Nokia Lumia 920 and 800 get Windows Phone 8 and 7.8 updates

Updates are arriving for both Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 7.8, and should be hitting the Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 800 any minute.

The update to Windows Phone 8 will save the Lumia 920 from randomly rebooting without any warning, a problem that's affected the new phone since launch.

Dutch site WP7.nl reports that Netherlanders can update their older Lumia 800 phones via the Zune software earlier than expected. But at the time of writing, the update has yet to board the ferry at the Hook of Holland to head to Hull or Harwich here in the UK -- my unlocked Lumia 800 is detecting no updates just yet.

Fingers crossed the UK networks will quickly push out the update to the three-and-a-half people that own current Lumia phones. 

Windows Phone 7.8 gives you more flexibility in the size and layout of the signature colourful live tiles on your home page, animated with updates on your new messages, photos and more. That and a new Xbox tile are pretty much the only new feature coming to 7.8, sadly, as existing Lumia phones are cut off from the latest Windows Phone updates.

The Windows Phone 8 update sparked controversy when Microsoft revealed that existing phones would not benefit from the update, and would even find that new apps built for Windows Phone 8 wouldn't work on current phones. That effectively makes lame ducks of the Lumia 800 and its ilk, receiving new features in a piecemeal fashion with the 7.8 update.

This month the Nokia unveiled the Lumia 620, set to be the cheapest Windows Phone 8 phone yet. Meanwhile the Nokia Lumia 920 is currently only available on EE, the 4G network formed by the merger of Orange and T-Mobile, but it will come to other networks in the new year.

Do you own a Windows Phone? Tell us why you prefer to iOS or Android in the comments blow or over on our Facebook page.