Tumblr makes debut on Windows Phone 8.

Tumblr today made its official appearance in the Windows Phone Store. The app which lets you post anything from anywhere is beautifully designed around the Windows Phone modern UI. Unfortunately, the app has been designed for Windows Phone 8 devices only. But it does take advantage of the different tiles size and, obviously, the lock screen feature.

Features:

 - Find and follow the things you love
 - Share photos, gifs, video, quotes, chats, links, and text
 - Jump between your dashboard and Explore with just one swipe
 - Display the latest images from your dashboard on your lock screen and live tile 

- GIFs play as you scroll 

Source: Windows Phone blog
Download: Windows Phone Store

Red Stripe Deals: Monster Pinball HD, Sonic Cd and Polygot.

Each Thursday, Microsoft offers some nice discounts on one or more Xbox titles, an app and a game. This week features:

Monster Pinball HD

An action packed Pinball game with stunning graphics is now at $0.99 only. Whether you're a fan or not, you will love Monster Pinball HD, which by the way have some very nice sound effects.

Sonic HD

Who's Sonic??? Who doesn't know Sonic, really. Sonic the hedgehog is back on a new mission to put an end to Dr. Eggman's nefarious plans for just $1.99. That's a great deal for a game that features "16:9 widescreen, achievements, leaderboards and both the US and Japanese soundtracks, experience the adventure through time that introduced the world to Amy Rose and Eggman’s most evil creation, Metal Sonic".

Polygot

A multilingual translation app, Polygot is $0.99 and will translate any of the 30 supported languages you throw at it. Not only, it translates text, it also provides playback audio and voice-to-text. A must-have if you're a frequent traveller.

Enjoy! More next week.

See how Windows Phone can help unlock children's imagination.

Back in February, the Windows Phone team celebrated the Kid's Corner feature. The latter is unique to Windows Phone in that it lets parents create a corner for kids that they can populate with apps and games they want their kids to use without messing with emails, social networks, SMS etc. Once the Kid's Corner is activated, it is accessed from the lock screen by swiping from right to left. A neat feature that prevents your kids from sending unwanted emails to your boss or posting stuff to social networks. In February, the Windows Phone team decided to showcase the Kid's Corner by asking parents to submit their children's drawing based on the following questions: "What do you wish your Windows Phone could do? How do you imagine yourself, your family and others using your phone?".

A month later the winning drawings have been posted on the Windows Phone team's blog. Artist Dave DeVries painted the drawings "as realistically as possible". "The results and their accompanying stories are below, and I think you will agree that they are a mix of striking, dramatic, cute, and remarkable."

Check out the blog post on the Windows Phone blog for the kid's drawing and the artist's work.

#2InstaWithLove gets a new filter.

I'm not sure why Nokia is craving so much for Instagram on Windows Phone. Remember they launched an app called #2InstaWithLove that came with a Polaroid filter as a way to incite Instagram to work on an official app for Windows Phone. Since we haven't heard of any progress, Nokia has published an update to its 2InstaWithLove app that adds a second filter called HandCam. I have no idea what it does, so let me know if you ever find out. Again, I'm not where Nokia is going with this, but if it keeps adding filters to #2InstaWithLove , it will end up having a Instagram of it's own.

Get #2InstaWithLove here.

LinkedIn for Windows Phone 8 gets big tiles and speech recognition.

An interesting update for LinkedIn has been published to the Windows Phone Store that adds support for Windows Phone 8 big tiles and voice recognition. The latter lets you use voice command to access your Inbox and more. 

As a FYI, Linked is a social network for your professional life. While I do have an account, and like Google Plus, I hardly ever go there. Except when there are some activity that requires my attention, like someone sent me a message last week. That reminded me that I have LinkedIn installed on my devices. And then came this update. So I'm unlikely to forget soon.  

Back to the update. Besides speech recognition and Windows Phone 8 tiles support, the app also takes advantage of the lock screen to display images. More language support have been added.

Check out the update on Windows Phone Store.

Skype for Windows Phone 8 updated (version 2.5).

Last week Microsoft pulled the plug on Messenger, its 14 years old messaging service, in favor of the recently acquired Skype. Users' contacts have been Migrated to Skype since. Today, Skype announced on its blog that an update for Windows Phone 8 has been published to the Store that makes message notifications from Messenger buddies a default in Skype. There are also the usual bug fixes. Check out the change log on Skype blog. 

Get the update from the Windows Phone Store.

Software update for Nokia Lumia 920 available.

