GDR3 Preview is LIVE!

[Jf.Vigor]

If you go to messaging settings, at the very bottom it now has "emergency alerts". I don't know if this is new in GDR2 or GDR3

 

[vormison]

@philharmonik - That's the same as it was.

 

[login with google]

did the firmware or the os version changed?

 

[klcow]

did the firmware or the os version changed?

just the OS

 

[philharmonik]

@philharmonik - That's the same as it was.

Great, now I feel like I'm taking crazy pills over here! I've had my 920 since they released and you're telling me I've never made the tiles this small??

 

[niiick]

Damn it I was looking forward to more tiles, this was the disappointing part. But oh well at least the autorotate is off now that was very annoying. Also Driving Mode is cool, just tested it a bit in the car.
Installed on 920.

 

[Snapperlicious]

Anything on volume control? It was rumored about 6 weeks ago that GDR3 would allow you to have separate volume for apps and phone services, etc.

 

[John Balacano]

awesome guys now on the gears !!!!! bootup WINDOWS PHONE UPDATES BRINGS A LITTLE BIT OF HAPPINESS TO US USERS !!!

 

[Prinoy Da Costa]

Is this not something new? I never noticed being able to have all these tiles until I updated to GDR3. If this is not what everyone is referring to, my bad.

O_O) kill yourself

 

[CellularMan]

If you go to messaging settings, at the very bottom it now has "emergency alerts". I don't know if this is new in GDR2 or GDR3

Can you post a screenshot? I don't have this option

 

[chenhogi]

Update was smooth, and all seems to be working fine. Nice one MS. Looking forward to glance screen notifications now.

 

[oldpueblo]

Damn it I was looking forward to more tiles, this was the disappointing part. But oh well at least the autorotate is off now that was very annoying. Also Driving Mode is cool, just tested it a bit in the car.
Installed on 920.

Think about it, what possible use could there be for even more tile sizes on the same physical size screen? How useful would tiny squares be with text you can barely read and certainly can't just glance at?

 

[joeonsunset]

I'm a huge Windows Phone fan and really push the platform to everyone I know. But I am a little disheartened about this update, honestly. I built up my expectations too high I guess, getting excited about more tile sizes or the possibility of a notification center. I have a Lumia 1020 and really, even at this resolution, the extra sizes would work well. The medium size tiles are pretty big right now, and I think they would work fine three across. I know that there was talk before about the 1080p requirement, but I think it was inattentional blindness on my part

Normally I'd be the first to install an update like this. But Bluetooth tethering doesn't do much for me (unless it uses less power than Wifi tethering?). That basically leaves screen rotation lock, office file attachments... features that for me are, like, I dunno. Ho-hum. I guess I'll like being able to browse the web laying on my side on the couch. I will never use drive mode: if it did something like keep the phone from going into lock screen, so you could use navigation without attending to it constantly, that would be awesome. But just blocking notifications? Meh. And task closing-- maybe it's just me, but I never have a problem with open apps. Which is a good thing for the OS, but it makes the feature kinda boring.

Alright, so I'm gonna install it update, let's be serious. But I feel a little like a kid at Christmas that didn't get the bee-bee gun he was begging for. I know, I know: You'll shoot your eye out, kid.

 

[niiick]

Music controls are the same, no changes at all. On top of that, closing a music app with the new X on the app switching screen doesn't make the controls go away, same as it was.

 

[Mantraxalos]

It was also rumored to contain a percentage for battery at the top of the screen.
That should've been easy to implement as well.

Anything on volume control? It was rumored about 6 weeks ago that GDR3 would allow you to have separate volume for apps and phone services, etc.

 

[DavidinCT]

Downloaded and installed...just busy at work have not had a time to check it..

 

[txDrum]

Yep.

actually no. I would have loved gesture based closing in addition to the X. I could see that x being somewhat annoying, especially on big phones like the 1520 where reaching it might be more difficult.

Its obviously not HARD, but the whole point is convenience.

 

[Kavu2]

Can anyone comment on these supposed new features of GDR3...particularly the tethering elements. Also does this work-around the current Verizon hobbling of tethering? Inquiring minds want to wander...

...as mentioned by Paul Thurott at winsupersite.com....
--------------------------
Mobile Accessibility. One of the big complaints about Windows Phone is that its accessibility features are decidedly lacking. With Update 3, Windows Phone 8 picks up a suite of apps called Mobile Accessibility that seek to improve this situation. Apps include a screen reader for blind and visually impaired as well as tools for the hearing-impaired that help with notifications like alarms, calendar events, and low-battery warnings.

Tethering improvements. The Internet Sharing feature in Windows Phone 8 is being updated to include a special pairing mode for use with particular PCs that uses Bluetooth to make the connection: No more manual entry of passwords.
------------------------

And thanks to all for reporting on how it is all going.

 

[niiick]

Actually I'd be using it with the square tiles, I have very few small tiles on my setup and I would prefer to see the info at a glance as opposed to scrolling up and down. not to mention, the text size is kind of large for me, I would be ok with smaller text in the square or wide tiles

 

[jhoff80]

Under Bluetooth, there's now also an option to "Connect in a different way to use Speech with Bluetooth in my car".