WM2003 for i600 updates??? Anyone? Are we going to get it?

[MajesticNJ]

Just wondering if anyone has heard anything more about the 2003 updates for our i600s. There are still some annoying little quirks that I wish would be fixed and hope are corrected in the newer version.

Just hoping that one of you has gotten more than I have. None of the VZW reps I have spoken with have been usefull. Most don't even know anything about the phone itself.

Fred

[Jerry Raia]

The word on the street is it will be out this summer.

[Macguy59]

The word on the street is it will be out this summer.

If it actually get's released then I will keep my i600

[wombat90]

Had to talk to Verizons Data support last week. Transfered through 3 people to talk to them, and then do it all again when I was disconnected, without a doubt the worst customer service ever.
Anyways.
I inquired about 2003, the tech at data support said they were testing it and to expect it somewhere between now and the end of May. Lets hope.

[Macguy59]

Had to talk to Verizons Data support last week. Transfered through 3 people to talk to them, and then do it all again when I was disconnected, without a doubt the worst customer service ever.
Anyways.
I inquired about 2003, the tech at data support said they were testing it and to expect it somewhere between now and the end of May. Lets hope.

Did you explicitly ask about a 2003 upgrade for existing i600 owners? The data/tech people at Verizon are not the brightest and could have easily thought you were asking about smartphones with 2003 preinstalled.

[Industry Analyst]

Yes, I spoke with the PM at Verizon as well as a contact at Samsung and there will be an upgrade slated tentatively for "summer".

[b5lurker]

I got confirmation from reps here in San Diego for Microsoft's Tech-Ed that the upgrade will be available in "the near future" for both the i700 and i600!

The i700 will get it first and soon after that it will be made available for the i600. The upgrade will be downloadable over the internet, which is what is taking so much time to work out the details on. Samsung and other cellular providers are used to deploying these kind of upgrades at the provider's shop, but Verizon wants these upgrades and others in the future to be delivered via the internet.

The reps mentioned that you will go to the website and probably enter your ESN number so that the install will be built to run on just your phone. Samsung needs to enforce this since they are the licensee of the OS.

All 3 of the Verizon Wireless reps that were at the talk had i600 and were already running the latest version of the WM2003 OS on it! I did not get the chance to ask about Wi-Fi and other SDIO upgrades that work.

Looks like it will happen this summer (no they would not commit to dates since none of them work in that department).

I also asked about the possibility of public beta testing on this kind of stuff in the future, and they were very open to that but it would take some time to work it out based on how things have been done in the past. It looks like these new products are really forcing Verizon to rethink how it does everything now!

If I find more, I will post more! I will try to talk to one of the reps in the exhibit hall and get more info on the upgrade and SDIO add-ons.

[MajesticNJ]

Thanks for the info! Looking forward to the upgrade! :)

Fred

[othell]

I've been holding out buying an i600 until after the upgrade. I wish they'ed hurry up!

[b5lurker]

Sorry it took a few days to get back (enjoying the San Diego sun too much), but I did talk to one of the Verizon Wireless reps one-on-one Thursday.

I asked about using SDIO addons with the WM2003 upgrade and he said that he had not tried it with his i600, but that he did use one of the Wi-Fi SDIO addons with the i700 that had been upgraded to WM2003 and it worked fine. He mentioned that he was unable to find a smartphone driver for whatever SDIO Wi-Fi card he was trying to use, but I didn't get what the name of that addon was.

I also asked about the possibility of any new smartphone models coming out and he said that there will be some by the end of this year, and they will NOT be Samsung phones! He also said that there will be EVDO (new broadband wireless network in San Diego and DC now going nationwide) equipped phones and if I understood him correctly an EVDO capable smartphone (i600 cannot be upgraded for this requires new antenna/chips)! He would not say who the new smartphone supplier would be, but we started talking about the new Motorola MPx and he thought that was an awesome phone and that they are talking to Motorola to start producing some CDMA capable phones for them!

Overall, good info from Verizon. Samsung had a booth there as well, but I didn't have the chance to talk to them (very small booth).

I am definitely more impressed with Verizon's ablities to be ahead of the other cellular companies. GSM may be bigger, but with EVDO CDMA is at least 5 times faster with data access now! For me speed and customer service wins, AT&T and T-Mobile have neither, and I know because I have had both.

Steve

[MajesticNJ]

Steve/b5lurker,

You have 8 posts total. 2 of which are full of some really great info. I thank you for taking the time to share with us.

Looks like the worries I had about my i600 are not so great any more. I am eagerly looking forward to a new upgrade in the near future.

Fred

[Mike Temporale]

If this info comes true (and I hope it does :) ) Combined with all the new handsets we are expecting this summer.... It's going to be very busy summer. :D