Navifirm is a resource used by several users to get access to firmware that Nokia has not released publicly to devices. It also provided Lumia users with a great opportunity to upgrade their devices to Windows Phone 7.8, which is ridiculously being delayed to February despite being a very irrelevant update.
Sadly Nokia is planning to close the open access to their Firmware repository in January 2013. This would mean that users will no longer be able to update their devices using navifirm.
The following information was revealed in a leaked bulletin:
IMPORTANT NEWS BULLETIN 12-21-2012 FROM NOKIA:currently there is no information on what kind of account will be required to access Nokia’s Firmware repository, so it may be a good idea to download the latest firmware files you need before its too late.
Nokia will close open connection to Nokia Firmware Repository during January 2013 and Implement access control.
After this, the Nokia Online login is required to access Nokia Firmware Repository.
During transition phase (December 2012 – January 2013), both open and restricted channels are open, but the open channel will be closed at the end of January 2013
After this, application updates and device software downloading are possible only by using the latest software releases with service NOL login supported.
source – All About Windows Phone