In a promotional webpage posted earlier this year, Microsoft mentioned that Lumia smartphones running on Windows Phone 8.1 would start getting the Windows 10 update in December. However, we're already half way through the month and there's still no sign of the firmware update.

As it turns out, there will be no Windows 10 Mobile holiday gift after all as the Washington tech giant recently confirmed, in a statement shared to ZDNet, that the roll out will instead commence sometime in early 2016.

Microsoft didn't give any reason why they suddenly changed their mind. Nevertheless, the new timetable is actually more ambiguous than the first one, which specifically referenced one month. This time, "early next year" could mean anything. A firmware roll out in March may still be considered as on time.

Furthermore, Microsoft has yet to provide a definitive list of all Lumia smartphones that will eventually receive the Windows 10 update. What has been listed thus far are merely the initial devices that will run the new software, but that list was outed back to July. Hopefully, Microsoft hasn't changed that too.

Owners of prior Lumia smartphones, who just couldn't wait that long to try out Windows 10 Mobile, can instead upgrade their handsets with the recently launched Lumia 550, a budget-friendly offering that's powerful enough to run on Microsoft's new mobile operating system.

Microsoft announced last week on Windows Blog the arrival of the Lumia 550 in Europe and the United States.

Spec include a 4.7-inch screen with 720 x 1280 LCD display, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 210 processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of built-in storage expandable up to 200GB and a 2,100 mAh battery, as per PhoneArena.

The battery capacity is enough to keep the lights on for 16 hours of talk time and 28 days when the handset is left idle. Music can be played backed for 60 hours while videos can run up to seven hours.

Its five-megapixel back camera includes LED-flash, digital zoom, autofocus, touch focus and geo-tagging. It is also able to record 1280 x 720 resolution videos at 30 fps. Selfies and video calls are handled by a two-megapixel front-facing unit.

The handset itself is 136.1 millimeters long, 69 millimeters wide and close to 10 millimeters thick. Its removable polycarbonate back cover comes in several color options.

For folks in Germany, Amazon's local retailer is selling the Lumia 550 for €140. In the U.K., Amazon has it listed at £160. The Windows 10 Mobile device can be obtained in the US for only $140.