Nokia brings new “hover” feature to Lumia devices to quickly turn on the display [Video]

If you like occasionally playing with your display settings on  your Nokia Lumia smartphone, then you’ll want to go and update Display + Touch to version 1.6. That update is now live in the store and brings with it a few changes that are actually documented for once.

While most users won't be able to take advantage of the added functionality just yet, you'll still want to read on about how Nokia is dramatically improving Windows Phone by adding new features. One of those additions, documented below, has you "magically" turn on your display with the proximity sensor (tuned for motion detection). Very cool stuff.

Change Log for v1.6

• Bug Fixes
• Support for quick mode in Glance settings

So what is that second, seemingly new feature? It only applies to devices with the Nokia Amber update, which means only the Lumia 925 can make use of it. That Amber update is expected along with the OS GDR2 upgrade sometime in August, depending on the carrier. (All Windows Phone 8 Lumias are expected to get this update at some point.)

The Glance settings are for the new “on-screen clock” feature that the Amber/GDR2 update supports, giving users more detailed information. With the new settings, users can

• Hover your hand over your phone to see your glance screen
• Added "Peek" option to glance menu setting

In short, you can now optionally hover your hand like a Jedi over the display to turn on the Glance screen, which then gives you notifications and clock. Under those conditions, the Glance screen stays on for a minute or two, giving you a "peek" at the display. That's opposed to having it always on or timed. Call us crazy, but that is some awesome usage of the proximity sensor for motion detection. Kudos to Nokia for adding a feature to the OS where none existed before.

So all in all, for the majority of you, this update won’t do anything noticeable. That’s the bad news. The good news is it looks like Amber/GDR2 is getting close to release for the rest of us and Nokia will have all of their apps updated for it.

Pick up Display + Touch v1.6 here in the Nokia Collection. Thanks, Josh H., for the tip!