Ghostly goings on
After admitting its Windows Phone 7 OS has a problem with sending and receiving ‘phantom data' and promising to investigate, Microsoft has tried to explain the platform's ghostly goings on.
A couple of weeks back there were reports that a handful of internet forums have been awash with complaints (mainly from people in the US) that their WP7 phones are mysteriously using up their monthly data allowance.
People reportedly said their handsets were sending ‘huge chunks of data' with some estimating idle data usage of between 2 and 5MB per hour. Indeed experts suggested phones might be sending ‘feedback' to Microsoft, but now the software giant has come up with an explanation of its own.
Microsoft told the BBC that its investigation has discovered that the problems have been caused by an unnamed ‘third party' service, but stressed that it is still looking for other potential problems too.
A Microsoft spokesperson reportedly said: "At this point in our investigation, we believe this is responsible for most of the reported incidents. We are in contact with the third party to assist them in making the necessary fixes."
The spokesperson also apparently added that the software giant s looking into ‘potential workarounds' until the issues is properly fixed, while noting that only a ‘small percentage of WP7 customers' are affected.
The problem first seemed to surface in early January and Microsoft was quick to admit the fault and get investigating. Its spokesperson told the Beeb: "We are continuing to investigate this issue and will update with additional information and guidance as it becomes available."
A software update is also expected for the platform, which launched in October, which is rumoured to be called Mango.
If Ovum's prediction is to be believed WP7 will be in for a stellar year and will grow rapidly, but Microsoft's own people have been previously more cautious, admitting it might take a couple of years to catch up with Google and Apple in the smartphone stakes...at least exorcising the phantom problem should help.
