Glance Screen now supports lockscreen photo as background.

Glance Screen is a Lumia exclusive app that lets users check messaging, email, Facebook, Twitter notifications without powering up the screen. More apps are supported and can be added to Glance Screen depending on your liking and needs. The app was updated today with support for background image. The image that you choose as your lock screen background will also apply to Glance Screen, making the latter more visually appealing than the standard black background. A restart is required after installing the update.

Download the update from the Windows Phone store. 

Facebook Beta gets bevy of improvements.

Facebook Beta lets you try new features before they are rolled out to the official Facebook app for Windows Phone. This is common practice nowadays on Windows Phone and Android, where developers reach out to early adopters to test new upcoming features before releasing them to the masses. That's what Facebook Beta is for. Anyone can opt in and provide feedback; just hit the link at the end of this article.

Today's update is a list of improvements. Test them out and remember to send your feedback in the store. 

What's new:

• “Top Stories” newsfeed and improved newsfeed ranking

• Improved “Most Recent” newsfeed

• More newsfeed content

• Profile timeline improvements

• Group feed improvements

• Event feed improvements

• Page feed improvements

• General bug fixes

• Performance improvements

Source: Windows Phone store.

Skype Qik now lets you move messages between conversation; special holiday surprised added.

I have never been a fan of Snapchat, so it's no surprise that Skype Qik is there on my devices and has never been used if not for a few tests when it was released. If, unlike me, you're a user or fan of Skype Qik, then head over to the store as there is an update waiting for you. Maybe the changes listed below will make sense to you and improve your Qik, say "Quick", experience.

As mentioned in the title, the Qik team included a special holiday surprise in this update. It consists of falling snow flakes  upon launching the app. Don't worry, the flakes go away after a few seconds.

Here's what is new in this version of Skype Qik:

• Qik Fliks are here. (Just in case you missed them in the last update).
• New menu lets you delete, save, or send your message to another conversation.
• PLUS, a special holiday surprise!

Source: Windows Phone store

OneDrive gets improved UI and all photo views.

Microsoft OneDrive app for Windows Phone has been updated today with a interface redesign after the last one got negative feedback from users. The UI is much more polished and refreshed. Then there is the addition of an all photos view, which does exactly what its name implies: display your entire photo collection on one screen.

Here's what's new in OneDrive version 4.5:

• UX updates and improvements.
• All photos view.
• Search updates for personal and work accounts.
• Shared with ME and Recent views for work accounts.
• Access to your Recycle Bin, so you can view and restore personal and work items.
• A new page for viewing the properties of personal files.
• Easy access to app ratings from the settings menu.
• Bug fixes and performance improvements.

Source: Windows Phone store.

Unishare update adds Cortana integration and fixes Facebook errors.

After Microsoft released Windows Phone 8.1 preview, the first thing the community discovered was the removal of the one feature that was unique to the platform: The Me tile sharing. The latter was capable of sharing to multiple social networks with one tap or click. Thanks to the dedicated developers, we now have Unishare to fill in. And it does that quite perfectly. So, if you haven't heard of Unishare, use the link at the end of this post to download from the store.

Unishare is a must have on all my my Windows Phones. Today it was updated with a bunch of fixes and improvements as listed below:

• Fixed message for Facebook post error.
• Fixed error where Facebook pages do not get loaded automatically after connecting.
• Added Cortana integration (English) with continued voice interaction in app.
• improvements on the lock screen prevention function.
• Other bug fixes.

Download: Windows Phone store

VLC for WP beta is available to those who signed up.

This is great news for the Windows Phone fans as the VLC player has finally made its way to Windows Phone. Currently, only the first 1000 users who signed up for the beta have access to it. For those who did not, be patient and while VLC maybe visible to you in the store, you won't be able to download it. Again be patient until it gets out of beta or the team working on VLC decides to open up the beta to more users.

For the 1000 lucky ones, grab VLC beta in the store and remember to send your feedback to the team. As of now, the big main issue everyone is facing with the beta is with sound. There's no sound at all when watching a movie. 

Tiny Troopers for Windows Phone released.

Last week I blogged about a game start-up called "Game Troopers" who announced the imminent release of three games for Windows Phone and they did not stop there, further announcing a publishing service to help developers port their games to Windows Phone. Game Troopers has today announced the release of one of their successful titles, Tiny Troopers.

