The much anticipated Nokia Lumia Amber update is now available for a host of its Windows Phone 8 models. Rolling out throughout August to the end of September, the update is being made available for the Nokia Lumia 920, 820, 720, 520, 928, 822, 521 and 810. This should bring much joy to Nokia Lumia owners, as the update not only brings tweaks and improvements from Microsoft, but enables Nokia Smart Camera features debuted on the Lumia 925 and opens access to the Nokia Camera Pro app to the Lumia 920 and 928, as well.
The new Nokia Smart Camera features are available to all Nokia Lumia models, thanks to improvements to all the Lumia model's image processing capabilities, enhancing low-light photos, improved auto focus, enhanced noise filter and more tweaks to open up finer control.
It certainly is “smart” offering a bevy of cool features based around enhanced shooting modes. It'll shoot a burst of ten shots (seven on the Lumia 720, 630 and 520) and then perform all manner of clever tricks with them, from picking the best quality photo to stitching together the lot for fancy action montages. It can remove unwanted objects, enhance group shots by selecting the best faces and generate motion blurred backgrounds. Not bad for a freebie.
For Lumia 928, 925 and 920 owners photography gets even sweeter, as the Amber updates enables access to the Nokia Pro Camera app. Happy to work as a one-click camera app it also brings with it pro-level controls over all the essential areas of a camera. Such as the ISO levels, exposure settings, shutter speed, focus and white balance.
So far you might think the Amber update is all about photography, there's certainly more to it than that. Nokia has brought a bunch of tweaks and enhancements to Windows Phone 8. Apparently one of the most requested was the return of Nokia Glance Screen, which enables you to check the time and battery level with just a swipe, which is handy. Proving silence is golden an equally much requested feature was the flip to silence option, so you can turn the phone over to ignore a call.
More generally you'll find speeds tweak to Internet Explorer, improved Xbox Music access, FM radio support, optimised offline maps and a new Storage Check so you can better manage your device's space.
Getting the Nokia Amber update is easy, the phone will automatically check and announce it's availability. If you're the impatient type, you're able to manually check by selecting Settings > Phone Update. But when will I get it you cry? Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 owners will get it first, along with the Lumia 810, 928 and 521 in the US. It seems owners of the Nokia Lumia 520, 620 and 720 could be waiting until the end of September depending on exactly where they live. Nokia offers a support page with exact regional details.
