Video: Demonstrating Motorola Z8’s “firmware over the air” feature

Motorola’s Z8 - a Symbian device running the UIQ user interface - has the ability to download and install firmware upgrades over the air, aka FOTA. That means you won’t need any USB cables, special PC softwares or anything else. There’s no need for backups and there’s no problem running out of batteries during the update process, the phone will pick up from where it ended next time you’ll switch it on.

 

FOTA is an acronym for Firmware Over-the-Air. It is used for upgrades to mobile phones and PDAs. Normally you have to go to a specific service center (every mobile brand has their own) to get a firmware upgrade. Or some phone models can be upgraded by connecting your phone via a cable to your PC. But both methods are considered inconvenient by consumers and also depend heavily on consumers to seek out the upgrade, and therefore the majority of mobile phone manufacturers and operators have now adopted FOTA technology for their handsets. If the mobile phone has FOTA capability, you can instead download the firmware upgrade directly from your mobile phone. It also allows manufacturers and operators to "push out" firmware upgrades to ensure that mobile consumers have the latest software improvements, which helps reduce customer support costs and increase consumer satisfaction. The process typically takes between 3 and 10 minutes, depending on the size of the upgrade file and the speed of your wireless connection. - Wikipedia