Concluding our ‘Tips and Tricks for software updates’ series, we cover the where and the how when it comes to keeping your phone’s software well and truly shiny new.

Where can I find the software update application?

For Series40 handsets (like the Nokia C3-00), it’s accessible via Menu > Settings > Phone > Phone Updates in most of the cases.
For Asha handsets (like Asha 300), you can find it via Menu->Settings->Device->Device Updates.
For more recent Symbian smartphones (like N8), check Menu > Settings (> Tools) > SW Update.
And for older smartphone models (like X6), it is Menu > Settings > Phone > Phone Updates.

The Software Update application also gives you the chance to get automatically notified once an update is available for you. Make sure you have it enabled, via Options > Settings > Auto-check for updates.

What about software update availability?

We try to give you as much visibility for major updates as possible and we have created so called “Availability maps” specifically for this. Maybe you have already noticed it with the Nokia Belle update or previous Lumia updates, but the latest ones are for the new Lumia 800 and 710 update and you can check them out here.

When it comes to availability there’s one major difference between updates for Lumia and Symbian phones, that is based on specific quality control measures that Microsoft has put in place. For Lumia phones “throttling” applies for major updates, meaning that not everybody gets the update at the same time but only a certain percentage is launched at first and – if the update success rate is according to expectations, more and more updates are released to consumers. In reality that leads to some confusion, as it can be that two people who have the same variant with the same product code (i.e. the same handset model, colour and country/operator specification) might not get the update at the same time. With Symbian updates, there is no throttling, which means that once we launched an update for one product code, it’s available for each person who uses this specific variant.

So, why – apart from throttling – can’t we release all updates at the same time? The answer is simple – testing. Nokia and Microsoft both want to have the best software on the most phones, and sometimes prioritization in testing and releasing is necessary in order to deploy a large update. Nokia also has a number of software update promises that we aim to keep for each and every product throughout its life:
• We promise to keep your device software up-to-date which will allow you to get the latest OS updates, applications, features, fixes and new services
• We promise to make regular maintenance releases
• We promise to work with operators to deploy device software updates as quickly as possible.

Additionally you may notice that the software may be available in Care centers before Zune. This is just to support our factory and repair operations, but it should never be too long before it’s also available for you to update from the comfort of your own home.

And last but not least – the upcoming releases:
• Lumia 800 & 710 – started now!
• Lumia 610 & 900 – update coming next month.

Enjoy!

Any tips and tricks of your own? Leave them for us in the usual places (that’s in the comments below, or on Twitter for the uninitiated).