HTC has added the ability to let you set whether or not you want Wi-Fi to remain on when the screen times out on the new HTC 8S, which is just about to go on sale in the UK.

Buried in the Advance Wi-Fi settings, it will let customers determine whether or not they want to enable the feature.

The Windows Phone 8S by HTC is available for £19 a month with no up-front cost on the Ultimate Internet 100 plan at Three, and for £17 a month with no up-front cost on the Essential Internet 100 plan - both with a guarantee of no surprise out-of-bundle data charges. The device is also available on Pay As You Go for £179.99 plus a top-up. 

READ: Windows Phone 8S by HTC pictures and hands-on

While a small detail, it is the first Windows Phone 8 device to be able to do this and suggests that the feature will be rolling out to other Windows Phone 8  devices, such as the HTC 8X and the Nokia Lumia range, in the near future.

The feature wasn't expected to be released on a device until early 2013. Rumours suggest that Microsoft is set to roll-out an incremental update to Windows Phone 8 in the first couple of months of 2013, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Dubbed Apollo+, the update will add a few new features, as well as tweak a couple of bugs found in Windows Phone 8.

Improvements are rumoured to include enhancing the audio capabilities of the OS and adding VPN functionality to the phone for businesses.