Microsoft suspends Windows Phone 7 update for Samsung Omnia 7

Microsoft has provided an official response to reports of bricked Samsung Omnia 7 smart phones due to this week's Windows Phone 7 update. The company admits there is a problem for some phones, and has suspended the update for the Omnia 7 while it fixes the issue.

Microsoft's Michael Stroh says in a blog post that 90 per cent of people who received the update notification have successfully installed the new software. "Off the 10 per cent who did experience a problem, nearly half failed for two basic reasons -- a bad Internet connection or insufficient computer storage space," he writes. "Luckily, both are easy to fix."

Neither of these was the problem affecting some people's Omnia 7 handsets, though. Stroh confirms that this is down to another issue.

"We've identified a technical issue with the Windows Phone update process that impacts a small number of Samsung phones. We're working to correct the problem as quickly as possible. But as a precaution, we've briefly suspended updates to Samsung phones."

Users of other handsets are warned to free up some disk space on their computers before starting the update, as Microsoft's software tries to back up their phone data before launching the process.

Stroh also warns that not every Windows Phone 7 user can expect the update this week, saying, "it could be days -- or even weeks -- before you're able to update your phone." Eh? It's all down to Microsoft's partnerships with operators, apparently.

"Microsoft and the carriers we've partnered with around the world need time to test phone updates to make sure they meet our joint quality, performance and reliability standards. Testing schedules can vary, and that affects when you'll be able to download an update."

Oh. In other words, Windows Phone 7 users are in for the same fun and frolics as Android owners when it comes to guessing when their operator will let them get a new WP7 update.

More information on this is provided on the official Windows Phone 7 support forum, where Microsoft staffer 'Diego T' answers a question on update timings by saying this:

"Some mobile operators have the right to skip one update if they wish. However, they can't skip the next one, which would be an acumulative update and would include the previous one. So if your mobile operator decided to block this one, you will be getting the early March one (which will include the Feb one too)."