Windows Phone 8.1 release date confirmed

Windows Phone 8.1 will be available from 24 June, Microsoft has confirmed.

Significant new features being introduced with Windows Phone 8.1 include Cortana, Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s Siri, a six-column Start screen design, and Battery Saver, Storage Sense and Wi-Fi Sense apps.

All users may not get access to the updated OS at the same time, however. The Microsoft review note states distribution of incremental updates “may be controlled by the mobile operator or the phone manufacturer from which you purchased your phone, and installation will require that your phone have any prior updates”.

“Update availability will also vary by country, region, and hardware capabilities,” it added.

Features will not be rolled out uniformly either – UK customers will have to wait until the end of the year for Cortana, for example.

The rollout of the updated mobile OS, which has been in developer preview since April, may well coincide with the launch of the Nokia Lumia 930 – the first flagship phone to be released since Microsoft’s acquisition of the smartphone maker.

While no exact release date has been given for the device, Microsoft promised it would be ready “late-June or early July” in the UK.