Windows Phone 7.8 update hit by problems, forcing its release to be halted (Update: It’s coming!)

At the end of January, Nokia excitedly announced the availability of Windows Phone 7.8, the update which would add Windows Phone 8’s resizable Live Tiles and a few other features to older Windows Phone 7 devices. It’s release was greeted with a sigh of relief from the Nokia WP7 community, as the lack of information prior to that point made many wonder if it would ever arrive.

Since then, it has slowly but surely been seeded to Nokia’s entire range of Windows Phone 7 hardware, including the Lumia 510, 610, 710, 800, and Lumia 900. However, if your phone hasn’t received the update yet, the wait isn’t about to be over, as Microsoft has been forced to halt the update due to a software problem. CNet UK has confirmed this with Nokia, and according to an Omio report a, “minor issue in the Windows Phone 7.8 software,” has been discovered. Nokia Russia has also tweeted the update has been suspended, while at the end of February, Vodafone in Germany stopped the update from being sent to its subscribers.

While no information has been forthcoming on the nature of the problem, it could be related to reports of a bug which stops Live Tiles in Windows Phone 7.8 from updating. Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore confirmed in a tweet the company was aware of the problem, saying, “We identified a minor issue where some 7.8 tiles stop updating and we are working on a fix now.

So, a fix is on its way, but how long will Windows Phone 7 owners be made to wait for this one to turn up? It has never seemed like WP7.8 was a priority for Microsoft, so don’t expect it to be very soon. Plus, there has been no official comment on the update being stopped, so until there is, notification on it being restarted is highly unlikely. As before, all we can do is wait.

Updated on 03/15/13 at 10:50am by Andy: Well, it seems like Microsoft made fixing Windows Phone 7.8 a priority, as a new build of the operating system has been published and is on its way out to Windows Phone 7 devices now. According to Microsoft’s official update page, version 7.10.8862 fixes the problematic Live Tile issue, and also adds a few other missing features and improves overall performance. Users from Europe and Canada are reporting the update has already reached their phones.

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