Some of us should be getting a little gift soon: Windows Central has been tipped by their readers that the Lumia 1020 for AT&T is now receiving the Lumia Denim firmware update. The update has been on a slow global rollout since its announcement in September 2014, and it brings some significant new features – if you have the right hardware.
Officially, Denim carries along with it the feature-packed Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1, which includes Cortana, Live Folders, and more. Denim itself – exclusive to Lumia devices – adds exciting features like “Hey Cortana” voice activation and a better Glance screen. One of the more notable additions is the upgraded Lumia Camera app. Long recognized as one of Windows Phone’s selling points, Lumia Camera is now much faster to start up and has gained the ability to do things like Rich Capture, in which a picture with flash can be combined with a non-flash one, creating a blend of the two to the user’s liking. A full list of what Denim brings can be found right here on the Lumia Conversations blog.
Unfortunately, due to hardware limitations, not all Lumia devices are able to utilize the Denim update in its full glory — devices like the Lumia 1020 are among them. Denim was rolled out to the Lumia 1020 in Europe this past February and you can see below the full change log of what you are getting with this firmware update:
- Cortana, the most personal digital assistant, is now available also in the UK and China. New features for Cortana include improved natural language, car kit integration for contacts using Bluetooth, snooze reminders, and calendar improvements. Cortana even does character impersonations upon request.
- Organize and further personalize your start screen easily. Group apps into a folder on the start screen, rename the folder, and rearrange tiles inside the folder for greater personalization.
- Improved Glance screen with Bing Weather or Bing Health & Fitness data, in addition to time and date, notifications, and app data.
- Updates to the Lumia Storyteller and Lumia Selfie apps. Available from Store.
- Connect and browse even faster with improved download speeds on mobile websites.
- Install phone updates more easily by scheduling them for a time that works best for you.
- Additional improvements to stability, battery performance, push notifications, WiFi connectivity, consumer VPN support, Apps Corner, merging and forwarding text messages, custom snooze times in the Alarms app, Store Live Tile (available in the US only), and more.
Further reading: Denim, Lumia 1020, Microsoft, Windows Phone 8.1