Tiny Troopers are actually tiny soldiers you drive through 30 missions. These small guys are armed and get stronger as you take down enemies, blow up buildings, save and protect civilians. And your enemies won't make things easy, stay away of the land mines. 

“Tiny Troopers is a bunch of cute, adorable little buddies that run around shooting things.  What else could you ask for?” said Game Troopers CEO, Jesús Bosch. “The game was so popular on iOS and Android that we had to bring it to Windows Phone and make it our first release. We know people are going to love it.”

Tiny Troopers is the first game ported to Windows Phone by Game Troopers and it is Xbox enabled. As such, players will be able to track their achievements. The best part is that the game is available globally and free on Windows phone.

Download: Windows Phone store

CNN app for Windows Phone gets updated design and James Earl Jones' "This is CNN".

It's been a while since the CNN app was last updated. Today, the round-the-clock news organization was updated to version 2.0 with a new design. I particularly appreciate the addition of the distinctive sound of Mr. James Earl Jones saying "This is CNN". On launching the app, you will get to choose to enable or disable this announcement. Of course you can change this in the app settings.

Check out the full change log:

• Watch CNN live TV anytime (with TV provider sign-in)
• Updated design with access to additional content.
• Email and social sharing available
• Minor bug fixes.

Get the update in Windows Phone store.

Game Troopers to help devs port games to Windows Phone & Windows; confirms release of 3 Xbox Live titles.

Game Troopers is a new game publishing service that was launched yesterday with the objective to help developers quickly port their games from other platforms to Windows Phone and Windows platform. The company will, when needed, even do the coding so as to make the game run on Windows.

"We want to make it easy for developers to decide to bring their game to Window. It shouldn't add any extra stress for your team," said Nicholas Reville, co-founder of Game Troopers. Game Troopers is founded by Space Inch. Josh Segall, co-founder of Game Troopers and CEO of Space Inch believes "there's a huge amount of potential on Windows and lots of indie game developers don't have a plan to publish their game. We solve that for them." Space Inch have some successful titles available on Apple App store ad Google Play. One such titles, "The love of money" went to #1 overall in the app store this year. Another title, "Tiny Troopers" has more than a million download on Google Play.

Game Troopers has also announced the release soon of three Xbox titles for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8:

• Tiny Troopers
• Make it rain: The love of money
• Abyss

Tiny Troopers will be released on Windows Phone during the month of December as a free game with in-app purchases with more games to come.

Learn more about Game troopers and their titles here.

 

Use a Treasure Tag as a remote shutter for your selfies.

Selfies, selfies, selfies. Phones are getting better at this global sport of people taking self portraits and posting them to social networks. Remember the days when front facing cameras were limited to 1.3 or 2 MP? They have evolved lot thanks to companies like HTC for example, which recently released the HTC Desire Eye with a front facing camera of 13mp. But pixels are not all.

Alongside the race for the best camera, both back and front, emerged something we can call the selfie gadgets. We know the selfie stick, an accessory that comes in handy for taking group selfies with the help of the timer built into the camera software. The phone itself is clipped to one end of the stick. The selfie stick today is getting competition with ex-Nokia Treasure Tag. Or maybe not necessarily competition.

The Treasure Tag was designed so you do not lose your valuables. Attach it to your keys, wallet, the Treasure Tag will alert you when you're separated from your belongings. Microsoft Mobile, which now owns Nokia mobile division, has updated the Lumia Selfie app which takes advantage of the Treasure Tag and turns it into a remote shutter when taking selfies. Couple with the selfie stick and you have the complete selfie kit. Not only you won't have to struggle with the shutter button anymore, the updated Lumia Selfie also saves your masterpieces automatically.

If you're into the self portrait sport, make sure you get your Treasure Tag and update the Lumia Selfie from the Windows Phone store.

Facebook Messenger lets you send messages to people you don't know and vice versa.

Chances are you are among the 500 million souls on this planet using Facebook Messenger on their Windows Phones. Today, Facebook Messenger received a pretty big update in that you will be able to send messages to anyone using the Zuckerberg social network.  By anyone, I mean even people you don't know and it works both ways. So you may start receiving messages from strangers, like it or not. This feature has been available on other platforms for some time and I have not heard horror stories, yet.

