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Windows Phone 8.1 Update - All the info right here!

Chris_K
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Good news... We have some details on the software update everyone's waiting to get for their Nokia 3310!

Just kidding, we're here today to talk about the 8.1 Windows Phone update I know you're all waiting for. We've seen the posts, the tweets, the facebook comments... It's something you guys really want, so we're pleased to bring you more details and information on the new 8.1 update that's headed your way soon. Let's lay it out in an easy-to-read Q&A. We all love Q&A's right?

Why didn't we get this update on 24th June?
24th June was the official start date for the "lifecycle" of the 8.1 update. This wasn't necessarily the date when WP users would get the update, but merely the beginning of its life. From then, it would take Microsoft several weeks to push the update out across continents, countries and networks. We and the UK simply had to wait our turn, that's all.

Okay, okay... Where's my update?!
Don't worry, it's coming soon. We have already started testing the software on our key WP devices that will receive the 8.1 update. We're testing these to ensure the device performs as expected and without any major issues, and to ensure it performs as expected on our network. All-in-all, we want to make sure when the update leaves our hands and reaches yours, it works the way you expect it to.

A DATE! I WANT A DATE!
So do we, with Cheryl Cole if that's at all possible... Microsoft wants you to get this update as soon as possible. Nokia want their devices to get this update as soon as possible. And so do we - As soon as we're confident and happy the update will run smoothly for you, we'll release it back to Nokia for them to push out to our customers. Due to there being a lot of Lumia devices, we're unable to test them all at once so the update may launch at different dates for different devices. We hope and expect for the first 8.1 updates to begin rolling out towards the end of July with others following over a few weeks past then.

Good stuff... What about the Cyan firmware?
As some of you may know, Nokia are also working on a new firmware update they've called 'Cyan' (following on from the previous Black and Blue naming scheme). This will be bundled in alongside the 8.1 update your phone will receive from us, so there's no need to wait for a seperate update for it. What's this update about? Cyan is essentially an expansion on the 8.1 update you'll receive - it will include enhancements such as Bluetooth 4.0 LE support, a new 'Creative Studio' app, camera improvements, and some other device-specific updates too.

What new features can we look forward to in 8.1?
There's genuinely just too much to mention, so we'll highlight some of our favourites:
- Wi-Fi Sense
- Battery Sense
- Storage Sense
- Start screen customisation
- Word Flow keyboard
- New People Hub
- Improved Phone UI
- Action Centre and extended System Tray

You can find out more about what features the 8.1 update will include here

Our Gurus have also blogged about some of the great 8.1 features with videos over here

Anything else we can look forward to?
As a matter of fact, yes, and it will launch exclusively on O2. Visual Voicemail! Want it? You got it! We've been working closely with Nokia to implement this feature into our network and to get it enabled on devices with an O2 Pay Monthly SIM via the new 8.1 update. This works similarly to how it does on an iPhone - when you receive a voicemail it is downloaded to your handset and gives you visual controls to play, pause and delete. No more calling 901/Voicemail for you.

I've got my update. How do I use VVM?
It's easy and straight forward but requires you to activate it first. We've written a guide here on how to activate and use this new feature.

What Nokia devices will we see the 8.1 update on?
We're working on all of our portfolio devices, so this will include the 520, 620, 625, 720, 820, 920, 925, 1020, 1520. The above VVM feature will be bundled into the 8.1 update for these devices, but will not be enabled immediately for the new 8.1 devices - the 630, 635 & 930. We are again working closely with Nokia and the VVM feature will come to these devices as part of a future maintenance release. We don't have any dates ironed out yet but we'll keep you in the loop.

Will we have Cortana once we update?
Unfortunately not – the Cortana feature is being rolled out as a separate feature by Microsoft. The roll-out has already begun in some parts of the world but we’re within the UK we don’t expect to see this feature enabled until some time in Q4. Sorry for any frustration this causes as we know Cortana is a feature many are looking forward to. As rollout plans from Microsoft progress, we’ll keep you updated whenever we know more about release dates.

Windows Phone apps from O2?
The following apps are already available for WP 8.0 devices and should work absolutely fine on 8.1 too: Up at The O2, My Network, O2 Academy, O2 Tracks & O2 Priority Moments.

Where's O2 Wifi, TU Go and My O2?
Our team have been working on these tirelessly and we're looking to bring these to you soon. Don't worry, we'll make sure to keep you updated along the way!

Don't forget if you'd like to discuss any particular O2 app or would like help or assistance with any of the apps or their features, we have a dedicated O2 Apps board here

Fancy the chance to win a WP 8.1 powered Lumia 930?
What sort of a question is that? Of course you do... Join us on Twitter (@O2) from 9am Friday 18th July where we'll be running a series of games. We'll choose a winner from each game who'll win a Lumia.

