Latest Samsung Ativ S firmware updates

[Dragone]

I'm using my WiFi connection. By the way, did you have the preview for developers enabled when you got the update notification?

Yes, it was enabled and I was running Windows Phone 8.1.1 (Update 1/GDR1) to be accurate.
You can find evidence in the screenshots I posted.

 

[Stefan Holder]

Yup got the new firmware.. I'm running Developers preview with GDR3 before and got the update. wil ldo some testing when I get home.. So far the only visual change i see is a little icon that flashes next to the Wifi signal. other than that..nothing special. Gonna dig some more later.

 

[Duareg]

Yes, it was enabled and I was running Windows Phone 8.1.1 (Update 1/GDR1) to be accurate.
You can find evidence in the screenshots I posted.

Still nothing for me.
That's ok, I'll wait.

 

[Antonio Isidoro Pestana]

Im downloading a new update right now , i live in Belgium and my Ativ S was on Developers preview....................

 

[Dan Preda]

Im downloading a new update right now , i live in Belgium and my Ativ S was on Developers preview....................

which CSC? matter? because I don't have ATO

 

[Stefan Holder]

Update- now maybe its just me, but after the official firmware update, the screen looks alot crisper. Colours pop slightly.. Really liking the look of text and UI animations. Its seems Samsung did some optimization with the screen. We're getting some good AMOLED performance improvements here.. Animations look slick.

Its not all good news though... IE suffers with scrolling. There are stuttering when scrollin web pages. Ive noticed this even in the Windows Central app. Scrolling posts you see the stuttering.

Gonna keep digging and see what other visual differences I can find.

 

[Boris NevermorE]

Update- now maybe its just me, but after the official firmware update, the screen looks alot crisper. Colours pop slightly.. Really liking the look of text and UI animations. Its seems Samsung did some optimization with the screen. We're getting some good AMOLED performance improvements here.. Animations look slick.

Its not all good news though... IE suffers with scrolling. There are stuttering when scrollin web pages. Ive noticed this even in the Windows Central app. Scrolling posts you see the stuttering.

Gonna keep digging and see what other visual differences I can find.

Give it a time, the hardware needs to adjust to the new firmware. My ATIV S is still on WP8 GDR3, and i still sometimes see stuttering in WP Central app, but that's rare, like 15% of the times, other 85% is smooth as silk. With IE is the same problem also, many times it just scroll smooth but sometimes it has that stuttering, but nothing big.
Your hardware now is running a new software, so it needs time to adjust to that and your usage habits. Remember when you first pick up the ATIV S, how everything was mixed feeling and impressions? Then after some time, the phone start to perform flawlessly, right? Well, this is not a different case now too. Battery also will need to adjust about the new software, it has to "learn" first.

 

[Antonio Isidoro Pestana]

CSC is Ato

 

[Oversoul7]

So, after using the phone with the new WP8.1 for 2 days, here are my impressions:

- Performance is a tad faster. Screen transitions are much quicker and smoother.

- New features really make using the phone much easier. The long overdue notification center, cortana, and quick shortcuts make a world of difference.

- Extra touches such as skinned tiles add to the 'appeal' of the new update.

However, I do have some gripes:

- The new screenshot combination does not work well on the Samsung ATIV S because of the placement of the power button and volume buttons on the exact opposite ends (along the same line), I often find myself inadvertently taking screenshots while locking the phone or changing the volume. I am sure this issue is due to the placement of the buttons. A nokia phone user would not struggle with this I bet.

- No quick action button for Mobiel/Cellular data! I find this quite enraging and have no idea why MS did not decide to include it in the update, its a necessary and basic function that I cannot - for the life of me- understand why wasn't included!

- Battery life is the same as before, I honestly expected improvement in this department after hearing many other users experiencing better battery lives.

- The extra tiles options doesn't really work well on the phone due to tiles being very small, but I guess again this is not an OS issue but rather has to do with the phone size.

- IE has some issues when scrolling and using the new 'backwards' and 'forwards' feature.

Overall I am generally happy with an update that I think is a major step forward for Windows Phone, but there are some things that MS does that just do not make sense. A separate and perhaps unrelated issue is the facebook app! It does not have the messaging system integrated into it, instead you have to download facebook messenger separately which I think is a dumb and stupid move, plus the app eats battery like crazy, its these little annoying things that always keeps Windows Phone behind...its quite stupid honestly.

 

[xxxneoxxx]

Still no mention of the update on the Windows Central frontpage..
Did anyone tip the crew on this yet? A lot of Ativ users out there, that might not notice the update..

 

[Macco26]

- The extra tiles options doesn't really work well on the phone due to tiles being very small, but I guess again this is not an OS issue but rather has to do with the phone size.

Considering that newer phones from Nokia, like 730/735 have the same 720p AMOLED, in a 4.7" format, yet have the Extra option the ONLY available (they registry locked the options to *not* allow going back to just 2 medium size tiles), I think you just need to be used to it.

Just avoid small size of Tiles, unless for seldom used apps; stick with 3 medium tiles all over the place and you'll be good.

 

[gugman]

In which case you could try the downgrade but there's no guarantee it will fix it.

reverted back even to gdr1 and did update after that, but no luck and that is very strange as this is official update from samsung as far as i understood so have no idea why camera refuses to work on 8.1

 

[maki01]

Still no mention of the update on the Windows Central frontpage..
Did anyone tip the crew on this yet? A lot of Ativ users out there, that might not notice the update..

