Universal apps are coming to Windows on Phones, PCs, Tablets and Xbox

universal-windows-apps

Among the myriad of announcements Microsoft made at its Build 2014 keynote is one small but highly important detail. With the Windows Phone 8.1 operating system moving to a WinRT layer, all the Microsoft platforms now run on the same runtime, which includes all the devices like a PC, a tablet, a phone, and yes, even the Xbox One. Powered by a common runtime, developers will be able to target all these devices with a shared set of code that will work across all the platforms, like for example notifications, in-app security and so forth. This also means that users can buy an app from one store and use it on another, although the interface will change according to the form factor.

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LINE Messenger clocks 400 million users worldwide, 18 million users in India

Line Messenger 400 million

LINE corporation, a company based in Japan has announced that LINE Messenger has crossed over 400 million users worldwide across all its platforms. The company crossed 300 million users back in November. It has added 100 million users in about four months. The company also announced that they have reached 18 million users in India in just 7 months after the launch. It reached 10 million mark in India in the first three months. Continue reading “LINE Messenger clocks 400 million users worldwide, 18 million users in India”

HERE Drive+ with global navigation will be free for all Windows Phone 8.1 handsets

Here Maps Rebranding

HERE, the location-based service from Nokia announced HERE Drive, HERE Transit and HERE Drive+ last year. HERE Drive came pre-loaded with Nokia Lumia smartphones out of the box and was available for free from Nokia Store for other smartphones. HERE Drive+ app was launched for free with select 9 series and 8 series smartphone ,but it was paid with other Nokia Lumia and other Windows Phone 8 devices. Continue reading “HERE Drive+ with global navigation will be free for all Windows Phone 8.1 handsets”

Skype for Windows Phone 8.1 to bring Cortana control, Switch from voice to video

Skype for Windows Phone 8.1 voice to video

Microsoft announced the Windows Phone 8.1 at the build conference in San Francisco few hours back. Skype has announced that upcoming update for Windows Phone 8.1 would brings new features. This includes option to switch from a regular voice call to Skype video calls. Microsoft also unveiled Cortana Windows Phone 8.1 assistant to take on Siri and Google Now. New Skype will bring Cortana control to make Skype calls. Continue reading “Skype for Windows Phone 8.1 to bring Cortana control, Switch from voice to video”

Lumia Cyan update brings more features to Nokia’s Windows Phones

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It has been a known fact that Nokia bundles its own software additions onto the Windows Phone build, which we call the device specific firmware. Likewise, Nokia will be releasing the Lumia Cyan update to its devices, to run on top of Windows Phone 8.1. This update brings more Nokia specific features on top of the default Windows Phone experience. After Amber and black, Cyan is the additive experience Nokia continues to provide on its Windows Phone devices. Some of the features added to Nokia’s firmware are enhancements to the Nokia camera app, updates to some photo apps and audio specific features for some devices.

Read more about Windows Phone 8.1

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This is Cortana, Microsoft’s take on Siri and Google Now

Cortana-1

Cortana, once popular for being Master Chief’s personal assistant, is now truly digital, as it takes the form of Windows Phone’s own virtual assistant. Cortana is Microsoft’s take on Siri and Google Now, currently the two popular voice assistants for iOS and Android respectively. While Siri took a more personal approach to an assistant, Google took it another way with contextual search and ambient presence, while Cortana is trying to marry the both. Powered by Bing’s neural networks, Cortana literally takes advantage of all the data mined over the search engine’s life time. And not only that, it will learn you like Google Now on actions and like Siri on personal detail, which makes it a decent competitor to Google.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX9P6skzZNU

Read more about Windows Phone 8.1 here

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Windows Phone 8.1 is official, brings Cortana and a ton of new features

windows-phone-8-1-features-1

Microsoft has finally revealed Windows Phone 8.1, the long awaited update to its mobile platform. Packing lots and lots of new features, the operating system finally gets up to speed in several departments. Starting from the action center, the parallax wallpapers to Cortana, the intelligent digital assistant, it would be safe to say that the OS has finally come of age. It may be a little late, but it is definitely not a little minor update, as it brings with it the potential to change the ecosystem of devices it runs on. The update, announced today, will be available for all Windows Phone 8 devices in the coming months, while enthusiasts can get a hold of this update in the first half of April. Besides that, the OS will come pre-installed on all the new Windows Phone devices, including the just announced Nokia Lumia 930 and the Lumia 635 and the Lumia 630 Dual SIM phone.

