14 DAY TRIAL // Windows Phone 8.1, the latest flavor of Microsoft’s mobile operating system, hasn’t been released in a final flavor as of now, but rumor has it that the company is almost ready with the first update for it.
We already saw new Windows Phone 8.1 build numbers emerging online over the weekend, supposedly associated with that update, and some more info on the matter is now available.
According to a recent post on Neowin, the aforementioned software update will arrive on devices as Windows Phone 8.1 GDR1 (which falls in line with the naming scheme used for Windows Phone 8 updates), and might RTM as soon as this week.
Apparently, the update will bring along only a small set of enhancements, such as native folder support (folders are currently available on Windows Phone only via apps).
Moreover, the news site claims that those enrolled in the developer program will be able to grab the update by bypassing the carrier they are on. For what it’s worth, this does not come as a surprise, since the rollout of the Developer Preview was not carrier-dependent either.
Windows Phone 8.1 GDR1 should start arriving on Developer Preview devices soon after being signed off, and carriers will also begin testing it to kick off general deployment.
The Windows Phone 8.1 OS version has started arriving on some handsets over the past few weeks, and is expected to arrive on all of them in the coming months, something that Nokia has reconfirmed in a tweet today.
While no official release date for the update has been provided, chances are that all will kick off in a matter of weeks, and that all Windows Phone 8 devices out there will receive the platform upgrade before the end of this month.
This means that the Windows Phone 8.1 GDR1 platform iteration will start emerging on handsets as a final version as soon as the next month (the Developer Preview rollout might kick off before that).
Apparently, Microsoft has decided to adopt a rapid-release approach with all of its products, and said new iteration of Windows Phone 8.1 will be accompanied by a second update for Windows 8.1 in August.
One thing that you should keep in mind, however, is the fact that no official confirmation on these release timeframes has been provided as of now, so take the info above with a grain of salt for the time being.
At the moment, Windows Phone 8 users should still be keeping an eye out for the Windows Phone 8.1 release for their devices, since it should not be too far away.