Accessing the M-Pesa menu on Lumia phones was hectic as it was deeply buried and needed one to dig deep into the phone’s applications which wasted time.
However, with the Amber software update for all Lumia smartphones except on the Lumia 520 and 720, the Lumia will be simple to use. Promising a wide range of improved features and mobile applications, Nokia has introduced a SIM Applications app that will allow users to pin the SIM Application menu to the home screen on their Lumia smartphones to allow quick access to the M-Pesa and other applications embedded in the SIM card.
Commenting on the latest developments, Nokia East Africa Operative Products and Devices Manager, Kingori Gitahi, said the software update highlights Nokia’s commitment to constantly enrich the user experience on the Nokia Lumia smartphones.
“Nokia Lumia smartphones running Windows Phone 8 are getting a whole lot smarter. We pride ourselves on always putting customer needs first and the new software update provides a number of significant additions and improvements to the existing features and applications like Xbox music and the Internet Explorer browser,” he said.
The Nokia Lumia Amber software update includes Nokia Glance Screen which has a standby clock, a new FM radio player except on the Lumia 620 and better imaging experience for Nokia Lumia owners.
In terms of image processing the update also improves algorithms that offer better noise reduction, colour reproduction, exposure control and autofocus to every phone across the Lumia range. On the Lumia 920, controls to adjust the ISO settings of the camera from 800 to 3200 allow for even better low light performance.
“Perhaps one of the features that has been most requested on Nokia Lumia smartphones is Nokia Glance Screen which brings a clock to your screen when the phone is inactive, along with indicators to show battery level when running on a low battery or the phone is charging, and whether your phone is set to silent’” he said.
With the update, users can activate the Nokia Glance screen in the display and touch section in Settings by swiping left to ‘glance’. Nokia Glance screen will be available for all WP8 Lumia devices except the Nokia Lumia 520 and Lumia 625, which have a smaller display memory.
To update one’s software, one needs to fully charge their phones and be connected to a Wi-Fi network. They then check for updates which will take over 15 minutes when started.
Nokia also said the newly announced Nokia Pro Camera will also be available for Lumia 920 and Lumia 925.
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