Recently, we received some customer inquiries, and saw blog posts—like this one from TheNextWeb—and answered a few media questions around customers getting Venue Pro smartphones with batteries labeled as Engineering Samples.
After investigating we concluded the batteries shipped and sold at Microsoft retail stores are indeed production quality—they were simply mislabeled at the factory. We have addressed and corrected the oversight and are working with our partners at Microsoft to replace Venue Pro units to ensure people are 100% satisfied with their purchase. Again, these are production quality batteries but were simply mislabeled. Those seeking exchanges may return to Microsoft retail stores and swap out their phones for new ones beginning early at the end of next week.
Update: I spoke incorrectly on the timing for the new units. They will be available at the end of next week, not the beginning like I originally said.
We’ve also seen reports of problems connecting some Venue Pros to protected Wi-Fi networks. Our engineers are currently investigating the issue and working with our partners at Microsoft. I'll provide an update when I have more details to share.
Update 2: We have confirmed that the Wi-Fi
connectivity issue that was reported in blogs
like Boy
Genius Report and Ubergizmo
resulted from a software glitch during Dell's manufacturing
process. The issue affected some of our initial phone shipments and was not a
hardware issue or a Windows Phone 7 one. Customers who purchased Venue Pro
smartphones on Monday or Tuesday (November 8 or 9) at a Microsoft Store and who
are experiencing the protected Wi-Fi network connectivity issue also have the
option of bringing your phone back to the Microsoft Store for an exchange,
beginning at the end of next week. Your new phone will fix the Wi-Fi issue as
well.
Since there's been some confusion about my response on the Wi-Fi software issue, here's my comment on BGR.com:
More to come regarding the Dell Venue Pro here on Direct2Dell and at the #dellvenuepro hashtag on Twitter.