Here's what's new in this update that brings Facebook Messenger to version 9.0:

• Improvements to make the app faster
• Now you can message people even if you're not Facebook friends
• Tap People to sync your phone contacts
• Enter anyone's phone number to start texting them from the app
• Add colorful drawings and text to photos from your cameral roll before you send them

Download the update here.

PhotoMic: a collage, meme creator for Windows Phone updated.

Once a luxury, our smartphones have evolved quickly to become a utility, take an important role both in our private and professional life. Our smartphones have also managed to oust the camera from our pockets and/or handbag thanks to the innovative apps available in the stores our phones are connected to. PhotoMic is one of those apps, designed to make life fun.

PhotoMic for Windows Phone is a free app that with your imagination lets you create comic strip right on your phone using built-in templates. With that you can flip, rotate your creation and add bubble callouts, sketch and other effects to them. With PhotoMic you will enjoy creating meme collages.

The app was updated today bringing it to version 2.0, making it a major update with the following changes:

• NEW: Bubble reset position
• NEW: Text rotation
• NEW: Text reset rotation
• NEW: Colored sketch, Sepia and cartoon effect
• NEW: More bubbles/stickers
• Adjusted settings for HDR effect
• Bug fixed: Bubble cropped if rotated
• Bug fixed: Bubble size back to default when saving to draft
• Fix and performance improvement

PhotoMic is free for download in the Windows Phone store.

IM+ updated with sound notification and lock display orientation.

The last time I posted about IM+ dates back to January 24 of the current year. The multi-platform messaging app has an update that was published today to the Windows store with the following changes and improvements

• Custom sound notification.
• Option to lock display orientation.
• Bug fixes and performance improvements.

I noticed that both the January and today's update contains the same option to lock display orientation.

 

IM+ currently supports Facebook, Yahoo!, AIM/Chat, ICQ, Sina, Mig33, Jabber, Yandex and more. Check it out in the Windows phone store:

1. AIM+ - free version
2. AIM+ - paid version ($4.99)

 

Weather Flow lock screen issue fixed and battery consumption improved.

No matter which mobile platform you use, choosing a good weather app is no easy task. The amount of such apps can make the hunt tedious, and chances are you'll miss the best one as you give up searching. I've been through that, so much that I had about 6 weather apps on my Windows phone. Only two remains and Weather Flow is one of them; It is probably the best weather app that allows the best customization experience tailored for Windows Phone 8.1. Weather Flow looks so good, it is hard to believe it was not made by Microsoft.

Weather Flow just got better today with an update that brings the app to version 2.0.0.2:

• Issues fixed with lock screen creation
• Improved battery consumption
• Lock screen fader
• Fixed live tile issues
• Clock widget

Weather Flow is $1.99 in the Windows Phone store and trust me it's money well spent. After all, the developer deserves your support for his hard work.

 

UC Browser for Windows Phone gets improved privacy management and more.

UC Browser is a popular multi-platform browser available on Windows Phone and Android. This third party browser is pretty solid and can even be used in lieu of the default Internet Explorer on our Windows phones if only users were given choice. It is a sad fact on Windows and Android phones, that we cannot set a default browser of our preference. This practice does not favor third party browsers like UC Browser or Surfy, which are very capable browsers. We can only hope this situation will evolve with time.

In the update published today, the team behind UC Browser has focused on improving privacy management. Incognito browsing has been improved to clear your mischiefs with better clearing of cookies. 

The other addition is better URL input which can more accurately predict the URL as you type in the address bar, making entering lengthy web addresses a breeze. Finally, the developers added an option that lets users switch off the forward and backward slide gesture.

UC Browser is a free browser that is available free in the Windows Phone store.

Frozen Free Fall: The new Halloween update is here!

Halloween maybe behind us - or maybe not - but Disney has published an update for its very popular Frozen Free Fall game for Windows Phone that adds 30 spooky new levels for kids and parents alike to enjoy. The update provides two new modes detailed in the change log below:

- 2 new game modes:

• "Feed the ghosts" and send them on their haunting way.
• Trick-or-Treat! Help fill up all the candy buckets!

 - Brand new power up - Peek-a-BOO! Quick! Olaf is covering his eyes! Make as many matches you can!
- Do you love the collectibles? Add to your collection 10 new Frozen Pumpkins!

