Freezing, reboots, and battery life issues creep up in HTC and Nokia handsets
Windows Phone 8 enjoyed a big launch at the end of October. Sporting a slick user interface, a growing app catalog, and (finally) premium hardware, it seemed that the Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) mobile operating system was finally growing into a legitimate competitor to Apple, Inc. (AAPL) and Google Inc. (GOOG).
Unfortunately, the first handsets out the gates appear to be having some issues.
Microsoft Support Forums, Nokia Oyj.'s (HEX:NOK1V) Support Forums, and WPCentral's forums have all been inundated with complaints of peculiar behavior creeping into the lineup.
Reportedly Nokia's flagship phone, the colorful Lumia 920 has been experiencing unexpected freezes and reboots. The phone also appears to be suffering from bad battery life, a problem that has plagued past Lumia devices due to firmware glitches.
Nokia Lumia 920
Reportedly disabling tap-to-send NFC helps improve the battery life; it's possible that Nokia's firmware is not smart enough to turn of the NFC modem when no devices is present, instead continuously pinging for compatible signals.
HTC Corp.'s (TPE:2498) 8X has not reportedly experienced that battery life woes, but it has been rebooting. That indicates that the rebooting/freezing problems may trace to deeper stability issues in Windows Phone.
HTC 8X
The Lumia 900 did suffer a major software bug during the launch week, losing its data connection. AT&T Inc. (T) and Nokia responded with a prompt patch, though, which largely fixed the issues.
One can at least hope that when Samsung Electronics Comp., Ltd.'s (KSC:005930) Ativ S WP8 phone finally lands, that some of these issues will have been ironed out with software patches.
To be fair, Microsoft is not the only one with issues. In the Froyo era, Google Inc. (GOOG) Android 2.2 update reportedly bricked some handsets. And more recently Apple suffered serious antenna issues with the iPhone 4 launch, and more issues -- broken maps, a battery life/wallet-draining data bug, and photograph discoloration with the iPhone 5 launch.
Sources: Microsoft Support Forums, Nokia Support Forums, WPCentral Forums, The Verge
"Mac OS X is like living in a farmhouse in the country with no locks, and Windows is living in a house with bars on the windows in the bad part of town." -- Charlie Miller
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