It has been a couple of months since Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 8.1 at the BUILD 2014 conference. Since then the software has been in developer preview and the company hasn’t exactly revealed when the public release is going to take place. However it looks like Windows Phone 8.1 update release for Lumia smartphones is slated for later this month.
Microsoft corporate vice president and manager for the Windows Phone Program, Joe Belfiore, tweeted earlier today that the Windows Phone 8.1 software has been finished for Lumia phones. This means that development is done and dusted. Belfiore also revealed that Microsoft is now testing the update code in a bid to search for any remaining bugs, which will be promptly fixed.
What this means in simple terms is that the Windows Phone 8.1 GM build has been signed off on and there’s a major possibility that over-the-air updates will start taking place later this month. The update’s release has been expected over the summer, this was evident even in the leaked Windows Phone 8.1 release schedule.
A staggering majority of all Windows Phone owners out there are using Nokia Lumia devices. Over the past couple of years Nokia was Microsoft’s biggest WP OEM and other manufacturers haven’t really created that many devices for the platform.
Nokia’s devices business is now owned by Microsoft so it wouldn’t surprise anyone if they’re the very first devices to jump on Windows Phone 8.1 ahead of the pack.