Enjoy!

Frozen Free Fall is free for download in the Windows Phone store.
 

Get notified when files/folders are updated in your cloud with CloudMesh.

We all own at least one cloud account and for those who own more, it can be tedious to manage them all on our Windows Phone. Thanks to apps like CloudMesh, keeping track of our data in the cloud is made simple, well less tedious. CloudMesh is one of these apps that brings all your accounts in one place and it's not just that. You can also easily copy data between each accounts like you do between traditional folders on your computer.

This is what CloudMesh do with popular cloud services like OneDrive, Google Drive, Facebook, Mega, Box, Dropbox etc. And the app keeps improving. Today's update, for example, brings some new features, improvements and bug fixes listed below:

1. File and folder tracking - Receive notification when someone updates a file or folder.
2. 4Shared and 4Sync support.
3. Catalan, Czech and Persian language support.
4. Minor UI bugs fixed.
5. Symbol languages issue while downloading/uploading fixed.
6. Bunch of crash bugs.
7. Performance improvements on some clouds.

CloudMesh is available both free and paid in the Windows Phone store.

"Transfer my Data" updated with message transfer to/from SD card.

Switching to a Windows Phone is made very easy thanks to apps like "Transfer my Data", a Lumia exclusive app which provides a quick and easy way to copy contacts, SMSs and MMSs from supported Symbian, Android, iOS and Blackberry phones. So if you are moving from one of the afore-mentioned phones, make sure you get "Transfer my Data" if it is not already installed on your new Lumia.
 
"Transfer my Data" got updated today that adds transferring text and MMS messages to and from a storage card. As a community moderator on Microsoft Windows Phone forums, I see a lot of questions about carrying over messages. This update will only make switching to Windows Phones even smoother.
 
Again, "Transfer my Data" is a Lumia exclusive and can be downloaded free in the Windows Phone store.

Full offline Mauritius map now available in Nokia Here Maps for Windows Phone.

Those who live in Google ads bubble might think there is no other navigation tool out there besides Google maps and they are so very wrong as there is Nokia Here Maps. The free navigation app primary strength is offline maps. Yes, you can download full maps to your phone before or during your travel and then save money on data. Google maps only lets you save part of the map and it is not at all efficient. Nothing matches a full offline map service with turn-by-turn navigation and LiveSight, which is the ability to see floating labels of places around you.

The team at Nokia keeps improving Here Maps with new maps and features and the latest will certainly please fellow Mauritians or any person travelling to Mauritius. Here Maps now serves a full offline map of Mauritius. Without further due, let me show you the steps to get the map onto your Windows Phone.

To begin, launch Here Maps on your phone then tap ... and tap download maps > update current maps. If new maps are available, the phone will show a "install" button for you to tap. You may also choose to install the update later. After the download is complete, you will see this message on your screen, "Your maps have been updated." Press the back button and tap download new maps.

Tap the + button at the bottom of the screen, select Africa and tap Mauritius to download; the Mauritius map is just 43.1MB in size. This is it. Now you can switch off your data connection on your Windows Phone and enjoy offline map of Mauritius.

If you haven't got Here Maps on your Windows Phone yet, download it free in the store.

WhatsApp for Windows Phone gets big update.

Today, WhatsApp has been updated with some nice improvements that will certainly please the fans of the online messaging app. Acquired by Facebook, WhatsApp is till trying to kill the traditional text messages, but is facing stiff competition from the likes of Viber and even Snapchat. The multi-platform app still stands strong though despite losing money.

The 17MB update contains the following new features and improvements:

1. WhatsApp now opens faster.
2. Share location: drop and drag pin lets you share a precise location.
3. You can now add captions to photos and videos.
4. Crop and rotate photos.
5. Added ability to archive chats and groups.
6. Each chat or group can now have it's own background.
7. Better support for phones with high-resolution screens.

Download WhatsApp for free from the Windows Phone store.

Flipboard now lets you pin, but still does not flip.

Flipboard is a beautiful magazine-like app that has recently been ported to Windows Phone. With Flipboard you can naturally flip through the news like you would do with a paper-based magazine. You can, obviously, connect to your Facebook and Twitter account or your favorite news source. Err... wait a minute, Flipboard does NOT flip on Windows phone. That's right, for some obscure reason, Flipboard does not flip on Windows phone. I was disappointed that they did not include its most famous flip feature.

