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More features for Windows Phone 8.1 GDR1 uncovered

If you own a Windows Phone, this has been a good month for you as Windows Phone 8.1 has started to roll-out and the new Lock Screen app has finally been released. With Cortana and a ton of other features, the 8.1 update is a huge improvement to the OS. But, just because Windows Phone 8.1 is starting to roll-out, that doesn't mean the development cycle has slowed as we are starting to learn more about what the next update - known as General Distribution Release 1 (GDR1) will bring.

Besides the inclusion of native folders, which will be a huge help for those of us who have lots of apps, there are other minor updates that will arrive too. According to Nokia Power User, the following features will also be included in GDR1:

  • Under certain conditions, OEMs can change the default Live Tile layout
  • The Store now gets a proper Live Tile on the Start screen (for medium size and above)
  • Entity extraction is supported in the Messaging app 
  • Users can choose whether to display the number dialed when calling their voicemail (enabled by default)
  • OEMs can choose to allow or block the use of the SD card for phone updates (on supported devices)
  • OEMs can choose to show or hide the “automatically download updates” option on the device 

Based on the information in this list, we suspect that it was gathered from the OEM portal where the GDR1 reference was spotted yesterday. It's not a surprise either that these updates are rather minor - after all, the GDR updates have historically only been minor updates to the platform to fill in gaps between major OS releases. 

Unfortunately, we are still no closer to knowing when this update will be released. For those of you who are still waiting for Windows Phone 8.1, you can check out the status of that update release by visiting this link, here.

Source: Nokia Power User

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