HTC 8X, 8S on Bell Mobility and Rogers started receiving GDR2 too; get Data Sense

By Daniel Rubino
last updated

Yesterday was a whirlwind day of news for Windows Phone and as such, a few items fell between the cracks. Sorry! But that’s what Thursday’s are for, evidently. So today we want to remind our friends up north in Canada who have an HTC 8X or HTC 8S that you should check for an OS and firmware update on your phone.

We received numerous tips from users noting that Bell Mobility and Rogers have both begun pushing out Windows Phone 8 1327 aka GDR2 OS updates along with the corresponding firmware to their 8X and 8S devices.

Both Rogers and Bell users for the HTC 8X and 8S will also get the coveted Data Sense feature. Meanwhile Bell has detailed the update for the 8X and 8S on their website (1,2) noting improvements to battery life, camera, photo viewer andText and multimedia messaging.

To see if your HTC 8X (or 8S) has an over-the-air update waiting, simply navigate to your Settings and select Phone Update and then ‘check for updates’. The process will require a Wi-Fi connection and could take up to 20 minutes due to the process requiring a backup of your contents.

Thanks to all of our Canadian readers who tipped us!

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been here covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, Microsoft Surface, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics and ran the projectors at movie theaters, which has done absolutely nothing for his career.

74 Comments
  • Brace yourselves, AT&T customers will comment!
  • Come on AT&T!! ;)
  • Yep another 120 comments again of bitch whine moan. And I'm a person with a ATT 920 and don't want to filter through another threading about it. Beating a dead decayed maggot filled horse
  • What interest do you have going to the HTC 8X, 8S on Bell Mobility GRD2 thread when you're on AT&T with a Lumia 920?
     
    Just to make a comment about how you're not going to comment on ATT not getting the update out for the Lumias?  
  • Did I ever say I wasn't gonna comment? Reading is fundamentally challenging for some.
  • "And I'm a person with a ATT 920 and don't want to filter through another threading about it. Beating a dead decayed maggot filled horse"
     
