Microsoft extended its support lifecycle for Windows Phone 8 earlier this week, doubling up the original plan of 18 months to 36 months, and ensuring that that the popular mobile platform will receive updates and security patches until January 2016.
This, it seems, was part of a grander scheme — one that has got to do with delays.
Many Windows Phone owners have expressed frustration at the slow pace the Windows Phone 8 platform has been getting updates. While small updates arrive every now and then, more substantial ones that add new features are taking their sweet time.
While Redmond confirmed that it would try and roll out updates faster in the future, the folks over at The Verge have been doing their own digging on the state of Window Phone updates.
And it looks like things may not get better any time soon.
While Microsoft originally intended to deploy updates more regularly with more significant features, the software titan has run into some unfortunate problems in testing these updates. Needless to say, those plans have now been thwarted.
One such problematic issue that has been reported arose when testing unlocked devices. Some of the off-contact smartphones were not correctly identified by mobile networks when updates were applied. And worrying yet, issues like these are proving harder to resolve than expected.
So while Redmond is ready to launch the GDR2 update, the company is increasing focus on the next update, titled GDR3, which will allow Windows Phone 8 the ability to support new hardware. Think quad-core processors and higher resolution 1080p displays.
This should also pave way for Windows Phone phablets and large-screen (5 and 6 inch) display smartphones, many of which are rumored to be in development.
The GDR3 update is slated for release later this year, and as feared, this will push the Windows Phone Blue (or Windows Phone 8.1) upgrade to early 2014.
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gdr3 is blue….