Dell To Offer Venue Pro Customers Windows Phone 7 Updates

Dell on Thursday said it will issue the long-awaited Windows Phone 7 updates to its Dell Venue Pro customers in a ’phased rollout’ to take place over the next few weeks. A Dell spokesperson wrote in a Dell community blog post that although Dell does not have a specific timeframe in place for bringing Microsoft’s ’NoDo’ updates to Venue Pro users, the company will issue the updates in three phases, including a final phase that involves additional Dell features. ’Microsoft is delivering the Copy and Paste update in batches,’ the Dell spokesperson wrote. ’That's why it's not getting to all of you at once.’

Initially scheduled for release in February, Microsoft’s ’NoDo’ update, which enables Copy-and-Paste functionality on the Windows Phone 7 platform, was delayed after an initial update of Windows Phone 7-based Samsung smarphones caused error codes on many users’ devices. Microsoft has since released a schedule for when the updates will be ready for various vendors’ phones. Both Dell’s Venue Pro and HTC’s HD7 are listed under ’Delivering Update,’ meaning the update is in the third and final stage of the process, while HTC’s Surround, LG’s Qualcomm and Samsung’s Focus smartphone is listed under ’Stage 1 Testing.’

Meanwhile Dell, according to its spokesperson, began a phased rollout of the update in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), as well as in India. Dell began offering the update to T-Mobile customers in the U.S. on Tuesday, according to the post, however customers must first add two prior updates from Microsoft itself. The post refers to the initial update as the ’February update’ and says the second update from Microsoft requires that customers already have the February update loaded onto their devices.

However, the spokesperson added, Dell will offer a third update at some point that includes faster application speed load times for gaming applications and changes to Microsoft’s Marketplace, where customers can find and purchase Windows Phone 7 applications, as well as Microsoft Outlook.

Dell’s spokesperson then shared his own experience updating the Venue Pro with each of Microsoft’s updates and posted instructions along with the announcement. The ’NoDo’ update requires Microsoft’s Zune software, according to the post, which in turn requires a processor that runs at 1GHz clock speed or more, at least 1 GB of RAM, and broadband connectivity for optimal operation, according to Microsoft.

The spokesperson said the update allowed the applications to run faster overall, and said Dell will offer more details in upcoming blog posts.

Next: Microsoft’s Damage Control

In its own Windows Phone blog on Tuesday, Microsoft said it has launched the Copy and Paste update to over a dozen mobile operators worldwide. Microsoft said the rollout is progressing as expected so far, and that it plans to refresh its release schedule each Wednesday. For those whose devices are listed under the third and final phase of ’Delivering Update,’ it still may take about two weeks before it’s available to download.

’We’re happy to finally be making the copy and paste update more widely available. But remember that we deliver updates gradually to start,’ Microsoft’s spokesperson wrote. ’We are taking the time to really scrutinize quality to make sure your update experience is great.’

In addition, he confirmed that two download updates will be required. However, Microsoft said that customers will receive two update notices, for the February update and for the March update, and will receive a notice for the second as soon as their done installing the first.

Last week Microsoft and AT&T received negative customer feedback over the delayed NoDo update, as well as demands for a specific release schedule. Although Microsoft released the schedule it remains very vague for customers and, in some cases, adds to a perceived lack of transparency and communication from both companies.

In addition, some Microsoft partners reacted to the Windows Phone 7 update issues saying Microsoft needs to be more forceful in its partnerships with carriers such as Dell, HTC, or Samsung.