Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. Legacy Archives

Microsoft pushes Windows Phone 7 update to Samsung phones

Add as a preferred source on Google
Samsung Focus
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Maybe the second time will be a charm: Microsoft has resumed distributing its updated to its Windows Phone 7 mobile platform. Microsoft originally launched the update on February 21, but pulled it from distribution after reports that the new software was rendering some Samsung Windows Phone devices inoperable. The company tried to put a brave face on the problem, saying that the update worked fine for nine out of ten users, and that half the people who did have a problem simply ran out of disk space or had bad Internet connections. The update snafu came at a particularly awkward time for the software giant, which was business trying to line up momentum behind its new Windows Phone partnership with Nokia.

Now, Microsoft says it has corrected the problems that were preventing a “small percentage” of Windows Phone devices from updating. As with the first update, Microsoft is distributing the update on a rolling schedule: some users may see the update right away, while others may have to wait a while for it to become available for their device.

Recommended Videos

Microsoft has not identified the issues that caused problems with the initial update.

Microsoft’s next major update for Windows Phone 7 is expected this month, improving performance and adding much-desired functionality like copy-and-paste.

Geoff Duncan
Former Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
Snapchat Planets: What’s the order, and what do they mean?
Snapchat Planets turns your best friends list into a solar system, and yes, your orbit says a lot
Snapchat Planets being shown on the Snapchat app on iPhone.

Snapchat is already packed with little symbols that can be weirdly hard to decode. You have streaks, emojis, badges, scores, Best Friends, and if you use Snapchat Plus, a tiny solar system that shows where you sit in someone’s closest-friends list.

The feature is called Friend Solar System, though most people just call it Snapchat Planets. It takes your position in a friend’s Snapchat orbit and turns it into a planet. From Mercury to Neptune, these celestial bodies signify how close a person is to you.

Read more
How to use WhatsApp Web
We'll show you how to use WhatsApp on your desktop or laptop
WhatsApp Web

As one of the most popular messaging services, you’ve already heard of WhatsApp. From its humble beginnings in 2009—two years before Apple introduced iMessage—to its acquisition by Facebook (now Meta) in 2014, WhatsApp has become the dominant messaging platform around the globe.

In recent years, it's grown even more potent with new features like video messages, self-destructing voice messages, the ability to edit sent messages, and more. We even finally got an WhatsApp iPad app in May 2025.

Read more
What is WhatsApp? How to use the app, tips, tricks, and more
From setting it up to mastering hidden features, here is your complete guide to WhatsApp.
WhatsApp app store listing open on iPhone

There's no shortage of messaging apps out there. The past decade has given us more options than we know what to do with, largely because smartphones demanded something better than plain old SMS.

Both the App Store and the Play Store are packed with apps that promise to revolutionize the way we communicate. Most of them didn't make it. The truth is, a messaging app is only as good as the number of people using it, and most apps never cross that threshold.

Read more