As announced earlier today on the Windows Phone Developer Blog, a community technology preview (CTP) of an update for the Windows Phone SDK 7.1 has been released.  The Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1 Update – CTP provides a new 256 MB device emulator image and an updated 512 MB emulator, and it provides the ability to deploy, run, debug and profile your Windows Phone applications and games in the 512 MB emulator or the 256 MB emulator.  This update is a patch and not a standalone product, so you must install the Windows Phone SDK 7.1 before you can install the update.

Here are links you can use to download and install the Windows Phone SDK 7.1 and the Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1 Update – CTP:

• Windows Phone SDK 7.1 download links
• Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1 Update – CTP download page
• Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1 Update – CTP direct install link (English)
• Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1 Update – CTP direct install link (Chinese – Simplified)

Here are some documentation topics to help you get started using the Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1 Update – CTP:

• Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1 Update – CTP release notes (English)
• Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1 Update – CTP release notes (Chinese – Simplified)
• What’s new in the Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1 Update – CTP
• Developing for 256 MB devices

There are a couple of limitations to keep in mind when using the Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1 Update – CTP:

• This CTP does not include a go-live license.  This means that applications or games created with this update cannot be published on the Windows Phone marketplace.  A final version of the update that includes a go-live license will be released next month.
• This CTP only supports the English and Chinese – Simplified versions of the Windows Phone SDK 7.1.  The final version will support all Windows Phone SDK 7.1 languages.