Nokia Backtracks On Lumia 610 Skype; 256MB RAM Just Won’t Cut It
We all knew that lowering the bar on Windows Phone memory requirements would mean incompatibility with some apps, but so far the consequences haven’t been overly jarring. Earlier this year, Skype finally came to Windows Phone, but did so along with caveat that the app wasn’t compatible with 256MB handsets. Nokia didn’t like the sound of how that would affect users of its Lumia 610, and announced that it would see what it could do about that, eventually making the app available for download. About a month later, and with the 610 now launched in China, Nokia’s changing its tune, and deciding that Skype just isn’t a good fit for a phone with such limited memory.
According to a translated statement from Nokia HK, attempting to explain its decision, the company points out that while the app may have been functional, it really wasn’t delivering a user experience that made either Skype or Nokia look very good in the process. Rather than present its users with a sub-par Skype experience, Nokia has elected to end its little experiment and block further downloads of the app from the Windows Phone Marketplace with the 610.
While this is an unfortunate ending to the story, especially after things were looking up, we’ve got to give Nokia credit for at least giving the situation the old college try.