Microsoft held its press event at IFA 2014 today and showed off a new Lumia smartphone. Apart from unveiling a new smartphone the company also confirmed the next software update meant exclusively for Lumia smartphones. The previous such update was the Cyan, this was is being called Lumia Denim. It brings everything that is part and parcel of Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 as well as some exclusive features and improvements meant only for the Lumia handsets.
Cortana is the biggest feature that Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 has to offer. Microsoft’s personal digital assistant is available in the U.S. and as a Beta in UK and China. Australia, Canada and India will get access to Cortana as a public Alpha.
Lumia Denim’s exclusive features include the Lumia Camera which replaces the Nokia Camera app on supported devices. The new app is said to be more faster and intuitive than its predecessor and since camera is a main feature on Lumia smartphones this update aims to further improve the camera experience.
Work has been done to improve capture speeds. Long pressing the camera button starting 4K video recording at 24FPS with each frame at 8.3 megapixels. Individual frames can be saved as still images thanks to Moment Capture. Rich Capture brings Auto HDR and Dynamic Flash allowing users to adjust camera settings after they have taken a photo.
The “Hey Cortana” voice activation is also included in the Lumia Denim update, simply uttering this phrase is enough to activate Cortana even when the phone is lying idle.
Some of the camera features are only available on Lumia 930, Lumia Icon, Lumia 1520 and the Lumia 830. All other Lumia Windows Phone 8 smartphones are compatible with the Denim update and will receive it in Q4, 2014.
Filed in . Read more about IFA 2014, Lumia Denim and Microsoft.