Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1 Cortana update to arrive next week

Firm promises to release developer preview to arrive sooner rather than later

Microsoft has promised its first update for Windows Phone 8.1 will arrive in the UK next week, offering users a variety of new services including Cortana.

Microsoft revealed its plans to release its Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 as a developer preview in a blog post, ending widespread speculation over the launch of the OS in the UK.

Windows Phone 8.1 first arrived in the UK in May when Nokia released its affordable Lumia 630 smartphone.

Microsoft has high hopes for Windows Phone 8.1 and lists it as "the first enterprise-ready" version of the OS and has loaded it with a variety of business-focused features, chief of which is Cortana.

Cortana is a competitor to Apple's Siri assistant, and lets users interact with Lumia handsets using voice commands. It first launched in the US alongside the release of Windows Phone 8.1. Microsoft said it had worked to optimise Cortana for use in the UK in several ways.

"Cortana has been tailored to support UK spellings and pronunciations and Bing-provided local data on sports teams (for the EPL), the London Stock Exchange, commuter conditions and more," read the blog post.

"The voice and accent is, of course, local, and Cortana's personality in the UK has also been tweaked to be more locally relevant."

The update also adds mobile device-management (MDM) support and a new Live Folders feature.

The MDM support lets IT managers control Windows Phone 8.1 smartphones connecting to their network and offers them the ability to remotely wipe sensitive data from lost or stolen devices, for example.

The Live Folders feature lets Windows Phone 8.1 users create folders by dragging apps onto one another.

For a full look at Windows Phone 8.1 and its features check out V3's in-depth review.