Lumia Denim & Windows Phone 8.1 GDR1 update (Windows Phone 8.1 update 1)

Now, we have added all the changes and new features Lumia Denim Firmware update brings with itself, to this page. For your info, Lumia Denim update will bring goodies from both Windows Phone 8.1 update 1 and Lumia Denim Firmware update in one.

Want to know what the Window 10 for Phones brings to Windows Phone 8.1 devices, click here.

Lumia Denim Changelog

Lumia Denim imaging improvements:

Lumia Camera – Replacing Nokia Camera, Lumia Camera is faster and more intuitive than before to make the best camera experience, even better.
Speed – Pocket to capture speeds are superfast, and it only takes milliseconds going from shot to shot.
Moment Capture – A long press of the camera button starts 4K-quality video recording at 24 FPS. With each frame at 8.3 megapixels, you can save individual frames as high quality still images. Lumia 830 shoots Moment Capture in Full HD, and not 4K, and with reduced 2-megapixel per frame quality.
Rich Capture – Auto HDR and Dynamic Flash are now welcomed into the already-impressive feature set. Shoot first and adjust the camera settings later for that perfect photo.
Improved image processing algorithms – Updated to give you clearer photos, even in lowlight.
“Hey Cortana” Voice Activation – Gone are the days of pressing the microphone button to wake-up Cortana. Simply say “Hey Cortana” while the phone is idle and Cortana will activate.This is possible thanks to the SensorCore technology.
Glance Screen – Compatible Lumia devices can now show more at a glance with Bing Weather, or Bing Health & Fitness data, in addition to time and date, notifications and application data.

Some of above changes are hardware dependent and are only announced for the Lumia 930, Lumia Icon, Lumia 1520 and Lumia 830, such as the Lumia Camera and Moment Capture.

Lumia Denim other changes:

Seems, with Lumia Denim installed, Lumia owners can enjoy high-quality Bluetooth audio streaming from the phone to supported accessories. This will be possible because Lumia Denim will enable the aptX audio streaming codec, which makes possible to stream high-quality audio over Bluetooth.
It seems that some of Lumia 925 and Lumia 1020 devices have been facing a Windows Phone 8.1 freezing bug post Windows Phone 8.1 update. A Microsoft employee has confirmed that a fix may be coming to most of devices with “Lumia Denim” roll-out.

Lumia Denim Update will ship with Lumia 830, Lumia 730 Dual SIM and Lumia 735. For all other Lumia Windows Phone 8 smartphones, the update will start rolling out during Q4 2014.

Windows Phone 8.1 update 1 Guide

We have everything about Windows Phone 8.1 GDR1 update (Windows Phone 8.1 update 1) in one place on this page. Windows Phone 8.1 GDR1 is the the first of two Windows Phone 8.1 updates to be released this year. Though, GDR1 was not supposed to be rich in new features, but will still bring some very useful features like native folder creation and others. We also have some exclusive coverage of Windows Phone 8.1 GDR1 on this page.

Hands-on demo video & How to:

Windows Phone 8.1 GDR1 Features & Changes:

Latest Preview Build 8.10.14219.341 brings Mobile Data toggle which can be now set in the notification center and If your phone has MicroSD card support, it can use this memory for phone updates and the supported devices list includes: Lumia 530/530 Dual SIM, 630/630 Dual SIM, 635, 636, 638, 730 Dual SIM, 735 and 830
Alpha Cortana for France, Italy, Germany, and Spain
Latest dev preview build 8.10.14203.206 brought scheduling of updates
Battery Saver tile now is a real-time updated Live Tile showing battery percentage.
You can add Battery saver as one the quick action settings
You can now schedule the incoming Windows Phone updates
4G option is added as the “Highest connection speed” in India. Don’t know whether this holds for some other regions too.
UI navigation is more fluid
Network Time protocol works correctly for more
Native Folder creation by simply dragging and dropping one live tile over another called Live Folders by Microsoft
The content and layout of the folder is included in the backup process and is used when restoring to a new device.
Ability to select multiple SMS messages for deletion and forwarding, making it easier to manage your text messages.
With improved selection, you can also delete multiple calls or contacts.
Alarms now have snooze timings. Go to Apps homescreen—->Alarms
Not sure if everyone got this. But speech has setting “improve recognition for non-native speakers. Settings—-> Speech
Windows Phone store Live Tile settings, Go to store—->settings and scroll to bottom
Internet sharing now also possible over Bluetooth. Settings—–> Internet Sharing
GDR1 brings lots of improvements to Internet Explorer 11 and especially in the way it renders the lots of mobile webpages now. Read more here
Accessory apps to get notifications from your phone on your smart watch, active phone cover, fitness tracker, or other kinds of accessories.
Voice over LTE (VoLTE) support
Support for 1280 x 800 and native qHD 960 x 540 resolutions
Screen-size support up to 7-inch for 1280 x 768 WXGA resolution
Support for Network Time protocol
A phonebook entry for Cortana can be created to enable integration with Car’s navigation system. If your car kit is integrated with your contacts, you can now treat Cortana as a contact to invoke her, simply saying “Call Cortana” and then talking to her as you normally would.
New natural language scenarios, snooze times for reminders, and a number of neat additions to Cortana’s personality like “doing an impersonation”
Xbox Music gets new features (Live Tile in particular) with the Windows Phone 8.1 Update
Dual-Sim capability with both GSM + CDMA network support
The Store tile, when medium-sized, is now a live tile. It shows both the Store logo and the name. You’ll get updates on the newest titles – refreshed every 6 hours – streamed dynamically

Manufacturers can change start tile layout in some cases
OEMs can introduce Phone cover app like we see for other platforms
Windows Phone 8.1 GDR1 supports entity extraction in the Messaging app (which is also shared with the Email)
By default, when a user calls the voicemail number, the number dialed is displayed below the Voicemail. It can be disable in GDR1.

For phones that support an SD card, OEMs can either allow or block the use of the SD card for phone updates

OEMs can show or hide the “auto scan for updates” setting on the phone.

Exclusive changes reported by us in GDR1:

By default, there is one folder on the Start screen called Music+videos, which replaces the Music app tile. The Music+videos folder contains the Music, Video, FM Radio, and Podcasts apps. This change applies to all Start tile layouts for Windows Phone 8.1 GDR1. Because FM Radio, Music, Podcasts, and Video are part of the default Music+videos folder, these Microsoft components are no longer available as individual components that can be prepinned to the Start screen.
The OS supports two types of software-rendered buttons: user-managed buttons that can be hidden or displayed by users with a swipe from bottom, and static buttons that are always visible.
May bring Enable Static IP settings.
“Bing” will be the only search provider in supported markets
Hardware Keyboard support
Offline Maps storage to MicroSD card (can be enabled by OEM)

Windows Phone 8.1 GDR1 Enterprise features:

With Apps Corner, you can specify which apps are displayed in a special “sandboxed” mode (like a protected Start screen) that restricts which apps are used. This feature is for businesses so they can allow access to select apps in cases where a full MDM solution isn’t required.
Ability to send and receive data through a virtual private network (VPN) when connecting to Wi-Fi hotspots giving you another layer of protection. If you’re on your home wireless, creating a VPN provides anonymity to help shield your device from being identified by other devices on the network.

Developers Preview:

Developers Preview program makes updates available to anyone who’s interested in getting the new Windows Phone OS updates on their phones earlier than the general public. For more info, check our step by step tutorial.