Windows Phone 8.1 Has Arrived

After months of wondering what the new Windows Phone offering would bring, yesterday at the BUILD conference Microsoft finally made it official. What does this new update include and most importantly, is your phone getting it? Let’s take a look at the devices that are getting the update first, then what the update will feature.

Carriers were quick to confirm which devices would get the update to Windows Phone 8.1. Sprint was the first one out of the gate with the news that the HTC 8XT and their rendition of the Samsung ATIV would be getting the update this summer. T-Mobile followed with the 925 and 521 both receiving the nod – there was not mention of the 810, which probably means no Lumia Cyan update, but the Developer Preview should still work on the solid 810 hardware.

Verizon had already confirmed that the Lumia Icon would be getting the 8.1 update, but has not officially released a statement on the 928 or 822 at this point. Personally, I expect the 928 to see the update, but I’m not so sure on the 822. The Samsung ATIV and HTC 8X should also both see the update at some point this summer. AT&T rounded out the news carriers with the 1520 and 1020 both getting the update for sure with their 920 and 925 expected to get it as well. The 520 should also support the update as its sister phone on T-Mobile will be getting it.

Now, with all the hubbub about what’s getting it and not getting it mostly out of the way, what can you expect to find in the new update if you are one of the lucky ones to get it?

Cortana: Microsoft’s Personal Assistant. You can use it to launch apps, call people, post updates and from the previews, do just about anything with your device. Hopefully the videos for Cortana aren’t like the original Siri videos where they ‘exaggerated’ what the system could do, but for now, it looks pretty stunning.

Greater Personalization: You will have more options for setting live tiles and backgrounds on your device. You can now select a photo to overlay your stock live tiles. Of course, as screens continue to grow, your tile layouts can be even more suited to you as many newer devices feature three column layouts instead of two.

Camera: The new camera software will feature burst mode capture, There is also the new collections feature. This allows for custom slideshows to be made from your device’s images and videos.

Connected Devices: Finally the three screen concept is getting closer to reality. While it isn’t quite the ‘mirror’ of the devices from one to the next that Microsoft teased us with when Windows Phone 7 launched, it is getting much better. The unification of interfaces, if by look only, is much stronger. When you use a system like OneDrive across your phone, tablet, laptop, PC and Xbox, you really start to see where this is going. There is also information coming out that Miracast and USB video is coming, but that is not confirmed on the Microsoft website at this time.

Finally, the behind the scenes features that everyone has been waiting for.

The Word Flow Keyboard – think of this as Windows Phone’s version of Swype. You can ‘type’ by sliding your finger around the keyboard instead of pressing individual letters. Many people consider this one of the biggest features missing from Windows Phone.

The Action Center – is the notification center that everyone has been complaining about. Personally, tiles did just fine for me, but now everyone will be happy. The new action center lets you see everything that is happening on one screen with one swipe.

Battery Saver – it’s back from WP8, and tweaked to work even better than before!

Storage Sense – if you have an SD capable phone, your life just got awesome. With the addition of Storage Sense, you can now move Apps from the internal memory to the SD card. This takes the limits off of those Lumia 520-521’s that are out there. Go order that bigger SD card now so you are ready later!

Data Sense – again, one of my favorite features of Windows Phone. Data Sense compresses data prior to it hitting your phone. This means less data used and you have an on-board data counter to keep track of your throttled times or overage fees.

Wi-Fi Sense – this one intrigues me so much. Wi-Fi sense will track public Wi-Fi logins and keep the sites you OK in memory. Then when you return to that McDonald’s for that cup of coffee, your phone will remember the information to log back in to the Wi-Fi connection there without having to log in through your browser. If this really works, it’s epic for me – and a ton of others out there.

As much as I hate to say it, that about rounds out the update. Of course, this doesn’t include any of the feature set of the Lumia Cyan update that is coming with this one for most Lumia handsets, but we will see more details on that one later, I’m sure. For now, watch your phone and this site for when the updates start to roll out.