WeChat for Windows Phone updated.

WeChat is a very popular multi-platform messaging service in in far east countries. It's no coincidence that a friend in China invited to me to use it instead of Skype. WeChat is a strong competitor to Skype in China and its Administrative region and other coutries in the region.

A phone number is what is required to register and start using WeChat to chat, share pictures and videos with friends whether they be on iOS, Android, Symbian and Windows Phone. WeChat for Windows Phone got new features added today including the ability to invite friends to WeChat group conversations via QR code. See the change log below for more.

1. Invite your friends to a WeChat group chat via QR code
2. Support sending multiple images
3. Navigate to your friend’s location
4. Easy to cancel voice messages sending
5. Click “+” to send screenshots quickly
6. Support setting font size on chat page
7. Support for Thai and Portuguese

Source: Windows Phone Store

Nokia announces the affordable Lumia 625 with a big screen.

The Lumia 625 is a low pec device announced by Nokia today. Unlike the Lumia 620, it has a big 4.7 inch WVGA display. Not bad for a device that will be priced at around 220 Euros. Besides the big screen, the Lumia 625 sports 512MB of RAM and 8GB of storage with support storage cards up to 64GB; 4G connectivity is also supported.

On the software front, most of Nokia's Here apps are supported thus providing turn-by-turn navigation and maps services similar to high end Lumias.

The Nokia Lumia 625 will be available in a range of colours including orange, yellow, bright green, white and black with an array of changeable shells enabling easy personalisation. With an estimated retail price of 220 Euros before taxes and subsidies, the Nokia Lumia 625 is planned to begin selling in China, Europe, Asia Pacific, India, Middle East, Africa and Latin America in Q3 2013.

Read the full press release after the break.

GDR2 update for Windows Phone 8 is live.

I am downloading the update on my HTC 8X as write this after getting the notification early this morning. My phone is unlocked and if you haven't got it yet, just go to Settings > phone update and tap the check for updates button. Don't freak out if no update is available yet; Be patient and try again later. Until then, check out the change log:

Xbox Music. It's now easier to select, download, and pin music. Plus, music fans will see more accurate metadata (such as song and album information) and many other performance improvements.

FM radio. Listen to FM radio right from the Music+Videos hub. (Not available for all phones.)

Data Sense. Stay on top of your phone's data usage with Data Sense. You can set a limit based on your data plan, or just keep track of which apps use the most data. (Not all mobile operators offer Data Sense.)

Skype. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) apps like Lync and Skype now feature improved stability and performance.

Internet Explorer. Your web browsing experience is now better than ever with improved HTML 5 audio playback.

Camera. Set your favorite Lens so it opens automatically when you press the camera button. (Not available for all phones.)

Other improvements. Includes many other improvements to Windows Phone.

Source: Windows Phone 8 Update History

Wikipedia app gets WP8 support, Live tiles.

The best Wikipedia app for Windows phone got an update today. The reason I call it the best app is because it won Microsoft Next App Star contest back in April. The app is really good and a must have if you own a Windows Phone.

If you are still not convinced by the above statement, then the fact that the developer, Rudy Huyn, is also the guy behind 6Sec, the now popular unofficial Vine client for Windows Phone should change your mind.

Here's the list of new features in version 2.0.0.3:
- WP8 support
- Live tiles
- Voice command and speech recognition
- NFC sharing
- Protocol extension

Download Wikipedia from the Windows Phone Store

6sec: Full featured Vine client comes to Windows Phone 8.

While an official Vine is still in the works, a developer today published an unofficial but full featured Vine client to the Windows Phone Store. The app is free but requires in-app purchase after two uploads to cover the server cost. 

Features:

• Find, follow, and interact with people close to you.
• Explore trending posts, featured hashtags and channels.
• Search Vines using hashtags.
• Share Vines to Twitter and Facebook.
• And so much more!

Download: Windows Phone Store

How Nokia and Microsoft collaborated to create the Lumia 1020.

Michael Stroh posted an interview of Joe Belfiore and Kevin Shields of Nokia, on how they collaborated to make the Nokia Lumia 1020 with 41-megapixel sensor. Check out the full interview over at the Windows Phone blog.

Press Release: Nokia Lumia 1020 inspires developers to push boundaries of smartphone imaging

Nokia Imaging Software Development Kit (SDK) now available at developer.nokia.com 

Espoo, Finland and New York, NY - After unveiling the Nokia Lumia 1020 today, Nokia also debuted a range of exciting applications that push the boundaries of smartphone imaging.

