Hhhrrrmm.
So, I'm just back from a round-the-world flashing trip and can only confirm my disappointment. Portico in itself is definitely a major step forward, especially with regard to battery life and anything that needs to maintain an Internet connection in the background (Outlook, Skype, etc.).
The camera fix, however, proved to be a major disappointment on my phone. Pictures after the update (if there is one on any of the RM-821 Portico releases) were just as poor as before the update. When I look at the pictures from North America before and after the update, I see a major difference. At the same time, their pictures before the update seemed a bit better than any of my pictures as it was. That is part of the explanation to why they can't really understand our frustration internationally that the update was delayed.
My pictures are almost exactly like those found in this thread - http://forums.windowscentral.com/nokia-lumia-920/209850-lumia-920-can-take-sharp-pitcures-app.html - and that app, Camera Easy, produces pictures that aren't just sharper (like can be provided by a sharpening setting/algorithm), but they contain more detail in the actual picture. No matter how much post-processing I apply to my pictures restores the details lost in whatever it is wiping the fine details away. The Camera Easy app seems to retain the information the sensor actually captures, whereas the standard camera ruins the pictures.
And this is even after the update. I tried the Belgium Proximus, unbranded Belgium, unbranded Hong Kong and German T-Mobile version of the Portico update and none of them appreciably improved my camera. This coupled with the fact that the Camera Easy makes great pictures leaves me really disappointed in the 920. Sure, it might just be my phone, which would suck for me, but it might also be something in the software on our RM-821 that was not fixed the same way as the easy fix on the RM-820. That may be why they originally said the update would be delayed, but they may now be rushing out Portico without a camera fix after all the disappointment from us users.
So, I'm just back from a round-the-world flashing trip and can only confirm my disappointment. Portico in itself is definitely a major step forward, especially with regard to battery life and anything that needs to maintain an Internet connection in the background (Outlook, Skype, etc.).
The camera fix, however, proved to be a major disappointment on my phone. Pictures after the update (if there is one on any of the RM-821 Portico releases) were just as poor as before the update. When I look at the pictures from North America before and after the update, I see a major difference. At the same time, their pictures before the update seemed a bit better than any of my pictures as it was. That is part of the explanation to why they can't really understand our frustration internationally that the update was delayed.
My pictures are almost exactly like those found in this thread - http://forums.windowscentral.com/nokia-lumia-920/209850-lumia-920-can-take-sharp-pitcures-app.html - and that app, Camera Easy, produces pictures that aren't just sharper (like can be provided by a sharpening setting/algorithm), but they contain more detail in the actual picture. No matter how much post-processing I apply to my pictures restores the details lost in whatever it is wiping the fine details away. The Camera Easy app seems to retain the information the sensor actually captures, whereas the standard camera ruins the pictures.
And this is even after the update. I tried the Belgium Proximus, unbranded Belgium, unbranded Hong Kong and German T-Mobile version of the Portico update and none of them appreciably improved my camera. This coupled with the fact that the Camera Easy makes great pictures leaves me really disappointed in the 920. Sure, it might just be my phone, which would suck for me, but it might also be something in the software on our RM-821 that was not fixed the same way as the easy fix on the RM-820. That may be why they originally said the update would be delayed, but they may now be rushing out Portico without a camera fix after all the disappointment from us users.