Windows Phone 8 update source says he was mistaken

A Windows Phone 'evangelist' who recently claimed that all existing Windows Phone devices would be updated to Windows Phone 8 has said that he made a mistake.

In a post on his blog titled 'My comments on Windows Phone', Nuno Silva writes, "The point I was trying to make was simply that existing Windows Phone applications will run on the next version of Windows Phone."

That's in line with a Microsoft statement I was sent yesterday, in which the software giant cagily says, "All apps in our marketplace today will run on the next version of Windows Phone. Beyond that, we have nothing to share about future releases."

Silva, who says he "mistakenly confused app compatibility with phone updateability", writes, "Microsoft does not have any further news to share on future products at this time."

An easy mistake to make, perhaps -- but while Silva hasn't stated that Windows Phone devices currently on sale won't get updated to Windows Phone 8, the retraction will fuel speculation that Microsoft is plotting to leave existing Windows Phone devices in the dust.

The Verge recently reported that a source close to Microsoft had claimed current devices won't get the anticipated update, which is codenamed Apollo and will likely land alongside the desktop version of Windows 8 later this year.

Microsoft's reluctance to explain one way or another could mean that it hasn't made up its mind yet about updating current phones. But if Microsoft is planning to stop updating existing models, it's unlikely to admit it yet, as doing so could severely harm sales of existing Windows Phone kit like the Nokia Lumia 900.

Windows Phone 8 is expected to introduce support for multi-core processors and high-resolution screens, which could mean existing devices aren't powerful enough to run the next iteration.

We'll let you know more as it develops, in the meantime drop your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook wall.