Today's update does not include the flip feature, but users will now be able to pin their favorite section and magazine to the start screen. It is also now possible to like any articles, photo gallery or video right from the app bar.

Finally you have the usual bug fixes and performance improvements plus the improvements to video playback.

Download Flipboard for free in the Windows Phone store.
 

Microsoft Research adds automatic noise removal to Blink.

Blink is a cool app by Microsoft Research that lets you capture burst of images before you even press the shutter and it continues capturing after you release the shutter. The result can be quite surprising. So if you haven't got Blink in your lens collection yet, now is the perfect time to download it.

With today's update, Blink will render sharper images thanks to automatic noise removal. Yes it is automatic, so you won't have to edit the pictures manually after. This new addition will come handy when shooting in low light condition.

This update brings Blink to version 2.5 and in addition to automatic noise removal, includes the usual bug fixes. Blink is free for download in the Windows phone store.

Microsoft updates Glance app to display Weather and Health data on lock screen in standby mode.

Not many smartphones out there have the capability to display useful data on the screen when the phone is in standby. Windows phones, specifically the Lumias are capable of doing that and my 920 is one of them. Before today, My Lumia displayed data such as the number of new emails, new messages, missed calls or data from whichever app I selected in the lock screen settings and in standby mode.

Today Microsoft has released an update that improves what Glance can display on the lock screen when the phone is standby, making it more visual. Glance is capable of showing weather data from the MSN Weather app and health data from MSN Health & fitness app. An excellent addition that reinforces the concept of Windows being a glance and go phone.

Again, this feature is not available on all Windows phones. Glance app is a Lumia exclusive and is available free in Windows phone store.

UC Browser gets major update with new UI and more.

If you're out looking for a new internet browsing experience on your Windows Phone, you must check out UC Browser, a third party browser that is available free and is a decent and pretty alternative to the native Internet Explorer.

UC Browser has been updated today that brings the app to version 4.0. If you're familiar with software version numbering, then you know that this is a major version. Just look at the list of new features below before hitting the download link to download or update UC Browser:

1. New Cooler UI
   Totally new speed dial with a cooler UI.
2. Richer Site Navigation
   Beautiful graphics make it easier to find the latest hot sites.
3. Merged Address Bar and Search Box
   Offers you a more intelligent input experience.
4. Better Tab Switching
   More intuitive gesture control for switching tabs.

Download: Windows Phone Store
 

Summer finally comes to Disney's Frozen Free Fall.

Anna and Elsa are two sisters and they are not my daughters, but two characters made very popular by Disney hit movie Frozen. It is the story of two sisters, princesses of course, who end up in charge of a kingdom. The elder sister, Elsa, has special icy powers that accidentally plunges the kingdom in eternal winter. She then leaves the kingdom. Her departure sets off a series of funny events. The movie was such a huge success that Disney built a multi platform game called "Frozen Free Fall". And my daughters love it.

"Frozen Free Fall" was updated today with 30 sunny new levels and a bunch of new features that will certainly make fans happy.

New in this version:

• Play through 30 sunny and bright levels in our brand new sunny map and get gorgeously tanned with Olaf.
• Featuring all new collectibles! Gather flowers and unlock hot rewards like Olaf's new sneeze Power-up!
• Row into the sunset! Send Olaf's boat a'sailin to clear tiles in your path!
• Spin into Whirlpools and help Olaf move tiles across the board!

Download: Windows Phone Store

"Transfer my Data" supports transfer of SMS/MMS to/from SD card.

"Transfer my Data" is a free app that comes in handy when switching to a Lumia. Notice here that I do not say Windows Phone but Lumia because "Transfer my Data" is a Lumia exclusive. So if you're planning a switch to Lumia phones, add this app to your check list.

"Transfer my Data" has been designed to let you easily and smoothly transfer your contacts from almost any phones: Symbian, Android, iOS, Blackberry, Windows Phone and others. Some phones may also support transfer of text messages. That's what the app description says in the Windows Phone store and I do not know which phones are actually supported.

In the update published today, one of the new features listed is "Transferring text and MMS messages to and from an SD card". Support for MMS is a new addition. The second feature is the usual bug fixes.