Hipstamatic, Path, Vyclone, SNAPCAM, Panagraph, Yelp, CNN and Foursquare are just a few of the developers building unique applications for the Nokia Lumia 1020 with the new Nokia Imaging SDK. It was also announced that popular personal magazine Flipboard and popular video service Vine will also be coming to Windows Phone.

"Now more than ever, people are using their smartphones to shoot, edit and share pictures," said Marco Argenti, Senior Vice President, Nokia Developer. "With the Nokia Lumia 1020, we are delivering an industry-leading imaging experience that takes people closer to the details that really matter. We've collaborated closely with Microsoft and top developers around the world to deliver unique app experiences, pushing the boundaries of innovation with our ecosystem."

The Nokia Imaging SDK was built with the same technology Nokia uses for its own imaging applications, including Smart Camera and Creative Studio. The SDK gives developers flexibility to create advanced imaging experiences in their applications for Nokia Lumia smartphones. Whether applying or creating filters or adding effects and adjustments to images, developers can offer people the ability to instantly personalize photos or relive the moment in a variety of ways. 

Skype for Windows Phone 8 gets significant performance improvement.

I think we all expected the next Skype update to finally include video messaging, a feature that has been released a few weeks ago to Android and iOS. Unfortunately, the update pushed today to Windows Phones does not contain this much awaited feature. But it is interesting nonetheless. The app does get a significant performance boost that makes resuming Skype conversation mush faster; No more pause when switching apps. See the full change log for Skype for Windows Phone 8 - version 2.8.

• Start and Resume Performance – Improving the start and resume experience has been the main focus of this release. It’s now much faster to return to the app when it’s in the back stack. If you open the app and then hit the start button or turn off the screen, pressing the back or power button now gets you back into the Skype app much more quickly. You’ll also see some general improvements to the start experience.

• Live Tile Count - Based on user feedback, we’ve changed the Live Tile notifications to show only the number of unread conversations, rather than the total number of unread messages.

• South Korea Availability – Skype for Windows Phone 8 is now available to download from the Windows Phone Store in South Korea.

Get the updated version now from the Windows Phone Store. 

Source: Skype blog

Facebook 5.0 for Windows Phone released.

The Facebook app for Windows Phone is finally out of beta. The final and major upgrade has been published to the store and reaches version 5.0. This new version lets "you can post status updates, receive Live Tile updates, check your news feed, review upcoming events, check in to places, manage your inbox, upload photos, publish notes, accept friend requests, pin Places and Messages as Tiles, and look at your friends’ photos, walls and info."

Download: Windows Phone Store

Source: Windows Phone Blog

iHeartRadio comes to Windows Phone 8.

The popular streaming internet radio app, iHeartRadio, makes its debut on Windows Phone 8 today. The app lets you stream some 1500 US radio to your phone wherever you are. iHeartRadio also lets you create your own radio station from a catalog of 16 million songs and 400, 000 artists.

Features:

• Recommend stations. Find the soundtrack for studying, driving—even cleaning house. 
• Sleep Timer. Doze off to your favorite station.
• Lock screen album art
• Bookmarking: Pin favorite stations to your Start screen.
• Universal search. Now you can search across the app.

Download: Windows Phone Store

Source: Windows Phone Blog

Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet official apps for Windows Phone 8 released.

Three official apps for Windows Phone 8 have been released today by Discovery Communications that will let fans of Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet watch select full episodes of their favorite shows on their Windows Phones anywhere. I am not sure whether these shows or even the apps are available in all regions yet. I am downloading Discovery Channel as I write this.  

The apps have been designed to take full advantage of the features that Windows Phone 8 has to offer. All three of them have the same design and you can have them setup to use the lock screen to show current available shows or schedule so you never miss a show.

All three official apps are free to download on the Windows Phone Store. 

Discovery Channel
TLC
Animal Planet

Source: Windows Phone Blog

Microsoft Research releases Network Speed Test app for Windows Phone 8.

Microsoft Research added a new app to its collection on the Windows Phone store. Network Speed Test as its name suggests is an app that provides detailed information about your network speed, both download and upload. It was also designed to maintain a list of the networks that was tested.

The list of features also mentions the sharing of data with Microsoft for the purpose of helping improve their understanding of network quality and availability. The data is collected anonymously and is not meant for marketing purposes. 

Network Speed Test is free for download in the Windows Phone Store.

Wordament now lets you play against your Facebook friends.

The Xbox Live title has been updated today with support for Facebook so you can challenge your friends and share your best score. Twitter sharing has also been added. Wordament is very popular on the Windows Phone platform. Before the update, players were limited to challenging other players on the builtin leaderboard. Playing Wordament against friends will definitely be more fun.

Download Wordament for free in the Windows Phone Store. Wordament is compatible with Windows Phone 7.x and 8.

