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The Nokia Lumia Cyan firmware update — which runs parallel with the Windows Phone 8.1 bundle and brings several iconic Lumia-exclusive features — has begun to rollout on select handsets. The update will eventually arrive on other Windows Phone 8-powered Lumia smartphones as well. In case you’re wondering what features the said update will bring to your phone, here’s a brief rundown on that.
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Starting with Lumia exclusive features, people sporting Nokia handsets will be receiving refined versions of Nokia Camera, Creative Studio, and Storyteller apps. In case you’re not familiar with the said apps, here is a quick description on what they are, and the features they add to your smartphone.
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- Nokia Creative Studio brings a range of filters and effects to give a professional finish to your captured images. These features allow you to adjust blurriness to the background — tinkering with the depth of photos. Using it, you can also adjust the brightness, vibrancy, and clarity factors. The Nokia Creative Studio 6 version brings better integration with Camera Roll.
- While Windows Phone OS comes with its own stock camera app, Lumia handset owners can take advantage of the Nokia Camera app. It sports a feature called ‘Living Images’, which enables you to add motion triggering elements to the photo to alter its dynamics. It also offers you manual controls to capture the exact parts you want to tape.
- Nokia Storyteller app automatically groups all your photos , videos and cinemagraphs into individual events called stories. You can adjust the sequence of the story to make a timeline of sorts, and share it with your friends.
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The company is also introducing a new feature called Nokia Device Hub, which will allow you to keep better track of your connected devices. It lets you know where you last used a particular peripheral. In addition, Device Hub also recommends apps that you can try out for those accessories.
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Besides that, the Lumia 520, Lumia 525, Lumia 620 and Lumia 720 users will also receive a free upgrade to global Here Drive + app. The Nokia Lumia 1520 and Lumia Icon handset owners will find improvements in the camera abilities and, the audio quality in the videos will get better as well, thanks to the device’s support for Nokia Rich Recording and Dolby Digital Plus 5.1.
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Coming alongside Lumia Cyan update is Windows Phone 8.1. The new operating system version brings a plethora of enticing features to your handset. From the voice assistant service Cortana, to Action Center to a new swipe based keyboard Word Flow, and much more.
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Besides the new features — you can read the complete list here — the update irons out and adds little tweaks to several existing apps. One such example is the People Hub which is able to connect with your favored social networks and save all the contact information to your phone. There is a feature called Device Search which allows you to look for anything on your phone, be it an email or an mp3 song stored on the microSD card. Internet Explorer has also snagged a massive update, adding several amazing new options. The native Calendar app has also received an update.
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There are several more features that Microsoft hasn’t announced officially — such as the new operating system bringing support for microSD cards of up to 128 gigs. There is an app which reportedly brings USB OTG support to Windows Phone 8.1-powered handsets with select USB drives. Share with us your favorite Lumia Cyan and Windows Phone 8.1 features below.
\n\nFurther reading: Lumia Cyan, Windows Phone 8.1
