Nokia may be hyping up its next-generation Lumia lineup, but current users aren't being left behind. In fact, the company said exactly that in a post to Nokia Conversations today: "existing Lumia owners also have plenty to look forward to and are definitely not being left behind." (Emphasis theirs.)
You may scoff at the claim and ask for proof, and fortunately Nokia has supplied the evidence in the same post. All of Nokia's existing Lumias — the 610, 710, 800 and 900 — will be updated soon with a bevvy of new features as part of the Windows Phone 7.8 rollout.
Nokia will be bringing Cinemagraph to existing phones, which leverages that Scalado acquisition to give users the ability to create animated images (not unlike .GIFs) and liven up the typical still picture. Meanwhile, the Smart Group Shot feature found in Camera Extras is also going to be updated with new features possibly including one neat trick demonstrated at the Windows Phone 8 event last week that removed annoying, random people walking in and around a photo. Finally, Nokia has also announced other new features coming to Lumia devices including one we know you're going to be looking forward to:
Additional new features for all Lumia devices will include:
- A new Start screen look and feel, familiar from Windows Phone 8, giving you a whole new look the moment you unlock your phone
- Ringtone maker app to selected markets to create a personal ringtone
- Contact share app updated to support sharing over Bluetooth in addition to SMS and email
- Bluetooth file transfer to send media files via Bluetooth from your Lumia device to any other phone
Yes, Bluetooth file transfer is finally coming to Windows Phone and it won't be exclusive to next-generation devices after all. We aren't sure if this means that all 7.8 devices will be able to support file transfer or if Nokia has cooked up its own custom solution, but in the end Lumia users will finally be able to transfer media files to other phones with ease.
No word on when the update will roll out, but in the post Nokia does say it will be a phased release when it happens.
Source: Nokia Conversations
