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Today there are a lot of Nokia Lumia 900 owners walking around like me – SMH (shaking my head).

Just a little more than two months ago the Nokia Lumia 900 arrived on AT&T here in the US to much fanfare and snazzy new marketing videos and commercials. 

I went through a few days of efforts to get AT&T to allow me an early upgrade for this flagship Windows Phone handset but finally customer service prevailed and I received the phone two days before public availability.

Nokia had problems early with the data bug but made things right for everyone by offering a $100 rebate which basically made the phone free for most and actually left many purchasers ahead in the cash balance column of their bills.  A critical situation handled promptly and very well. 

Of course the rumors started flying round the same time, and even before, that the current generation of handsets would not be able to upgrade to the next version of Windows Phone.  Then of course rumors flew around that the most recent handsets, including the Nokia Lumia 900, would be able to upgrade to the next version of the Windows Phone OS codenamed Apollo.

Well today, at a Windows Phone Summit held in San Francisco, CA., Microsoft confirmed one of those rumors.  Current Windows Phone handsets, including the latest and greatest Nokia Lumia 900, will not receive the Apollo upgrade when it comes out this fall.

That collective gasp you heard earlier today was all of us who purchased this handset in the last two months realizing that we are now holding outdated technology in our hands.  Not something we expected to hear two months into our new 2 year contracts or even for those who bought non-carrier locked phones for nearly $500.

I get technology and I understand, just like a car, when you walk out of the store with a new piece of gear it is already dated and the next best thing is being developed right behind it.  I mean Microsoft and Apple start work on their next OS versions before the new one is even out the door. I get that.

I am also aware that the next version of Windows Phone was being worked on even as the Nokia Lumia 900 was being announced for retail availability and the hype was starting to build earlier this year.

However, what I did not expect was to have such a marketing bonanza related to the Nokia Lumia 900 and the push to get the handset out there into the hands of early adopters and enthusiast as a second generation Windows Phone handset with Windows Phone 8 and its new hardware requirements in the wings.

I consider myself an early adopter and readily run OS beta’s on production machines even though we are warned not to and I still trust my data with that beta system.  When I get bit it is my fault because I go into those situations fully aware of what the circumstances are.

In this situation myself and many others were not given that opportunity to make an informed decision about purchasing now or waiting until the fall to buy new hardware running Windows Phone 8.

Now here is the irony with all this.  As much as I am frustrated about my new handset not getting this complete update, as we will get a subset of the Windows Phone 8 updates that are not hardware related in an update package labeled Windows Phone 7.8, I am excited about the direction Microsoft is taking with their mobile OS.

Much of what they discussed today makes sense and will help the Windows Phone platform be a solid mobile based OS on many levels. 

So my reactions today are very mixed at the moment and I am sure the disappointment will begin to balance out with the excitement about these new features at some point down the road.

However, don’t let my being bummed stop you from reading up on the news from the Windows Phone Summit. 

Check out these news resources about today’s announcements: