Microsoft's first update for Windows Phone 8, code-named Portico, was released in the US in December and has finally found its way to Australia, fixing a few bugs and adding some useful new features.
Portico might seem a rather arbitrary name, but it is certainly far more memorable than the official moniker 8.0.10211.204.
Microsoft announced several significant improvements in the update: to messaging, call handling, browsing and WiFi. "You can now add multiple recipients at the same time when you send a text message and automatically save unsent text messages as drafts," it said. "You can even edit received text messages before you forward them."
"Now you can send a prewritten text reply to a caller directly from the call answer screen. It's a nice way to let people know that you're not ignoring them."
Changes to Internet Explorer enable you to adjust the settings so that images in web pages are not automatically downloaded - very useful for keeping data volumes to a minimum. You can also delete selected sites from your browsing history and leave the rest intact. Very useful for… We'll leave that one to your imagination!
The improvements to Wi-Fi connectivity allow you to prioritise Wi-Fi networks stored in your connection history.
There had been reports of some bugs in the first release of Windows Phone 8. ZDNet reported in December "a number of users are reporting spontaneous reboots and email-sync issues with various devices on different carriers."
Microsoft said the update would be made available at different times, depending on country or region, mobile operator, and phone model. This policy of staggered release, in part at the discretion of operators, has caused some confusion among users in Australia and New Zealand.
Impatient users contacted Telstra's online support service, CrowdSupport, questioning the availability in December. Telstra has since made Portico available.
According to a posting on http://www.auswinphone.com/ it was made available for HTC Windows 8 phones in mid February and http://nokiagadgets.com/ reported on 30 January that it was being delivered to Nokia Lumia 920s on the Telstra network.
Portico has also propagated to New Zealand where one user, Mauricio Freitas, reviewed it on his blog. With installation taking 25 minutes he gave it 10 out of 10 for ease of installation and 10 out of 10 for download speed.
After Portico, users are eagerly awaiting Apollo Plus which will be the next release. Rumours have been circulating since November. The main new feature is expected to be support for virtual private networks.
However they might have to wait for Santa Claus to bring this. A Microsoft job ad that has just appeared in the US is could be interpreted as a sign that the next release will come out just before the US Thanksgiving holiday.
Microsoft advertised for a software development engineer for phone testing, saying: “This is a great time to join as we’re completing our current release [and] are getting ready for our next release targeting the holiday of this year and we’re chartered with keeping the momentum for Windows Phone by bringing new killer devices and delightful user experiences.”
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