Where's My Mickey? for Windows Phone 8 released.

After "Where's My Water" and "Where's My Perry", Disney strikes back with "Where's My Mickey". A new game which stars Mickey and Goofy into another puzzle game involving water. There is actually more than that. Other ingredients include "lava and weather elements including clouds, wind and rain. A cloud, for example, can e used strategically to soak up water and release it elsewhere as rain". The game has more than  a 100 puzzles with Pluto also making asn appearance.

Where's My Mickey is available for $0.99 in the Windows Phone Store and runs only on Windows Phone 8.

Gameloft Sale: 10 games at discounted prices including The Dark Knight and Amazing Spider-Man.

10 games from games developer Gameloft are up for grabs at discounted prices on Windows Phone Store. Games like the Amazing Spider-Man and the Dark Knight Rises which are normally $6.99 are now available at a discounted price of $2.99. Other games like Assassin's Creed - Altair's Chronicles HD, Brain Challenge HD, Lets Golf 2, The Oregon Trail, Splinter Cell: Conviction and UNO gets discounted to $1.99 from $4.99. Asphalt 5 and Real Soccer are now at $0.99 (normally $2.99).

Some of the games will work on both Windows Phone 7.x and 8, except for the Amazing Spider-Man and the Dark Knight Rises. These two titles are fairly recent. Check out the full list here.

Source: Windows Phone Blog

BLINK update lets you create and save animated Blinks.

This is a very interesting update for Blink, the app that lets you capture a burst of images before even pressing the camera button. The update lets users save short animations and share them to Facebook, Twitter and Blink.so.cl. A Vine of sort and a welcome feature, but unlike Vine, Blinks can be saved to more than one social network. The comparison stops here, since Blink captures a string of pictures and stitches them together, you obviously won't get any sound. That said, check out the full Blink change log:

Version 2.0
- Camera settings - change camera settings such as scene mode, exposure, white balance and ISO in capture mode
- Animation - Quickly set the motion range for animation in addition to selecting the best shot after capture
- Sharing - Share the animations to BLINK.so.cl, Facebook, or Twitter
- In-app viewing - View the animations in the in-app history, wait for a moment and they start animating!
- Web gallery - From the in-app history, view your shared BLINKs in the web gallery
- Save another - Your BLINKs are always saved within the app. Come back and save another shot to camera roll or change the animation range via "edit" in the in-app history

Source: Windows Phone Store

Windows Phone 8 gets faster and accurate speech recognition.

Microsoft Research and the Bing team collaborated into making speech recognition on Windows Phone 8 twice faster and 15% more accurate. The announcement was made on the Bing blog via the Windows Phone team blog and the feature already being deployed in the U.S. with other markets to follow soon.

If like me you've never used voice search, this how-to article is the place to start. Also, check out the comparison video to see how fast and accurate the new Bing voice search for Windows Phone 8 is. Enjoy.

Windows Phone Photo Challenge: Summer Nights #Reinvented

It's been a while since the last Windows Phone Photo Challenge which I believe was in February. I'm too lazy to go check. If you are not familiar with the Windows Phone Photo challenge, it used to be a monthly challenge around a chosen theme. Selected photos are then prominently displayed on Windows Phone social networks. 

The challenge is back and the theme is Summer Nights #Reinvented. Participants are to use their Windows Phone to take photos "that capture how you’ve reinvented a summer evening this year." The winners will have their photos set as the cover photo on the Windows Phone Facebook page, Twitter account, Tumblr, Pinterest and the Insider newsletter.

Check out the Windows Phone blog for details about the challenge.

Nimbuzz for Windows Phone now supports offline messages/push notifications.

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. Among the updates, there is a feature that lets users send offline messages/push notifications to  facebook friends.

Check out the full list of new features:

-Get connected automatically to your friends already on Nimbuzz
-Get phonebook based friend suggestions, which you can accept or ignore.
-Phone number based registration introduced for quicker, safer password retrieval.
-Tap on any avatar to enlarge and view your contact’s full profile picture.
-Chat with your FB friends even if they are offline/Notifiable. Nimbuzz now allows you to send Push Notifications/offline messages to them.
-Overall performance Improvements (Connectivity, Design, Speed, Bug Fixes)

Source: Windows Phone Store

Evernote for Windows Phone gets updated with alarms, notifications.

Evernote for Windows Phone got updated with a an interesting feature today. Users will now be able to set alarms in their notes, thus making project tracking easier by setting a due date and get reminded with notifications. There's more. Notes can be ordered manually or by date. And finally, notes can be marked as done.

Evernote for Windows Phone is a powerful note app that is free on Windows Phone Store.