Select WP7.5 devices will get new homescreen and some WP8 features in WP7.8 but not WP8

Image via engadget

TheVerge reports that the new homescreen you just saw in the last post will come to WP7.5 devices as an update to WP7.8. There will be other features but that’s about it. No WP8.

Why? Because apparently the hardware won’t handle it. MS needed to up the ante and match the specs of their competitors (or more) and now that they have it appears there won’t be a move to WP8 for older WP7.5 phones (not that there are that many out there but Nokia is reliant on their sales).

If Nokia knew this, why didn’t they just up the specs before hand. Maybe they wouldn’t have been used by WP7.5 but as long as the phone would work normally, then it could wait for WP8? Or am I thinking to simply here.

So now it’s just past mid June. Nokia need these new devices ASAP and must survive pushing out the 900, 800, 710 and 610.

What bugs me is how on earth the super cheap windows phone devices are going to come to be if higher spec’d current gen WP can’t even get WP8.

MS’s Greg Sullivan says:

When you pull that Lumia out of your pocket after you’ve received that 7.8 update, it will look and feel the same as a Windows Phone 8 device

Well there we go. This explains everything clearly as to why Nokians were very cagey regarding updates to WP7.5 devices (citing that Nokia does not release a phone that they don’t support with updates). It also makes sense now why Nokia did not stick to the original plan of pumping out new WP7.5 Lumia after another if that would mean too many handsets with no upgrade path. Given the small userbase of WP7.5 it’s harsh but it probably did not make sense to invest into developing WP8 for WP7.5 hardware. But so what, MS has oodles of cash. Unless there was a time constraint, at least to reduce the negative vibe towards WP there should have been an update.

BTW, what features would I come to expect were WP8 to suddenly appear in my 800? Would NFC and SD card magically appear? At least the UI is changing. Hopefully it gets the new IE10 browser too.

Source: TheVerge

Category: Nokia, Windows Phone