Windows Phone 8 users report random reboots, poor battery life

Less than a month after hitting shelves, Windows Phone 8 users are reporting issues with the Nokia and HTC produced handsets that run the OS. Forums have been abuzz with issues faced by users ranging from poor battery life to random reboots, enough to raise eyebrows about the newest OS version from the Windows stable.

Windows Phone 8 already plagued with numerous issues

In a thread on WPCentral, HTC 8X users have been talking about their phones randomly rebooting numerous times while in use. Besides the HTC, Nokia Lumia 920 users have complained about reboots and phone freeze issues on both Microsoft and Nokia’s support forums. Battery life has been another widely reported issue that has left Windows Phone 8 users disgruntled.

In attempts to try and fix the battery issue, some users ended up bricking their phones, with the screen stuck on the Nokia splash screen after a hard reset, as posted in a thread on WPCentral.  Meanwhile, certain users were also facing issues with Wi-Fi connectivity disappearing when the phone was locked.

In response to a tweet, Joe Belfiore, Corporate Vice-President, Windows Phone Program Management, said that Microsoft was working on a fix for the Wi-Fi issue. ‘Someone is gonna yell at me for saying this, but... fix is coming. Sshh. Just promise me a little patience though,’ he tweeted.

Considering that it has been less than a month since Windows Phone 8 handsets have been made available, there is hope for updates that fix these issues in the near future. Nokia seems to be in damage control mode already, earning brownie points from some users for replacing their bricked Lumia 920s overnight. There has been no official word on the issues by either Microsoft or Nokia or HTC.

Meanwhile, Nokia aficionados in the country will have to be content with devices running Windows Phone 7 for a while, as sources claim that the Lumia 920 launch will not take place anytime soon in India. The company has only recently launched the Lumia 900, and doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to release its much awaited Windows Phone 8 running devices any time soon. Lumia 900 cannot be upgraded to Windows Phone 8 either.

The supposed November release was much anticipated with Diwali around the corner, and would have certainly seen pieces flying off the shelves quickly. The news of its launch had set social networking sites ablaze and disappointment was apparent when Nokia failed to make it available in the Indian markets. The fact that Nokia rival HTC, will be releasing HTC 8X and 8S soon in India has not hastened Nokia’s process of rolling out its newer handsets right away.

The phone is packed with features such as an 8.7MP Carl Zeiss optics rear camera coupled with PureView technology that claims to capture five times more light than competitor smartphones, a spanking new IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen that has a resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels and pixel density of 332ppi.

Even though it is not uncommon for glitches to appear early on in devices, it is likely that the reboots and battery life are early software issues that could be solved with software patches released over time. However, if it indeed is an issue with the hardware, the situation might get a little difficult for the companies.