Kindle app for Windows Phone updated with wide tile, fast app resume.

It was long since the Kindle app for Windows Phone was updated. The last one dates back to January 29 of the current year and was purely cosmetic. The update that was published today also contains some visual changes and new features. The most notable for me being the new wide tile that displays your book progress and fast app resume. 

Kindle for Windows Phone has been updated to version 2.0.0.5 with the following changes:

- Fast app resume
- Live tile with book progress
- New wide tile image
- Fixed: books loading blank pages
- Fixed: Kindle Store links

Download: Windows Phone Store.

Community based mapping Waze for Windows Phone 8 released.

Waze is a community based mapping, traffic & navigation app boasting 60 million users. The app was recently acquired by Google, after the developers announced they were working on an app for Windows Phone raising concern among Windows Phone fans that Google would kill the project. 

With Waze open while you're driving, you will get real time info about traffic in your neighborhood from other Waze users. You can also contribute by reporting accidents, traffic jams etc. But be careful while driving though.

Features:

- Live routing based on community generated, real-time traffic and road info
- Community contributed road alerts including accidents, hazards, police traps, road closures and more
- Automatic re-routing as conditions on the road change
- Learns your frequent destinations, commuting hours and preferred routes 
- Finds the cheapest gas station along your route
- Notify someone you're on your way by sending a live ETA and a link showing you as you drive
- Earn points and move up the ranks in your community as you contribute road info
- Live maps, constantly edited and updated by Waze community map editors

Waze is free.

Download: Windows Phone Store.

Instagram Beta for Windows Phone 8 released.

Facebook and it's recently acquired Instagram have finally released a beta version of the official Instagram app for Windows Phone 8 devices. Mark the BETA moniker, meaning the app is still in the works and may contain bugs or lack some features. But if you're a fan of filtered pictures, you are probably happy with this release. Or maybe not because you have been using 6tag, the excellent full-featured Instagram client. 

Instagram Beta is currently free for download in the Windows Phone Store.

Features:

• 100% free custom designed filters: XPro-II, Earlybird, Rise, Amaro, Hudson, Lo-fi, Sutro, Toaster, Brannan, Inkwell, Walden, Hefe, Nashville, 1977, and others.
* Video recording with breathtaking cinematic stabilization
• Linear and Radial Tilt-Shift blur effects for extra depth of field.
• Instant sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr and Foursquare
• Unlimited uploads
• Interact with friends through giving & receiving likes and comments
• Full front & back camera support
• And much much more...

6snap, a third party full-featured SnapChat client for Windows Phone 8 released.

Mr. Rudy Huyn strikes again with the release of 6snap, a full featured SnapChat client for Windows Phone 8. if you don't know it yet, Rudy Huyn is the developer behind the popular 6tag and 6sec.

6snap has all the features of the official client plus some exclusive ones:

- Lense support
- extend the picture hub (share menu, etc..)
- live tile 

- and more features coming 

Below is a list of SnapChat features. These are the same features you'll find in the official app on other platforms where SnapChat is present:

- share pictures and videos with snapchat users
- post snaps on your story
- see stories, best friends and score of your friends
- draw and add text to your pictures
- search snapchat friends on your phone
- save your picture on your phone
- front and back camera
- manage your snapchat privacy
- notifications with custom ringtone

Download: Windows Phone Store

Google updates Google Search app for Windows Phone (no joke).

You read the title well. Google has updated its Search app for Windows Phone 7.x and 8. And yes Google has at least one app in the store for Microsoft's mobile platform. Despite the ongoing bickering between the two giants, Google has updated it's search app which let users sign in to their Google account within the app. I'm not sure yet how useful is that. So if I'm not missing anything, maybe Google has something else up its sleeves. Of course I'm happy to see Google bring new features to its Windows Phone app. It's good for their image after all.

Besides the usual bug fixes, here's what is new in the update:

-Sign in to your Google account within the app.
-On Windows Phone 8, your voice commands are instantly displayed on the screen.
-Improved Google Image viewing.
-Several other bug fixes and resolution enhancements.

Download: Windows Phone Store

SophieLens HD front-facing camera bug fixed.

SophieLens HD is a nice photography app that photo lovers should get in their collection. The free app gives users fast live filtered preview in sleek, user-friendly design. SophieLens HD got a major update last month and users were offered free filter packs for download for a limited time. This offer is available until November 22. 

SophieLens HD has been updated today with a fix for a front facing camera bug affecting the Nokia Lumia 820, 620 and 520. The update also contains some miscellaneous bug fixes. The change log also states that "more to come". Not sure what that means, but expect to see another update soon.

If you own one or all of the devices listed above, make sure you update the app from the Windows Phone Store.

Whatsapp update fixes "no routes" error.

Whatsapp is a messaging app that lets you send text, picture and video messages. The app is free for the first year and costs $0.99 after that. I call it the app that wants to kill SMS. However, unlike SMS, Whatsapp requires a data connection.

A fix is available today in the store that fixes an error for some users who could not register and getting a "no routes" error. The update is available here.

TouchDevelop: An app to create apps on your Windows Phone anywhere.

Say you're commuting to work and you get an idea for an app. With TouchDevelop you get to start working on your app right away. No need to wait until you get to your desktop. With TouchDevelop, you can create apps on your phone and/or automate recurring tasks. The app is developed by Microsoft and is very touch friendly. The app description states that "you can compose programs by tapping on the screen. query the phone sensors, send web requests, and manage your data in the cloud."

TouchDevelop is a a free on the Windows Phone Store. It is a very user and touch friendly app to let loose your inspiration. 

