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.