Yes,megadragon998 tip windows central team.

 

[PaulMilbank]

Tipped them as well, still no article. Maybe they are trying to get word from Samsung.

 

[revas527]

I sent a message about the update at them a couple of days ago. So far, no response..

 

[Dan Preda]

reverted back even to gdr1 and did update after that, but no luck and that is very strange as this is official update from samsung as far as i understood so have no idea why camera refuses to work on 8.1

try to reverse to GDR2 and change CSC to ETL, will get GDR3 with a new firmware (as myself) 2424.14.6.1, and after that you have 3 choises:
1) stay on ETL and wait original update from Samasung (as myself)
2) move on ATO ang get update from Samsung
3) go on DfP and get the new updates, I understand is new firmware on DfP updates

 

[Jaydefrei]

Hi all, I live in Jersey, Channel Islands (UK) and I am still waiting for the official windows phone 8.1 release. Does anyone know when I may get this release, or when it is expected to be released fully?

Many thanks, Jason

 

[akoj]

One user from Croatia has received FW upgrade, although he was on PfD.

 

[Boris NevermorE]

Hi all, I live in Jersey, Channel Islands (UK) and I am still waiting for the official windows phone 8.1 release. Does anyone know when I may get this release, or when it is expected to be released fully?

Many thanks, Jason

hi Jason, welcome to Windows Central Forums.
About the update, you should really try to read the threads sometimes instead of just bumping for the first time and ask a question like that (i recommend the last 10 pages of this thread). But, as i was previously criticized for telling this to newcomers here, I will just repeat what i said above and recommend you to read those pages and you will find your answer. Assuming you know what CSC is and what CSC Convert and ROM Flashing is, I will tell you that so far only phones running on ATO CSC are getting the official Samsung Firmware (that's just a start). Guys like me (still running on NEE CSC) and Dan Preda (running on ETL CSC), are not changing our phones to ATO CSC because we want to see when our CSC's will get the new official firmware so we can share with others. Yes, that means we are still running on WP8 GDR3, cuz guys who are already on WP8.1 are guys who run their phones on WP8.1 Preview for Developers. So this new official firmware doesn't affect them. If they want to go to the official Samsung firmware they need to downgrade to WP8 GDR2 or GDR3 with ATO CSC to get the new firmware.
Damn, I guess i did answer you questions after all. But what i said at the beginning, still stands.

 

[Boris NevermorE]

So, after using the phone with the new WP8.1 for 2 days, here are my impressions:

- Performance is a tad faster. Screen transitions are much quicker and smoother.

- New features really make using the phone much easier. The long overdue notification center, cortana, and quick shortcuts make a world of difference.

- Extra touches such as skinned tiles add to the 'appeal' of the new update.

However, I do have some gripes:

- The new screenshot combination does not work well on the Samsung ATIV S because of the placement of the power button and volume buttons on the exact opposite ends (along the same line), I often find myself inadvertently taking screenshots while locking the phone or changing the volume. I am sure this issue is due to the placement of the buttons. A nokia phone user would not struggle with this I bet.

- No quick action button for Mobiel/Cellular data! I find this quite enraging and have no idea why MS did not decide to include it in the update, its a necessary and basic function that I cannot - for the life of me- understand why wasn't included!

- Battery life is the same as before, I honestly expected improvement in this department after hearing many other users experiencing better battery lives.

- The extra tiles options doesn't really work well on the phone due to tiles being very small, but I guess again this is not an OS issue but rather has to do with the phone size.

- IE has some issues when scrolling and using the new 'backwards' and 'forwards' feature.

Overall I am generally happy with an update that I think is a major step forward for Windows Phone, but there are some things that MS does that just do not make sense. A separate and perhaps unrelated issue is the facebook app! It does not have the messaging system integrated into it, instead you have to download facebook messenger separately which I think is a dumb and stupid move, plus the app eats battery like crazy, its these little annoying things that always keeps Windows Phone behind...its quite stupid honestly.

- The new screenshot combination - There are apps in the Store where you can pin a small tile on the start screen and to lock the phone from there, not to press the hardware lock button. I use that method instead of hitting the lock button all the time.
- No quick action button for Mobiel/Cellular data! - Yes I know that sucks but this can also be done it with a pinned small tile on the start screen like the lock screen tile (of course, I also did that on my phone). In fact i have 4 small tiles in top row for connectivity (Wi-Fi, Mobile Data, Bluetooth, Airplane mode).
- Battery life is the same as before - To not repeat myself again, i did post some comments about the batteries and the battery life with the new upgrade. Give it a time to adjust.
- The extra tiles options doesn't really work well on the phone - If you were talking about those 4"-ers like Lumia 520, I would somehow agreed with you, but we are talking here about 4.8" screen, and by all means it's not a small screen, yet small tiles haven't changed that much in size comparing to small tiles in WP8. In fact none of the original 3 tile sizes haven't change with WP8.1, they just add 3 more, so now we have actually 6 tiles sizes, Small, Middle, Big (WP8 style) and smaller small, middle and big (WP8.1 style to accomodate 3 columns), anyway if you have thick fingers, than that's another story, lol
- IE has some issues when scrolling and using the new 'backwards' and 'forwards' feature - That can be solved with new update and small tweaking by the tech at WP, but as you said is not of a big deal