    Stating that you're sick of people commenting about AT&T's delay clearly implies that you are not going to add a comment about AT&T delaying the update. Reading between the lines - this is what is fundamentally challenging for some. Not to mention spelling or grammar...
  • Yeah you challenged. I don't mind reading actual comments. I DONT want to read another thread that pertains to a bunch of 920 complaining on another thread about ATT. Does that mean I don't want to read the thread itself? No. Does that mean I won't comment? No. Does that mean I don't want want to filter. Yes. Its beating a dead horse horse. The fact that this pertains to a different phone and a different carrier means that I think its great that GDR2 is rolling the way it is. And if you think I'm worried about my grammar typing on my 920 while sitting in traffic, that's about as lame as you coming on this thread worried about what I'm worried to bitch about my opinions. But its ok. It fit the majority of whining posted on here. But I wont comment to YOU anymore ⌒.⌒
  • Last thing I'll say is you're a jack*** for reading articles/threads and texting while you're driving. Grow up.
  • Lmao. Didn't know sitting in non moving traffic was considered driving. I don't think anyone talking about someone's grammar should talk about grow up. Get it off your chest. Lol.
  • You are crazy
  • Hilarious .......
  • i feel sorry for AT&T  customers becuse they havent gotten GDR2 + amber maybe they will get it next week
  • MANUAL FLASH - The cure for all ills
  • I thought the same... Poor of them :/
  • Time to bring the noise
    @ATTCustomerCare
    Let them hear it!
  • They can't hear something they read
  • Read the different definitions of noise and then come back and see me...
    I already know what your going to say -_-
  • But will hear it us the question...
  • To be honest I don't think that was even a complete sentence.
  • Damn Right!  ATT get your act together!
  • I'll start it off- AT&TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
  • HaHa!  You ATT suckers don't have your update.......wait, I"m an ATT sucker!
  • You know which platform gives updates and makes sure all customers get it at the same time? iOS. This little ATT fiasco makes me want to get an iPhone for my next upgrade this fall. But if better spec 1020 comes out (meaning it has the 41MP camera and future/current standard specs-like quad-core CPU) or the 1020 comes to TMobile, I'm sticking with the platform.
  • ATT has no control iOS updates Apple has full control over it so of course they would update everyone at once lol :P
  • Its because of apple that other platforms struggle with carrier updates
  • How do you figure that?
  • Because Apple bends the carriers over a pool table with the iPhone. Highest per-device cost, forced updates, etc... After the iPhone carriers swore they'd never let an OEM do that to them again.
  • Get to the choppa!!!!!!!!!!
  • Haha
  • It's not a tumor!!!
  • Omggggg attt WTFFFFF!!!! PLEASE PLEASE GDR2 FOR LUMIA 920 WHAT ARE YOU WAITING!! FOOOR!!!! (i started it off lol)
  • What is that pretty phone HTC 8S? I must have it
  • Yup. Nice looking phone. But it had issues on release, caused it be delayed so a lot of carriers passed :/
  • This is a sweet color combo. If you like glow in the dark stuff
  • I don't understand why datasense was unavailable for so long. Its not actually linked to your carrier, you enter your billing date and data cap and you're in
  • I think it's linked. Some people reported that their data usage was already recognized when they launched the app after updating to GDR2
  • This. It told me how much I used my WiFi in my phones entire lifetime LOL. So it was crazy. I don't use data but this is a cool feature
  • Yeah that's what happened to me
  • Data sense. I have unlimited internet with at&t. I'm grandfathered in. But I want my fucking update already. I'm so tight. I'm about to buy a fucking new iPhone when it comes out lol
  • Sorry to say, but there's no reason to expect Data Sense with AT&T. The Lumia 520 and 1020 both don't have it, so I'm not sure why the 920 would.
  • Exactly...
  • The terrible att app has some sort of datasense I think...
  • What do you want? Don't know if people will listen to you when dripping f-bombs in your request for an update...
  • Sorry guys for my rude behavior. Its been a rough day and I was really hoping for some good news. Once again I apologize.
  • We don't forgive in here, you are abolished!! Na, it's cool bro. I forgive you, rest easy my friend. You can sleep peacefully tonight, sweet dreams!!
  • I wish Samuel L Jackson had a ATT WP he would surely say something nice to ATT
  • We could ask Jessica alba to do it for us. She has a WP right?
  • What happened to the update on t-mobile, it's now 5 weeks past the first reported release date?
  • Lets hope it doesn't brick your phones! (please see forums)
  • Hy..im New here, so i Just wana Ask a simple question..so my Phone says that my mobile operator is at1-t...(this Phone is unbranded.) so this means i'll get at&t's amber for my 920?
  • Yeah, I gave up, and flashed it last night for AT&T
    The plus was that I got datasense, it was so worth flashing it!
  • Which rom did you use? I would love data sense on my 920! :D
  • Euro dev
  • Go to the Nokia Lumia 920 forum, and click on the article 'How to update in 13 easy steps' by Juan
  • How do I flash the update on my phone?
  • I'm starting to think that us att users are not going to get an update. I mean on a serious note there is no reason this update shouldn't be out now. Not premium support from the supposedly premier Windows carrier.
  • If it does not come by October, THEN we should start worrying.
  • o2 ...? =[
  • Why don't we just keep sending att tweets about it. Eventually they will get the information we want if we pressure them enough. I was even considering sending their CEO some snail mail. Their home address is on the web.
  • Man this probably the best I seen any rollout for an OS minus iOs
  • So why doesnt the Samsung ativ s gdr2 update from bell have datasense??
  • after i updated my samsung ativ s to gdr2 i did a reset(settings>about>reset your phone) per the suggestions in
     the ativ s forums. data sense then showed up. i have a carrier unlocked ativ s from rogers.
  • Really!? You have to wipe your phone to get the Datasense option!? Thats crazy.
  • I have an 8S when can I expect the update in the UK?
  • It looks like more and more carriers are implementing the back end required for Data sense as i doubt it is no longer carrier side feature. As you cant compress incoming data locally lol.. it has to be compressed in the cloud and pushed to your device.
  • Lol keep telling yourself self that pal data sense is carrier controlled so all i can say is blame Microsoft
  • Wait, if Data Sense is carrier controlled, then why would Microsoft be to blame?
  • Why aren't all of us on att with 920 flashing our phones for this update its starting to sound like a better Idea day after day .
  • I read that flashing voids your warranty.  Inasmuch as I just paid $475 outright for my L920, I would like to keep my warranty for awhile.  
  • I recall with the ATIV S that a reset was needed after installing GDR2 in order to enable Data Sense. Hopefully 8X/8S owners won't have this issue.
  • Sorry people on Bell, you won't get Datasense. Got the GDR2 update on my phone weeks ago (ATIV S) and there is no data sense. Noticeable battery life improvement though.
  • If you do a reset within "About," Data Sense will be enabled.
  • Ugh, that is so Lame. I am pretty technically inclined so it doesn't really matter to me - heck it might even be fun ...
    But here is me telling my wife ... If you want to see more info about where you are using your data you have to wipe your phone completely and start over ... Followed soon by a ... WTF??? Why??? You're kidding???
  • Doing a reset from within the OS restores it to the latest version, so it's not the same as the factory default. If you back up your apps and text messages, a restart is far less painful.