"Transfer my Data" is free for download in the Windows Phone store.

Tubecast for Windows Phone gets full Apple AirPlay support and more.

The rumor is more and more persistent about Microsoft releasing a Miracast dongle to compete against Apple and Google. But until we see the actual thing, which according to the same rumors should surface at IFA, there is Tubecast which lets Windows Phone interact with Google's Chromecast. As a side note, it is interesting to see the ingenuity of the Windows Phone developer community who works hard to bring Google apps to Windows Phone. It is just silly that Google still does not grasp the ridicule it put itself in by ignoring Windows Phone. 

Tubecast is an excellent YouTube client with great support for Chromecast, Google's proprietary dongle that lets Android and iOS users project media on their phones or tablets to a TV. The Windows Phone app has been getting better and better. When it was first released, all it could do was to play a video at a time. Tubecast has improved a lot since and is getting more mature and interesting if you own a Chromecast dongle.  

Tubecast was updated today with a slew of features and bug fixes. The most noteworthy feature is full support for Apple AirPlay including full password handling. See the full change log below:
- Apple AirPlay full support (passwords handled too)
- Chromecast bug fix (video seek) for the new firmware
- DLNA bug fix, have a try if cast didn't work
- Preload MP3 from videos
- Windows Phone 7 video playing bug fix
- New gesture : hold to close the Picture in Picture
- Picture in picture bug position fix
- Bug fix for fullscreen video HD playing (no more drop frames)
- New channel page user interface (more handy)
- Keep playing while switching apps is now disabled by default (change in the settings)
- Youtube URL copy to clipboard : direct access in the application bar
- Newsfeed faster loading & less data downloaded
- Live Tile shows newsfeed subscription when you are logged
- 20 icons improved

Tubecast has a free and paid version available in Windows Phone store.
 

Office Lens new algorithm generates cleaner document images.

Office Lens is a Microsoft developed app that puts a scanner into your pocket. Using your device camera, it is possible to digitize a document, business cards even notes on whiteboards and blackboards. A very useful app to also keep track of receipts and save them to OneNote. Today Office Lens was updated with an improved algorithm that generates cleaner document images. This update also lets you select the OneNote location where a new page is created. Finally the usual bug fixes that makes Office Lens more stable.

Office lens is available free in Windows Phone store.

CloudMesh updated with new sync feature and support for more languages.

Think of CloudMesh as your favorite newsreader. It brings all the popular cloud storage services in one app thus negating the need of downloading and using separate apps on your Windows Phone. CloudMesh does that very well with the ability to sign in to OneDrive, Google Drive, Box, Mega Dropbox, Facebook and MeoCloud.

It is not only your one stop shop for your cloud storage needs, CloudMesh also includes a sync feature that lets users sync/copy files between the cloud services. A very neat feature that gets even better with today's update as synchronizing files from the phone to the cloud and vice-versa now happens in the background.

The update adds support for more languages: Swedish, Russian, and Dutch. Besides the usual performance enhancements, the developer added support for offline folders and UI and UX improvements.

CloudMesh is available in the Windows Phone store in both a free and paid version.

Angry Birds Rio for Windows Phone gets 20 exotic new levels.

While the Windows Phone community is all excited about the deployment of the Cyan and GDR1 update, Rovio has updated its Angry Bird franchise with 20 new levels and 6 bonus ones to the Rio episode. The Monkeys are back and they got their hands on some logging equipment.

Here's the full change log:
NEW LEVELS! 20 exotic new levels and six bonus ones!

CALL THE FLOCK! Get some demolition help from your Macaw buddies!

NEW TIP! If you get stuck, get a tip – or just continue on your own!

POWER POTION! Juice up your bird with more destructive power!

Source: Windows Phone store

4Shared for Windows Phone updated.

Let it be said that neither Google, Amazon, Microsoft or Apple invented cloud computing. 4Shared is among the precursors in this area offering cloud storage services back in the early 2000 when Pocket PCs was dominating the mobile world. I started using 4Shared to store my data and it was awesome back then to access data everywhere where a data connection existed. Today we take all that for granted.

