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.