Category: Microsoft Windows

If you are a Windows Phone user and on Verizon, the last two weeks have been a pretty frustrating experience.  Last week they announced they are retiring the Lumia Icon (Lumia 930) and just yesterday it was widely reported that Verizon will not be stocking the new Lumia 730 until early 2015, almost six months after its release.  It compounds an already poor user experience for Windows Phone owners on Verizon when it comes to updates and really smacks of the platform as being a distant 3rd cousin once removed in the eyes of the company.  It’s sad and frustrating and is part of the daily struggle Windows Phone faces in the US market.

The Lumia Storyteller App for Windows Phone has received a nice update, bringing some new controls and features to the timeline based app for your photos.  If you are not familiar with it, Lumia Storyteller creates a timeline of your photos and videos on your Windows Phone where photos lumped together in a storyboard like fashion.  It is a great alternative to Photos on Windows Phone.

In your timeline you can browse your stories and modify them, then view them as slideshows or share them with friends. You can also sort your photos and videos by location, add captions and create a list of favorites, and when you’re looking at a photo you can zoom out to see where you took it on a map.

Lumia Storyteller for Windows Phone – Free – Download Now

There are times in life were we just need to try to understand why… why!… your WiFi connection on your Windows Phone is so slow.  It’s not your fault, usually, but it happens.  This is particularly true if you are out and about slurping up free WiFi from your coffee shop, hotel or other public locations because, let’s face it, you and everyone else are doing the exact same thing.  Enter Network Speed Test for Windows Phone.

Network Speed Test is a free app from Microsoft that allows you with a single tap of your Windows Phone screen to see what your download and upload throughput are to your device along with other important, if not more technical, tidbits of network information.  It’s quick, simple and will answer the mystery of why the Interwebs are a crawl at your favorite hangout.

Network Speed Test for Windows Phone – Free – Download Now

Halo fans, time to get excited!  WPCentral is reporting that Halo: Spartan Strike is coming to Windows and Windows Phone in December.  The top-down shooter, by all indications, appears to be similar to Halo: Spartan Assault.

According to WPCentral, here is what is known about the game so far:

• Universal Windows App. Buy it once, and play on both Windows and Windows Phone.
• Supports Windows Phone devices with 512MB RAM.
• All-new Halo adventure and new Promethean foes
• Similar controls and gameplay to Halo: Spartan Assault
• Progress earned in one device transfers to other devices.
• You can drive the iconic warthog and the new Kestrel VTOL.

If the details prove to be true, it could be a fantastic game for both your PC and your Windows Phone.  It would also represent the second Halo franchise game this year as Spartan Assault was released in June which is outstanding.

Update:  WPCentral now has a more in depth first look on their site.

Yesterday, with coverage spanning the Windows centric Interwebs, Joe Belfiore posted on the Blogging Windows site that the Windows 10 Technical Preview had reached 1 million participants.  That is a significant number, especially given we are only two weeks since the announcement of the preview being available.  But it is also important symbolically as Microsoft, seemingly for the first time, is properly asking for feedback on their flagship product.  And even more importantly, they are actually listening to that feedback.

Ultimately that means we all win.

If it is indeed the case that Microsoft is listening to user feedback and shaping Windows 10 around that demand, there is no reason to think that this release will put the company squarely back on the map with consumers and, perhaps more importantly, their enterprise customers.  It is a new and different Microsoft these days and this is another clear indicator of it.

The official Facebook for Windows Phone app has been updated with a minor release today, bringing performance improvements and other minor fixes to the app.  For those keeping score, it is version 8.3.3.0 and it is available now in the Windows Phone Store.

The majority of the big updates to Facebook for Windows Phone came with v8.3 and the minor dot updates have generally focused on app performance improvements and bug fixes.  What that means is if you are looking for something new & exciting in the app… well, keep looking peeps.  There’s nothing to see here.

That said, the app does seem a bit faster than the previous build in my non-scientific “yep, looks faster” playing with the app this morning.  Likewise, I was not impacted by any issues on the app so what bug fixes are in this update are a bit of a mystery to me.

Facebook for Windows Phone is free and available in the Windows Phone Store now.  You will need a Facebook account in order to use the app.

Facebook for Windows Phone – Free – Download Now

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