Microsoft releases first flaky iPhone app

Wot no Windows Mobile version?

By Kelly Fiveash • Get more from this author

Posted in Mobile, 15th December 2008 13:33 GMT

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Those well known Apple fanboys down at the Microsoft ranch have released the company’s first application for the iPhone before adding the app to its own Windows-based mobile platform.

Seadragon Mobile hit Apple’s App Store on Saturday. However soon after Redmond admitted that it hadn’t all gone quite to plan because the most important feature in the application – the ability to browse Photosynth libraries – is, well, a bit busted.

“The 'Browse Photosynth' functionality broke right after we submitted the app to the AppStore,” wrote Ben, a Microsoft Live Labs employee. “Hopefully we'll get a new version with this fixed submitted to Apple in the next few days. Photosynth search and adding a user to view their Synths still works. Sorry!”

Microsoft has offered a less-than satisfactory workaround while the company attempts to fix the cockup.

Ben said a last minute bug in the app’s PhotoZoom service meant that Microsoft had no choice but to yank the ‘Browse Photosynth’ feature. Apparently the bug has now been fixed but it won’t reach Jesus Phone lovers for about a week.

In the meantime, customers can use the functionality by entering an unwieldy url via the RSS feed.

This isn’t the first time Microsoft’s Live Labs team has had a problem with the launch of a new app. In August this year MS released Photosynth – a free photo-stitching tool that runs in the cloud – but sadly, at launch, the firm couldn’t cope with the demand. ®

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