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Xbox One Smartglass beta previews support for OneGuide and Universal Remote

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Xbox One, the latest gaming console from Microsoft, surprised a few by being the first console to have HDMI input for TV, and support for a unified TV channel guide, with voice activated navigation. The voice commands, using the next generation Kinect, might have performed well enough for most, but there is a better way to control the console now. Smartglass, the app that acts as the second screen input for Xbox One, is now in a separate beta channel which lets users preview the new and upcoming features. Amongst the latest features that are going to be added to this app later are support for One Guide, the channel guide that was initially usable only on the console, and a universal remote that can give out commands through the Kinect’s IR blaster.

Read more: Xbox One release date in India

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Cortana shows up on Bing’s personalization settings ahead of reveal

Cortana-settings

Cortana, Microsoft’s own take on a virtual personal assistant, is all set to be revealed at the //build/ developer event today in San Francisco. While we still haven’t heard anything straight from Microsoft regarding Cortana yet, it’s own property, Bing, which will power Cortana, now has references to the long awaited assistant. Cortana has been rumoured to be like Apple’s Siri and Google Now combined, with it offering personalized results, recommendations and more, apart from setting your alarms, reminders etc like Siri.

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BBM for BlackBerry, Android and iPhone gets Stickers, option to send larger files and more

BBM Stickers

BlackBerry has announced a new BBM 2.1 update for BlackBerry, Android and iPhone that would bring stickers through new BBM Shop. This offers sticker packs, similar to stickers on the Facebook Messenger. Each pack would have 20 to 25 stickers. BBM shop has both free and paid (about $1.99) stickers. This update  also brings option to send larger files up to 16MB on BlackBerry 10, Android and iPhone. Continue reading “BBM for BlackBerry, Android and iPhone gets Stickers, option to send larger files and more”

Motorola updates Moto G and Moto X Boot screens with ‘Powered by Android’ logo

Moto G and Moto X Powered by Google

Motorola has pushed an update to Motorola Boot Services app that adds new ‘Powered by Android’ boot screen logo to Moto G and Moto X smartphones instead of old ‘a Google company’ logo. There were reports that Google has made  ‘Powered by Android’ boot logo mandatory for all new Android smartphones that comes with Google Mobile Services. Continue reading “Motorola updates Moto G and Moto X Boot screens with ‘Powered by Android’ logo”

Cut the Rope 2 finally arrives for Android

Cut the Rope for Android

ZeptoLab, the creators of popular Cut the Rope games has released Cut the Rope 2 for Android finally. It was released for iPhone and iPad back in December last year, and the company promised to release the game for Android in early 2014. In this new game, Om Nom breaks out of his box and travels through lush forests, busy cities, junkyards and underground tunnels for Candy. The game also features little green monsters, Roto, Lick, Blue, Toss and Boo, that acts as candy collecting helpers. Continue reading “Cut the Rope 2 finally arrives for Android”

BBM for Windows Phone coming in Q2 2014

BBM

BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) for iPhone and Android arrived last October. Both these apps got 10 million downloads in just 24 hours after resumed the launch of BBM for Android and iPhone in October last year after some issues. BlackBerry announced that it added 20 million new users a week after its roll out. At that time BlackBerry said it had 80 million monthly active users.

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Captain America: The Winter Soldier game launched for Android, iPhone and iPad

Captain America: The Winter Soldier game

Gameloft has launched the official Captain America: The Winter Soldier mobile game as it promised last month. The game is available as a free download for Android that lets you play first 2 levels for free and has in-app purchase to unlock other levels at $2.99. The iOS app costs $2.99 directly. It is compatible only with limited Android devices currently. Continue reading “Captain America: The Winter Soldier game launched for Android, iPhone and iPad”

Facebook Messenger 4.0 for Android and iPhone brings Groups and Forwarding

Facebook Messenger

Facebook has updated its Facebook Messenger app for Android and iPhone to version 4.0. This update finally brings group messaging, just like WhatsApp and Google Hangouts. You can also name the group. The new Forwarding feature lets you forward any message to others who are not in the conversation. Facebook Messenger for Android and iPhone got voice calling feature in India recently that lets you make calls over WiFi and 3G/2G. Continue reading “Facebook Messenger 4.0 for Android and iPhone brings Groups and Forwarding”