What’s coming next - Microsoft officially announces Windows Phone 8 GDR3 OS update

This morning time at 8 AM ET, Microsoft officially pulled the veil off of the highly predictable General Distribution Release 3 (GDR3), the third and concluding OS update for Windows Telephone 8 before side by side year'south 8.1 overhaul. This comes simply days afterward AT&T in the US began to push out GDR2 for electric current Lumia 820 and 920 users and the nearly complete worldwide launch of that 2nd update.

Microsoft updates their mobile Bone through a series of updates, chosen GDRs, which are akin to the Service Packs of Windows desktop from years agone. In addition to full Bone updates, GDRs are meant to add fixes to the Os for bugs, bring new features to electric current users and enable new hardware options for their hardware partners.

Windows Telephone 8 GDR3 8.0.10512, expected to begin commitment to current devices in the coming weeks, will bring many new features to current and time to come Windows Phones, including:

Back up for 1080p display for new devices similar the Lumia 1520
Support for new processors including Qualcomm's Snapdragon MSM8974 quad-core CPU
Close apps by tapping on the X on top correct in multitasking view. The icon of the app appears below.
Custom tones for text or IM, voicemail, email and reminders
Better storage management: New storage settings arrive easier to free up space on your telephone and manage temporary files. A new category view shows what'south taking upwards space at a glance.
Screen Rotation lock: When motorcar-rotate screen is off, your screen will stay in the current orientation when you rotate your phone.
Driving Mode: Turns of all notifications except texts and phone calls when y'all're driving. You tin also turn calls and texts off completely or ready Driving Mode to text and automatic reply like "Hey, I am driving right now. I'll reply you later." Driving Manner can start automatically when your phone connects to a Bluetooth device.
Connect to Wi-Fi in OOBE when switching on your new telephone for the first time or later you your reset your phone, so you can restore your data fifty-fifty before connecting to a cellular network.

Microsoft detailed the new OS update on their official Windows Phone blog, noting that a lot of the new features were driven by user requests.

History

Back in belatedly 2022 and early on 2022, GDR1 (also known as 'Portico') was released. That update brought new texting features, improved Wi-Fi and messaging improvements. Starting afterwards in the summertime, Microsoft and their OEM partners delivered GDR2, an update that included fixes for Xbox Music, 'Other Storage' and more.

In addition to the Bone updates, Microsoft's partners besides evangelize accompanying firmware updates that permit the OEM to farther customize the Os and improve hardware support. Nokia has prominently lead these updates with their colorfully named firmware including 'Bister' (GDR2) and 'Bloodshot shimmer' (GDR3). Nokia's firmware has enabled new features such as Glance screen, call + SMS blocking, flip to silence, double tap to awake, new camera options and more.

Microsoft expects GDR3 to launch in the "coming weeks" and to continue commitment in the coming months.

Updates today for developers

Microsoft is as well announcing a programmer preview program, whereby they can get early on access to these updates, including GDR3. To qualify, you will demand to encounter ane of these benchmark:

Your phone is "developer-unlocked"
Y'all're a registered Windows Phone Store programmer OR
You're a registered Windows Telephone App Studio developer

Microsoft will give further details on their programmer web log afterwards today.

Source: Windows Phone Web log

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