adopting fan base and make good or bad but undeniably tough business decisions that are bound to upset a lot of their customers. That's why I'm an avid follower of these and other journalists that you mentioned, because just like me they do love a lot of the technologies that these companies have put out, see even an greater potential for their products but are frustrated by a lot of their decisions and dealings with their customers. I remember how ecstatic I was while watching the Windows 95 OS launch demo by Bill Gates back in the day (BSOD and all) and have been waiting (hoping) for Microsoft to instill that kind of customer excitement in it's products once again (disappointed with Windows Phone 7 although they're trying to turn that around with WP8, and now cautiously curios about Windows 8 but still waiting for the Surface Pro to see how that turns out). As a corporate IT business decision maker, I have a love hate relationship with Microsoft and their products for many reasons that I won't get into here, yet I still look forward to their new product releases (both corporate and consumer) many of which I find out by reading and listening to Paul & Mary Jo's coverage of the company. If I wanted a blind pro-Microsoft everything is fine and dandy point-of-view of the company and its products I'd subscribe and read the various official Microsoft division blog posts, in fact I do that anyways just to stay on top things and have a balanced coverage of the company so that I can make my own decisions about them.

Anyways just thought I'd pitch in my 2c (been looking for an excuse to post on this new site which I must say is so much better than the horrendous CMS you were forced to use earlier Paul), and while I don't agree with everything Paul and MJ think or state about Microsoft or other tech companies, I really do appreciate their hard work and honesty while keeping us their readers as consumers of these products as the main focus and not blindly supporting or bashing these companies. It's what keeps such companies on their toes or so I like to think :)

Keep up the great work Paul!

perbear

on Nov 28, 2012

On my wishlist comes fixing of update to .8112.7 on top. Microsoft is aware of this problem but - as always - has kept quiet. If that is not fixed at the time of the 7.8 release will THAT upgrade/update be prevented from being installed on my mobile?

Darutto

on Nov 28, 2012

Whilst I don´t like the news. To me this move makes sense, since MS and carriers in particular are looking to get WP8 out in the hands of people for the holiday season. Having the old devices looking exactly as the new ones would not be helping in that front, therefore the delay after the biggest shopping season, after all those devices/users are not going anywhere.

phreezerburn

on Nov 29, 2012

If MS and company are worried that a Lumia 800 with Windows Phone 7.8 on it is enough to stall out upgrading to their sparkling new OS and handsets, then what does that say about their confidence in the new OS and handsets?

Darutto

on Nov 29, 2012

It says that they rather have more people buying the new models. Rather than confusing old for new... at least for the holiday season that is when people spend more.

phreezerburn

on Nov 30, 2012

Are you channeling Tim Cook when you pitch that MS hasn't released 7.8 out of fear that their user base is too soft in the head to recognize the differences between a Lumia 800 or HTC Titan carrying 7.8 and a Lumia 920 or an 8x sporting Windows Phone 8?

geeko

on Nov 29, 2012

"Having the old devices looking exactly as the new ones would not be helping in that front, therefore the delay after the biggest shopping season, after all those devices/users are not going anywhere."

Are you sure? My CIO got so pissed off by lack of post sale support from MS after all the money we have poured into WP 7 that our official policy is from this day on to transfer to Apple.

I will get some silly iPad or iPhone or whatever.

Thanks MS! You did a great job here!

And who needs enterprise customers anyway?

Brett Howse

on Nov 28, 2012

LG has already said they won't be updating their phones. Well done...

AlcorZA

on Nov 28, 2012

It has been and always will be (sadly) the manufacturers (and network operators) who screw up the the experience and unnecessarily reduce the longevity of the ecosystem for everyone.

I'm of the opinion (and I stand to be corrected here by anyone with superior knowledge of the industry) that at the core of it, manufacturers and network operators want to make money. They do this by selling new devices and contracts bundled with (you guessed it) said new devices.

See, the issue (for them) comes down to the fact that non-tech enthusiasts/consumers don't know the difference, so often perceive a software upgrade as adding a new lease on life to an older device and as a result affects their buying habits. Why buy a whole new phone when I've just received software update X? My phone can do Y and Z now which it couldn't before.

So the easy copout is to simply not offer the update/support the existing devices to force users to buy a new one. Upgrades are often free... new phones and contracts aren't. Its sad but I think truce for the most part. Anyone else agree?

greg.yantz

on Nov 30, 2012

Don't I feel like an idiot for buying an LG.

AlcorZA

on Nov 28, 2012

Speaking of updates. Paul... with Windows Phone 7.x, updates were vetted by carriers and then eventually (sometimes never) released to end-users.

Because Window Phone 8 is more closely related to its desktop brother, does it share the same Windows Update stack that we are familiar with on said desktop? What I'm really asking is: Does Microsoft have more direct control over their ecosystem and how they deliver updates now by being able to stick it to carriers by simply bypassing them now?

