This week revealed the first leaked images and video of Microsoft's Windows Blue operating system upgrade to Windows 8. The news has many wondering when Redmond will deliver a phone version of Blue, but perhaps more importantly for Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 users is the fact that Microsoft is currently prepping a Windows Phone 8 update for its phones — and this update could power the arrival of HTC's new Windows Phone 8 device, "Tiara."
Let's get to the update first: Microsoft is hard at work on a new Windows Phone 8 update as a part of General Distribution Release 2 (GDR2), and it will hit Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 devices, as well as other compatible devices. Interestingly, Microsoft has apparently decided to bring back support for FM radio that it dropped during the transition from Windows Phone 7 to Windows Phone 8.
Lumia 920 and 820 users have more good news in store, too, as The Verge reports Nokia is also developing its own new features to send users with Microsoft's update. Apparently Lumia owners will be able to double-tap the screen to make their smartphone leave standby mode, and Nokia is also working on "a flip to silence option, and Lumia color profile settings for the device screen." According to the site's anonymous sources, the Windows Phone 8 update will roll out during the next few months.
If the update does land during the summer, then it would line up very well with HTC's alleged plans to release a new Windows Phone 8 device, at this point known as "Tiara." According to UnwiredView, the HTC Tiara is supposedly going to launch running the GDR2 version of Windows Phone 8. It'll pack a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, a 4.3-inch LCD2 display, 1GB RAM, 8GB of storage, an 8-megapixel camera, and a 1.6-megapixel front camera. It's not much of a powerhouse, but as a mid-tier Windows 8 phone, it'll do.
Even after the release of this Windows Phone 8 upgrade, ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley says her sources indicate Microsoft will release a third update before it rolls out Windows Phone Blue later in the year. Fortunately for current Windows Phone owners, Microsoft already said its phones will be upgradable to Blue when it arrives.
