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News

  • Your brand new Lumia might not get major Windows Phone update

    Over a month after the release of Nokia’s Lumia 710 and 800 in New Zealand, Microsoft claims they are "phenomenal" (although it is unwilling to release official numbers).
    But according to reports on The Verge and a ZDNet blog, buyers of the Lumia phones, and other Windows Phone 7 (WP7) phones, might be surprised to hear that their recently-purchased devices might not receive the next major iteration of Windows on mobile, code named “Apollo” which is expected to be based on Windows 8.
    Microsoft has since responded saying all current models will receive the next ‘minor’ iteration of WP7, called Tango, but refuses to clarify if current WP7 phones will receive updates beyond that.
    Confusing the matter further are comments made by Microsoft developer evangelist Nuno Silva, who said in an interview to Portuguese tech site Zwame that all current WP7 devices would support the Apollo update.
    Silva has since retracted this comment, saying he mistook app compatibility with device compatibility.
    Puneet Batra, operator channel lead for Microsoft NZ, confirmed all current WP7 devices will support the Tango update, but was unable to comment on future releases.
    According to Batra, several companies in New Zealand are currently piloting WP7 phone deployments. Included in many of the pilot programmes, he says, is the development of custom business applications for the WP7 platform.
    To reassure app developers and business who have invested time and money in the OS, Batra says WP7 apps will be forward compatible with future releases.
    Batra adds that so far there have been no official statements from Microsoft on WP7 device compatibility, and that The Verge and ZDNet are merely speculating.
    *In an earlier version of this article we wrongly quoted a Nokia representative discussing sales. Nokia is not commenting on sales in New Zealand at this time.

  • Kiwi catches Adobe’s Air updraft

    Being quick off the mark could be a key to international development success. Auckland’s John Ballinger certainly was — both when it came to developing software that plugs into the latest American Web 2.0 sensation and in the choice of software to develop it.

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