It irritates me to no end to know Apple can make a world-wide release of iOS and everyone can get it, but Microsoft has to go through the gatekeepers (aka carriers) for permission to deliver updates to their own ecosystem. Its absurd!

arunsivadasan

on Nov 29, 2012

@Paul - regarding kanderson's comments - When I first started reading your blog, I also wondered why "seemed" more critical of MS than other MS bloggers. It was only when I watched one of the Windows Weekly episodes where you said that your goal is to help Windows users and cheerlead MS that I was able to appreciate your criticisms. And yes, you do help Windows users. I upgraded to Windows 8 last week and it was because of reading your articles and the understanding I had from your site that I am now able to use it effectively!

ryanrpalmer

on Nov 29, 2012

By this point, I'm not holding out hope for my HTC Arrive to get the update. Since Msft seems to be going through the carriers (ugh), it seems my 7.8 hopes are doomed. Sprint has already EOLed the Arrive and is very sheepish on Windows Phone altogether.

tarbuck

on Nov 29, 2012

Looks like you have the mojo. Shaggadelic, baby

phreezerburn

on Nov 29, 2012

Sure it's not ready for use... unless yours is unlocked and on the list then the XDA crew can have you shrinking tiles and changing colours until your heart's content. maybe MS needs to start hiring the XDA crew. At the very least they'd cut their release times in half and the customers would have better interaction with those doing the heavy lifting.

Paul_B

on Nov 29, 2012

Sorry for what is a relative minor update of features for the loyal early adopters of WP 7.5, this announcement is pathetic. In addition the product team have released no detailed information for IT Pros relating to using WP8 in a corporate environment. Windows Phone only has 128 bit encryption rather than 256 and no VPN client. To be honest I've lost faith and for me RIM and BES 10 look at lot more appealing. Nice gift Microsoft

rbwatson0

on Nov 29, 2012

"new ‘A1B2C3’ PIN/password challenge that debuted in Windows Phone 8" - What is this? I've never heard of it. I can't find any info on Windows Phone Website or SuperSite...

ccampb22

on Nov 30, 2012

Paul, I remember in your previous article regarding "Windows Phone Team: This is No Way to Treat Early Adopters", now that there's a better idea on terms of when it might come out. Who knows, by the time it's released, most of the legacy users may have already upgraded to a WP8 device.

What I will say though is that nothing can ever beat HP on terms of disrespecting their early adopters for WebOS. I'll be brief.

- They announced WebOS 2.0, and said that early adopters WILL be able to upgrade no their legacy devices
- They announce later on that they WON'T be able to upgrade on legacy devices due to technical reasons. However, they will offer something later on in order to make things right for them. What the "make things right" ended up being was a $50 loyalty rebate when purchasing a 32GB HP Touchpad, which was priced at $599 after launch.
- 49 days after the Touchpad launched, HP discontinues the device and begins a firesale, which they priced the 32GB version at $150.

Thankfully, I never bought the Touchpad. However as a WebOS user at the time, I felt it was a slap in face to all early adopters, especially those who took advantage of the loyalty rebate before the firesale occurred. From there on, I now couldn't care less about WebOS. If HP releases another phone someday, I'm not buying it. Same thing goes for if they also release an RT tablet later on. It has nothing to do with the qualities of their products, but mainly for the lack of communication and care to their customers.

I'm now Windows Phone user. All I can say about Windows 7.8 is that at least Microsoft is offering something to legacy users, even though they never said that users with legacy devices will be able to upgrade to WP8. Microsoft not announcing updates to 7.8 is certainly not pleasing, but it takes effort like HP to disrespect early adopters.

deagle

on Nov 30, 2012

Sorry Paul it was genuinely not my intention to offend. As a long time Windows Weekly listener, I was just observing that I have noticed a change in tone in recent months.

I enjoy the Podcast shows and the de-mystification of the Microsoft PR hype that your insight brings.

zxerghui

on Dec 2, 2012

Hi. Does anyone know if the podcasts 'bug' in Tango will be 'fixed' in 7.8?

It appears that MS added a region check to podcasts in Tango. Prior to this, users outside the US could subscribe to and automatically download podcasts over the air. The issue is described further here:
http://www.wpcentral.com/over-air-podcasts-gone-windows-phone-after-tang...

The functionality works great in Mango, which I restored back to from Tango. However, would be a shame to have to choose between one of my most used features (automatic over-the-air podcasts) and the new start screen - especially when the previous functionality worked perfectly well before Tango.

Thanks.

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Windows Phone 7.8 to Arrive in Early 2013

Discuss this Article 30

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Related Articles

IT/Dev Connections

Office 365 InfoCenter

What I Use

What I Use: On the Road 21

What I Use: March 2013 33

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Penton

Follow Paul

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Related Penton Sites