What's new in Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1?



As Windows Phone 8.1 is rolling out worldwide, Microsoft is preparing to release WP8.1 Update 1.

We expect it to be available during the first week in August for users with Preview for Developers enabled - Monday, August 4 is being tipped as a likely day - and in a few months time as a general release.

But what's new in Update 1?

The big change for the UK - and China - is the addition of voice assistant Cortana, which at the moment is restricted to the US.

UK Cortana will have a British accent (whatever Microsoft thinks that is!) and will have locally sourced information including Premier League soccer scores, weather and travel.

The update will also bring Live Tiles to the Start Screen. Much like Android and iOS, you'll be able to drag a tile on top of another to create a folder which will still show tile info and graphics.

There'll also be tweaks to the Windows Phone Store, including a new live tile and more frequent checking for app updates.

Owners of the Nokia Lumia 1520 and Lumia 930 will be getting an under-the-hood update that should make for faster battery charging with Qualcomm's new Quick Charge Technology, which will also be included in new Nokia devices in the future.

Smart cover support means Windows phones will work with cases that, for example, have a cutout at the front to show the time, date and notifications. Opening and closing the case could also unlock and lock the device.

Microsoft says there'll be a major update for the Xbox Music App, including faster load times. To be honest, it would be difficult to make the app any worse than it is now. So any improvement is good.

SMS improvements include being able to select multiple message threads for deletion or forwarding.

There'll be improvements to the Internet Explorer web browser which Microsoft says will render more sites to proper screen size.

Management of storage cards will change with storage card space being able to be used for OS updates Currently, if you try to download an update and there's not enough space left on your internal storage, you'll get an out-of-storage warning. With WP8.1 Update 1, your phone will be able to utilise microSD cards for the update process.

There will also be the usual raft of tweaks to improve performance and battery life.

It's good to see Microsoft introducing these updates so quickly after the release of WP8.1.

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