More info on the competition over here

Release Info
The O2 update to 8.1 with VVM is now available on all Lumia devices

 

1st August Update

------------------------

Unfortunately many of the 8.1 updates had been slightly delayed in being pushed out to customers - this impacts all networks across all countries. It's important to understand that O2 have already approved all of the 8.1 updates which are sitting with Nokia - at this stage, there's little we can do to speed up the process as the last part of the equation is for the update to be released to customers.

On the other hand, it's also important to realise that Nokia have several hundred updates, all of which will differ from release to release. This spans across all network, all countries & all continents that Nokia operate in - it's a very important update for Nokia and their users so they want to get this right and ensure all updates go out as planned without any issues.

We have however met with Nokia and discussed this and we hope to have our updates streamlined and prioritised as much as possible. We currently hope to see updates begin rolling out again late next week but please bear the above in mind - unfortunately delays can happen, especially when the update is as big and widespread as 8.1.

VVM on 8.1 Devices (930, 630, 635)
We will shortly be approving a maintenance release for these devices which will be sent to Nokia to join our current queue of 8.1 updates awaiting being pushed out to customers. This update is only for enabling VVM - it won't include any other changes

VVM on Business tariffs?
Yep, it works - you got it!

Where's my update? WHERE IS ITTTTT?!?!?!
It's closer now more than ever! We're extremely, insanely, massively, immensely hopeful that the 8.1 update will roll out to the rest of the Lumia devices before this weekend. Given there's not many weekdays left this week... It'll be pretty soon.
------------------------------
18th Aug Update

VVM Update for Lumia 630/635/930
This update went live over the weekend so you should have it available to you now if it hasn't already been updated. Remember this update is only to enable VVM - it doesn't contain any other changes.


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Anonymous
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Chris- k you say check manually i have been checking manually all the time. I have tried at work on WiFi and at home on WiFi and at home without WiFi i have a very good internet virgin media connection. I am on lumia black . Do you have any suggestions .l have had this phone about 3 months and purchased it coming from an iphone due to the 8.1 update but this is doing my head in.i am on o2 pay as you go. Have you got any suggestions what i can do
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Chris_K
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@Anonymous wrote:
Chris- k you say check manually i have been checking manually all the time. I have tried at work on WiFi and at home on WiFi and at home without WiFi i have a very good internet virgin media connection. I am on lumia black . Do you have any suggestions .l have had this phone about 3 months and purchased it coming from an iphone due to the 8.1 update but this is doing my head in.i am on o2 pay as you go. Have you got any suggestions what i can do

Is it an O2 handset that was purchased from O2 directly via store/online/phone, or somewhere like CPW or other retailer?


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Anonymous
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Yes Chris it was purchased from a o2 city center store it is on o2 pay as you go account
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Chris_K
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@Anonymous wrote:
Yes Chris it was purchased from a o2 city center store it is on o2 pay as you go account

The 625 was one of the first Lumias to get the update and it wasn't affected by the short delay that most of the other devices had - I'll be honest, I'm confused why the update isn't available to you as it should be.

Unless any of our community members here have alternative ideas or suggestions, it might be worth doing a backup, factory reset, then checking for updates again.


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Anonymous
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Chris_K,
Could you please help me?
I have a Nokia Lumia 1020 which I got on contract from yourselves.
I updated to 8.1 via the Preview for developers option and all is ok, but I have 2 questions?
Will I ever be able to update to the 'Cyan' update without rolling back to Windows phone 8.0 first? And secondly, will VVM be available to me as I updated to 8.1 using the Preview for developers option?
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Anonymous
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Cheers chris_k I took the plunge backed up my phone did a factory reset then manually checked for update and just over 1 hr later my phone is running 8.1 for anyone struggling to get the update give it a go very straight forward
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captainprice
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Have to agree with @Anonymous done a downgrade back to wp8 then checked for the update mine took just over a hour but again all went smoothly now running cyan and official 8.1
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Anonymous
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>Will I ever be able to update to the 'Cyan' update without rolling back to Windows phone 8.0 first?<

 

In theory, yes. Once Microsoft have figured out how to get people with an encrypted phone (bitlocker) running 8.1 Preview upgraded to Cyan/8.1. It's been a fair few weeks now that the rollout to folks running Black/8.1 Preview has been 'on hold' due to this issue. I took the pain of rolling back my 925 to 8.0 a month or so back, got Cyan/8.1 over-the-air and am now on 8.1 Update 1 dev.preview.

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Anonymous
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Can anyone assist....

 

My Lumia 620 wasn't picking up Cyan despite checking manually many times, so in the end tried phone reset to try and provoke it to do so. Still nothing.....

 

Seems like the o2 network has lost my phone?

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Anonymous
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GT did you do a hard reset back to factory settings I did that last night and within 1 hr I was using 8.1 after manually checking for updates 8.1 was there I had been checking manually for the past 2 months so hard reset does work good luck
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