Today 4Shared is available in beta in the Windows Phone store. I did not use 4Shared for quite a long time with the advent of OneDrive and Google Drive. I installed it and it was with some emotions that I found some old files that was still stored up there. A lot of them are cab files of apps I had installed on my Pocket PCs and Smartphones. I even found old popular songs.

4Shared has published an update today that brings it to version 1.1.0.9 with the following features:

• Open a file in other apps from the file details view.
• Sort files in your account by size, date or alphabetically.
• Added thumbnails bar to the image preview screen for quick visual search.
• File list and music player tweaks.
• Other bug fixes and improvements.

Source: Windows Phone Store

Subway Surfers world tour goes to Hollywood.

Yay! it's Friday, my favorite day of the week. The fresh beer is out despite the shitty and cold weather outside. In my other hand is my Windows Phone and there is showing an update for Subway Surfers game. This time the runner game is taking me to Hollywood, the city of the stars.

Today's update of the popular multi-platform game, does indeed brings you to Hollywood to explore the movie settings and subway of Los Angeles. Along the way, you will meet new characters like Wayne who is presented as a skillful actor. You will take Wayne for a ride on the "Cruiser Board".

Other new features include joining awesome events in the Subway every day of the week and customize your Surfer cast with cool new Outfits.

Subway Surfers is available free in the Windows Phone Store.

Remember, don't dash and drink.

Facebook Messenger app for Windows Phone gets video sharing.

Facebook Messenger today received another update. Up until now, it was only possible to take and share photos within the app. This changes now with the added support of in-app video sharing. After installing the update, simply tap the camera icon, then hold to start recording a video. A tap will take a picture. And there's more as received videos are now playable within Facebook Messenger.

The update also contains a feature that lets users find stickers easily with recent stickers and finally, the usual improvements to make the app faster and more reliable.

Facebook Messenger is a free app in the Windows Phone Store.

Fresh Paint updated with front-facing camera support and more.

Our beloved smartphones help us be more productive on the go; play funny and complex games on the go; Smartphones also let us develop and express our creativity using powerful and yet simple apps whenever an idea germinates no matter our location. Fresh paint is one of these apps that let us unleash our creativity.

Fresh Paint is an app developed by Microsoft and one of its main features is the ability to turn photos into beautiful paintings. Those with artistic genes will find in Fresh Paint a fun and easy way to lay out their creations using their Windows Phone. Today's update brings some new features that should inspire amateurs:

• New Pencil
• "Inspire me" feature helps you to search Bing for images to incorporate into your masterpiece.
• OneDrive (formerly 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.
• Big fixes.

Download fresh Paint free in the Windows Phone store.

Disney's Maleficent Free Fall gets 40 new levels and two game modes.

Disney today has updated its Maleficent Free Fall game for Windows Phone. This is an update that I'll stay quiet about until Saturday, else my daughters will take possession of my Lumia 920. When this happens, I'll only get it back after the battery has drained completely; Sometimes I do not see my phone for days. This is to say how my kids love Disney's games.

Maleficent Free Fall has been updated with 40 new levels and two new gameplay modes. Here's the full changelog:

• Now play through 145 puzzles
• All-new "Wallerbog Mud Fight" Gameplay - Take on this tiny creature in a fun mud fight at the moors.
• "Two Hearts Together" Game mode - Bring Aurora and Prince Phillip's hearts together to create a love match.

Maleficent Free Fall is a universal game and is availble free in the Windows Phone store.

Official Twitter app for Windows Phone gets big update.

The Official Twitter app for Windows Phone has been quite silent for some time. So it's with great pleasure that I acknowledge receipt of this big update from the popular micro-blogging platform. Those new features seems to bring the Windows Phone version on par with competing platforms and should silence those vociferous critic that Windows Phone is a platform that no developers care about as both Twitter and Facebook have beta version of their apps that are continuously getting new features before being ported to the official app. And numerous of these features are results of beta testers feedbacks. The "What's new" in this update is quite self explanatory, so I'll just publish the change log as is:

• Tag your friends in a photo to start a conversation.
• Capture the moment by uploading multiple photos to a single tweet.
• Tweets with Twitter photos, Vine videos and other select content now show a preview in your home timeline.
• You can reply, retweet, favorite or follow someone straight from a Tweet in your home timeline.
• Share photos through Direct Messages.

Happy download and enjoy this new version of Twitter for Windows Phone.