Change log:

- Bug fixes and improvements based on community feedback – many thanks to all our beta testers!
- New interactive tutorials
- Cloud data makes it easy to share data with other people and across your own devices

Bing Translator updated with camera translation support for new languages.

Bing Translator is an app any frequent traveler must have in their app collection to overcome language barriers. The app is capable of translating almost about anything you throw at it with the keyboard, camera, voice and offline translation. Some of these functions require network.

Version 2.7 of Bing Translator has been released today with support for more languages.

New in 2.7:
- Camera translation for Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Russian and Swedish
- Offline translation for Dutch, Norwegian, Russian and Swedish
- Lamp in camera mode 

- Remove history items one by one 

Source: Windows Phone Store

Official Vine client makes it to Windows Phone 8.

It's here, the 6 seconds video service from Twitter. The official Vine client for Windows Phone 8 has been released and is available as a free download from the Windows Phone store. Windows Phone users will be able to shoot and post 6 seconds looping videos from their phones to share with their families and friends. Not that they needed the official app to do that. Third party clients of the app were already available  in the Store, the most popular one being 6sec by prolific developer Rudy Huyn. It wouldn't surprise me if 6sec is actually better than the official app. 

Source: Windows Phone Store

#2InstaWithLove, Fresh Paint, Facebook Beta and 6tag updated.

A few updates to some of my favorite apps have showed up on my Windows Phone today. The first is #2InstaWithLove, an app developed by Nokia to help bring Instagram to Windows Phone. Even though Nokia recently announced that Instagram is coming to Windows Phone, they are still publishing updates to #2InstaWithLove. Nokia did not publish the change log. The update is available free for download on the Windows Phone Store.

I had completely forgotten about #2InstaWithLove until today. The reason is the arrival of 6tag, an excellent Instagram client for Windows Phone. Did I say how good it is? So good that official client apps on other platforms look petty. Today 6tag also got updated with a check box in the settings that lets you hide ads in your timeline. Download 6tag here.

I'm very bad at drawing. You just cannot imagine how bad. Fresh Paint is Microsoft's app which is fun and easy app for you to turn pictures into artwork on the go. Fresh Paint was updated with the following changes:

- New pencil
- “Inspire Me” feature helps you to search Bing for images to incorporate into your masterpiece
- SkyDrive improvements enable you to start painting on your phone and pick up where you left off on your PC
- Front-facing camera support
- Improved camera lenses
- Bug fixes

Download or update Fresh Paint here.

The last app on my list is Facebook Beta. The latest update does not include new features, but includes performance enhancement and bug fixes. Additional languages has also been added. Facebook Beta can be downloaded in the Windows Phone Store.

Arabic and Greek languages supported by WhatsApp for Windows Phone.

In the latest update, WhatsApp for Windows Phone got support for two new languages: Arabic and Greek. A localized update that is likely to please folks in Greece and the middle east. As is often the case with updates, this one has the usual and now famously unknown miscellaneous big fixes.

Whatsapp is a messaging app that lets you send text, picture and video messages. The app is free for the first year and costs $0.99 after that. I call it the app that wants to kill SMS. However, unlike SMS, Whatsapp requires a data connection.

WhatsApp is free to download on the Windows Phone Store.

Fhotoroom gets new UI changes, true full screen HD zoom.

Fhotoroom for Windows Phone is an app every photography lovers should have. It brings together a pro camera, photo sharing network and a professional mobile photo editor. The pro camera feature achieves best result by using custom EV, ISO and exposure time. 

The mobile photo editor allows users to further tweak/fix your photos using over 75 different filters which are all customizable. And finally, Fhotoroom built in network sharing feature lets users show off their creation to a fast growing community. 

Fhotoroom for Windows Phone 8 has been updated with the following changes:

- Reply to Photo Comments
- Structured Photo Message no need to figure out who is talking to who.
- New UI Changes for easier Navigation
- New Home Icon
- Added Text Under Bottom menu controls.
- TRUE full screen HD zoom with landscape support
- New Correction Filter
- New Exposure Filter

Fhotoroom is free for download in the Windows Phone Store and works with Windows Phone 7.x and 8.0.

Update: Make free voice call with all Nimbuzz contacts.

Nimbuzz is a multi-platform messaging app that supports multiple messaging services from Facebook Chat to GTalk and Yahoo Messenger. Besides chat services, Nimbuzz lets you also share pictures and videos with your friends and all that at no cost, except your data connection of course. The platform boasts 150+ million users. 

What’s New?
– Now make Free Voice Calls with all your Nimbuzz Messenger contacts
– Bug Fixes

Download free from the Windows Phone Store.

Today's update: Where's My Water, glƏƏk!, SophieLens HD.

There are a couple of nice updates on the Windows Phone Store today. So if you haven't installed these apps on your phones, go get them as they keep getting better and better.

Where's My Water?

Disney's "Where's My Water" comes first in our list. The popular free game now gets social with the ability for users to connect to Facebook and challenge their friends online. 

What's new:

• ‘Tri-ducking’ is now faster, better and more fun with boosts, such as Vacuum, Dropper, and Absorber! Small fees may be required for these additional boosts.
• Connect through Facebook and see if you can beat your pals on the adventure!

glƏƏk!

The ever popular Twitter client for Windows Phone gets the best-of-the-day update with added notifications for timeline update and the ability to use custom toast notification sounds for devices running GDR3 or Update 3.

SophieLensHD

If you're out there looking for a decent lens filter, just stop right there, you just found it. SophieLensHD is what you have been looking for. The app currently has all its filter packs free to download for a limited time. Stop reading and get them. 

Changes:

2.0.0.517
- fixed front facing bug for 820, 620 and 520
- misc bug fixes, more to come.