Nokia To Offer Software Fix, $100 Credit In Wake Of Lumia 900 Data Woes

Microsoft and Nokia have a lot riding on the success of their flagship Lumia 900 Windows Phone, but the usual new gadget honeymoon period has been cut short for more than a few unsatisfied customers. Shortly after devices started going home with their new owners, reports of dead data connections began appearing on Nokia’s support forums.

Well, Nokia knows about the issue and they’re not taking things laying down. AllThingsD spoke to Nokia U.S. chief Chris Weber, who stated that the company was hard at work on a fix and that Nokia would be issuing $100 credits to the bills of all Lumia 900 owners as a gesture of goodwill.

That credit effectively means that plenty of purchasers got their Lumia 900s for free, and some lucky Lumia owners will have actually come out ahead after taking the plunge on some new hardware. What’s more, anyone who buys a Lumia 900 between now and April 21 will be eligible for the credit too, which makes for quite a deal if you’re willing to contend with the potential risks.

That loathsome little software bug will be addressed in a forthcoming software update, and anyone who chooses to will be able to swing by an AT&T store so they can swap for a clean unit. The fix isn’t expected to see the light of day until around April 16th though, so afflicted customers in need of those sweet, sweet LTE speeds should return to place of purchase with receipt in hand for an exchange. If you’ve somehow forged a deep bond with your 900 though, you can also try some of the potential workarounds being shared by similarly stymied Lumia owners.

Weber goes on to mention that the problem isn’t due to flawed hardware or network issues on AT&T’s part — rather, a memory management issue is responsible for those flaky data connections. I’d really love a more technical explanation as to why things went down the way they did, but I suppose Nokia has more pressing issues to tend to in the meantime. It’s quite a hiccup for a device that multiple companies have pinned their hopes on, but Nokia deserves credit for tackling the issue as quickly and as thoughtfully as they have.