Nokia Lumia 800 battery bug blamed on software

Nokia has officially admitted the Nokia Lumia 800's battery woes are down to a software bug, and promised a solution in the new year software update.

Owners of the new Lumia 800, Nokia's first Windows Phone, have reported assorted problems with the battery and charging the phone. But Nokia now says, "The good news is that as this is a software problem it can be easily resolved."

In a post on the Nokia support forums, a spokesman for the Finnish phone-flingers promises that the planned software update in early 2012 will allow the phone to access the full capacity of the battery. Some owners had found that their Lumia wasn't charging fully, and so the phone wasn't lasting a day without dying.

If you can't wait for the update, Nokia promises to replace your phone.

To see if your phone is affected by the battery bug, you can run the battery status test from the diagnostics app installed on the phone. Dial ##634# to open the diagnostics tool, accept the disclaimer and hit Battery Status in the list of options. You'll then see your approximate battery charge capacity. If your full charge capacity reads less than 1,000mAh then your phone is affected with the problem, and you'll need the software update or you'll be charging more often.

Your humble correspondent is a big fan of Windows Phone, so we wish Nokia would hurry up and sort out these teething problems. We hadn't encountered this particular battery problem, but have had a different problem when after a few weeks of use our Lumia 800 died one day and then refused to recharge.

It doesn't appear to be a widespread problem, but some users have reported the issue, and speculate that if the phone runs its battery out completely then it doesn't have enough juice to recognise the charger and start charging again.

Has smart phone technology outpaced the humble battery? Power up your thoughts in the comments below, or on our Facebook page.