Harmattan 1.2 beta now available as OCF for Nokia N950

As you may have noted in our earlier blog post (Heads up for Harmattan 1.2 beta developer release (16-Jan-2012)) we are now releasing the MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan 1.2 beta version number 3.2012.02-6_PR_RM680 for Nokia N950 Developer Device. The release is available as OCF (One Click Flasher).

Harmattan 1.2 comes with a number of user experience improvements making it appealing for consumers. Five new supported languages, face recognition, enhanced copy-paste, software update notifications for applications and games in Nokia Store, folders in application view just to name a few.

There are a few additional things for you to consider before taking this upgrade. Read on...

No downgrading to Harmattan 1.0 or 1.1(.1)

The N950 (or Nokia N9) software version cannot be downgraded. This unfortunately means, that it is not possible to go back and forth between different releases. Once you take an update you are stuck with that release until there is next version available. The challenge a developer is facing is that big portion of consumers are still running Harmattan 1.0 or 1.1 where personally one would always love to run the latest and brightest release.

A majority of all users are already running Harmattan 1.1 instead of 1.0. The penetration of Harmattan 1.1 over 1.0 is steadily growing as more and more people are updating their devices, and factories are pushing new devices with latest software. And in China, all (003 variant) devices are running minimum Harmattan 1.1 as we never shipped Harmattan 1.0 there.

This means that you as a developer, should always ensure your app is running smoothly on both Harmattan 1.0 and 1.1, depending on your target demography. If you have only one device on your possession you have a dilemma. Will you update to Harmattan 1.2 and enjoy all cool new stuff but simultaneously risk missing a glitch on 1.0/1.1, or will you stick to Harmattan 1.0/1.1 for now?

Naturally you can buy a stock of Nokia N9’s for your testing needs. But if that is not working for you then you can rely on the Remote Device Access (RDA) service as well as the SDK QEMU tool.

Upgrading your N950 to Harmattan 1.2 beta

Due to the above reasons, the upgrade from Harmattan beta 2  (same as 1.0) or 1.1 is not offered as over the air SSU on N950. A developer needs to make a conscious and informed decision to go and flash the device with latest software.

While at it, the OCF will erase the device, you can use backup-restore from Harmattan 1.0 (1.2011.34-2) and 1.1 (2.2011.39-5) but not from beta 1 (1.2011.22-6 or older). Sorry for the inconvenience.

Included fixes, limitations, known issues and so on

We have listed the most significant bug fixes in release notes and marked the fixed items in bugzilla. We excluded a long list of fixes e.g. on localization / terminology. Also, we put together information about known issues, limitations and differences between Nokia N950 developer Device and Nokia N9 for your convenience in the Release Notes. Suggest you read it carefully.