firmware

We brought you the video last week of a forthcoming “major” firmware release for the Lumia 920 (and presumably other Windows Phone 8 Lumias) where the new “double tap to awake” and an on-screen clock were revealed.

That update is called PR2.0 with the PR standing for “press release” and it corresponds with the version number. For instance, firmwares that started with 1232.1249.XXXX.XXXX were PR1.0, the ones that started with 1232.5951.XXXX.XXXX were PR1.1 and the new 1308 firmware is PR1.1.5. The forthcoming PR2.0 is obviously a big jump and represents numerous changes and enhancements, of which we’ve only been privy to a few.

Earlier this week we addressed the ongoing connectivity problems users are experiencing with their Nokia Lumia 920s, specifically on AT&T (global users do not appear to be affected, though we’re not certain). The issue results in slowed down data connections, missed calls/test messages or on occasion no data at all, even if only temporarily and it is tied directly to the recent firmware update that rolled out in the last 10 days on AT&T.

Nokia Care US has now responded in a tweet to a customer regarding the update (and future fix) with the following:  “We're aware & update has been temporarily paused. New update will be available in the near future. We'll keep you posted.”

Here’s a sneaky (and welcomed) little change that a few of you have tipped us on. It seems yesterday’s AT&T Lumia 920 firmware update, which will be going to other Lumias in the near future, is also sporting a few changes for the display time-out (found under Settings > Lock Screen).

Currently, some users on a few Windows Phone have only four options: 30 seconds, 1 minute, 3 minutes and 5 minutes. The choice determines how long your device will sit idle before the screen powers off (we opt for 3 minutes ourselves mostly due to photo and video shoots). Now, with the 1308 firmware for AT&T new timings have been added including 15 minutes, 30 minutes and Never.

On top of an already busy day for Windows Phone users, those with an AT&T Nokia Lumia 920 will be pleased to know that the 1308 firmware is now available to download over-the-air. We told you it was coming last week and it’s now here.

We’ve detailed some of the changes in 1308 before, including improved photo quality, Storage tools to clear out “Other” memory and eventually a color profile tool for the display.

Good news for Chinese HTC 8S owners: there's a firmware update over the air. Bad news: the update may just kill your phone. On March 21st, owners of HTC 8S in China started to get a firmware update, and a fair portion of them were permanently stuck on the start up screen after the installation and reboot. HTC and Microsoft are trying to figure out what exactly is wrong with the firmware. Meanwhile the OTA update has been suspended.

It’s Patch Tuesday, Microsoft’s semi-regular time to push out OS and software updates to our computers. Today is no different, and if you’re on Windows 8 you’ll get at least 13 important updates (83MB) and if you’re on Surface, you’re looking at 14 patches (38-118MB) and a firmware update. (Some of that will vary for you as different Office 2010 and Office 2013 updates are included.)

So what’s new? Well, the biggest news is that Microsoft has enabled Flash to work now in Internet Explorer 10 for RT. If you recall, Microsoft only allowed a few, specific websites with Flash to work on Internet Explorer 10 citing performance and battery life reasons. There was even a neat little work around that you could do yourself to bypass this. Now, Microsoft have reversed that decision, which they say is due to more sites becoming IE10 compatible.

It appears that a very few Lumia 620’s have already come off of the line with the latest firmware on board. That’s perhaps to be expected, but it also looks like it’s this firmware that will bring advanced Storage management, including the ability to clear temporary cache files in “other” storage.

Currently, most Lumia 620’s are on the 1250 firmware. A few days ago, 1304 began to populate Navifirm and sure enough within the last day or so, 1307 has appeared for one device/region. It is that 1307 firmware that brings this new ability (we know only because we’re on 1304 ourselves). The OS though is the same Portico 10211 as found on current Windows Phones.

Yesterday on Nokia’s Navifirm servers evidently a new firmware update for the Lumia 920 briefly appeared. The current version for most users is the 1249 branch but this new version is of 1308 variety (1232.5957.1308.0004).

Unfortunately, the firmware is now off of the server meaning we personally cannot analyze it for changes. The good news is that some in our forums already did do some digging and there do appear to be changes to the camera for the better. In addition, new Storage options may give users a means to clear their Temporary cache on their Lumia.