Although the "Lumia Denim" update was announced late last year, it has taken quite some time for it to actually arrive on a majority of handsets. But, after what seemed like an eternity, the update is officially arriving for the Lumia 1520 and 930.
Today, Microsoft has officially updated its support page to reflect that Lumia Denim is now available in North America for the Lumia 1520 and Lumia 930. For those that haven"t been keeping up, the Lumia Denim update brings a wealth of new features to Windows Phone 8.1. Although we have covered the update extensively in the past, these are a couple of the more notable features of Lumia Denim.
- Cortana – The most personal digital assistant on the market will now be available in the UK and China as a Beta. India, Canada and Australia will have access to Cortana as a public Alpha. For US residents, Cortana now includes an improved natural language, car kit integration via Bluetooth for contacts, snooze reminders and calendar improvements.
- Live folders – If you prefer to keep your apps or games organised, you can now put them into folders. Simply press, hold and drag an app over another to create a new folder on the Start screen. Each folder can be renamed by tapping on the text field above the open folder.
- Apps Corner – Create a customised Start screen, where only specific apps or games are accessible. This could be particularly useful in the workplace if you’re issuing Windows Phones to employees.
- SMS merge and forwarding – Select individual text messages to either delete them out of a messaging thread, or to copy and past them into a new message in order to forward them.
- Snooze Times – It’s now possible to customise the snooze time within the Alarm app.
- Consumer VPN – Maintain privacy and security when using data while connected to public Wi-Fi hotspots or even with your home Wi-Fi.
- Mobile Web Site improvements in IE – Connect and browse even faster with improved downloading speeds on mobile websites.
- Store Live Tile (US only) – The Store Live Tile displays featured apps and games that are the most popular in the Store, or most relevant for you.
The update will also improve the existing camera app with new features. While the update should already be available, if you have opted into the "Preview for Developers" make sure that you disable this option as it could prevent the update from being available.