If you're feeling lucky(!) and brave(!!) and want to play with the next version of Windows on your smartphone then note that Lumia 630, 635, 636, 638, 730, and Lumia 830 owners can install the Windows Insider application and be served up what's definitely an early beta of Windows 10 for Mobile. It's not recommended for use on your primary device, of course.
Also announced today at IFA 2014 was the official name and contents for the next major Lumia software release - Denim. Based on Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1, Denim also offers some Lumia-only features, quoted below.
The Windows Phone 8.1 Developer Preview is now available for download, allowing any interested party to install the latest version of Microsoft's mobile platform onto any existing Windows Phone 8.0 device. Key features of the update include the introduction of Cortana (US only), the arrival of Action Centre (improved notification functionality), and a deeper and richer API set for developers.
Following misunderstandings and mistranslations on other sites, we have confirmed details of what will be in the upcoming Lumia Cyan update in the camera department - so at least let's put the record straight.
One of the more interesting aspects of the Build 2014 conference for developers was the principle of the unified Windows application. Can this really be a write-once run-everywhere (everywhere that is Microsoft)? Not quite, but it's as close as you can practically get and allows the Windows platform to be promoted as a single entity over all the platform options, which will be of benefit to Windows Phone.
Today at its Build developer event, Microsoft formally unveiled Windows Phone 8.1, the next generation of its mobile platform. Key highlights include the Cortana personal digital assistant, updated and more personal Start and lock screens, a refreshed notification experience with Action Centre, improved enterprise support, and the advent of Universal Apps that share a common code base between Windows 8 and Windows Phone.
Microsoft today announced the availability of Office Lens, a Windows Phone app that its describes as a "OneNote scanner for your pocket". More prosacially, the provides a way to use your phone's camera to get the content from things like business cards, receipts, whiteboards, and douments into OneNote, Microsoft's note taking and information gathering tool.
In a blink and you'll miss it moment during Microsoft's pre-MWC press conference Joel Belfiore made a brief mention of a number of enterprise features, including VPN and extended MDM support, that will be added to the next version of Windows Phone. The update, which will be delivered in the spring, will be available on a range of new devices and as an update for all existing Windows Phone 8 devices.
Following on from last week's Windows Phone Preview SDK leak, additional details about Windows Phone 8.1, drawn from an examination of the MUI strings (multi-language user interface) found in the filing system of the SDK's emulator, have been posted to Sinclairnat0r.com. Highlights include support for trusted NFC apps, the addition of app data to the built-in backup feature, and support for auto-updating of apps.
Details of some of the new features and changes in Windows Phone 8.1 have been posted to a thread on social news site reddit in what appears to be a NDA-breaking leak from a developer who has early access to the platform SDK. Items of interest include an updated Internet Explorer (based on IE 11), the introduction of VPN support, new storage sense and battery sense features, and many new app and system settings.