Nokia is currently serving a software update for the Lumia 920. If you own one and haven't seen the notification on your device, go to Settings > phone update. Checkout the change log below

Latest software release for Nokia Lumia 920 is SW 1232.5962.1314.0001
The availability of this update may depend on your network service provider. To check for updates, on your phone, tap Settings -> phone update.

•Improved automatic display brightness adjustment

•Fix for intermittent screen blanking during a call

•Improvements for connectivity issues in certain network conditions

•Performance and stability improvements

Source: http://www.nokia.com/us-en/support/product/lumia920/?sf11548712=1

Sent from my Windows Phone

Deal: Fragger, Gravity Guy, iStunt 2 & Monster Island are free until Monday.

Not much to write about here as the title says it all. Four free games from Miniclip are temporarily free in the Windows Phone Store. Hurry up and start downloading and enjoy the games on your Windows Phone 7.x and 8 devices.

Gravity Guy

Monster Island

iStunt

Fragger

Source: Windows Phone Store

Strategy Game "Wargeit" for Windows Phone free for next 2 days.

Wargeit is a strategy game in which you are the leader of your country with a thirst for for war. Create your army and set out to conquer and destroy other countries. Sounds easy. Well it's not a simple war game since besides having to recruit soldiers and in order to do that your role as the leader is to work and develop the country's economy and fund research as well. "You can base your strategy on science or build a military state. However, whatever you do, at some stage you will have to go to war. If you just sit back, the others will kill you!".

Wargeit is a free online strategy game that amateur will likely appreciate. It is free for the two days; selling price is $0.99. Test out your military and political skills on this game. Just don't try to transpose it into real life though. Wargeit is Windows Phone 7.x and 8 compatible.

Source: Windows Phone Store

Facebook app for Windows Phone updated.

An update notification for the Facebook app has just popped up on my 8X. Unfortunately, there is no change log so I cannot tell what has changed really. It's really an annoyance that developers doesn't care to publish a change log with their updates, especially when the developer is Microsoft.

Follow the link on your Windows Phone to download the update.

http://www.windowsphone.com/s?appid=82a23635-5bd9-df11-a844-00237de2db9e


Sent from my Windows Phone

Viber for Windows Phone 8 gets major update.

This week's major release for Windows Phone 8 is Viber. The popular VoIP app has been updated to support Windows Phone 8 features like Live tile and lock screen notifications. Once the app is installed, it will automatically detect contacts already using Viber. The app is a free download. Check out the list of features:

- Free calls with HD sound quality
- Free text and photo messaging
- Share photos on Viber directly from your device’s photo gallery 
- Connect with your friends in group conversations of up to 40 participants
- Share your location in messages
- Live Tiles 
- Pin conversations to your home screen 
- Lock screen notifications 
- 30 supported languages

Download it here.

Source: Windows Phone blog

Liquid Daffodil brings unified notification center to Windows Phone 8 for free.

At long last Windows phone gets a notification center that will put an end to complaints of the lack thereof from foes and fans alike. The tiles are really great in providing apps update but it is a completely different story when it comes toasts notifications which appear briefly and can easily be missed if you're not looking at the screen at that time. Unless you stare continuously at your screen, it was impossible to track notifications on Windows Phone. All that changes now thanks to the cool folks from Liquid Daffodil with their Unification app. 

Unification gets its name from the fact that it was designed to bring together notifications not only from apps on your phone, but also from any devices powered by Windows Phone 7 and 8, Windows 8 and Windows Desktop. The app "is a secure, encrypted, single-source, cross-device notification platform" that is hosted in Windows Azure cloud service.

Currently, apps from Liquid Daffodil takes full advantage of Unification and developers can also join in. Users will need to "opt-in", that is to sign-in with their Microsoft Account. I haven't got the chance to see Unification in action yet. So I'll update this post when it comes into action.

Unification is a free app in Windows Phone Store.

Checkout apps from Liquid Daffodil here.

9 EA games titles for Windows Phone on sale for up to 40% off

9 popular games from Electronic Arts are on sale with up to 40% off for one week only. The 9 games are Battleship, Bejeweled Live, Contre Jour, Mirror's edge, Monopoly, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Plants vs. Zombies, The Sims 3 and Tetris. All of them popular titles to add to your collection. So hurry up.

Source: Windows Phone Blog

Skype for Windows Phone 8 gets People hub integration and high def video support.

In an update published this morning, Skype for Windows Phone 8 now supports People hub integration. It is now possible to initiate a Skype call or chat right in the People hub. Applying that update did cause a little mess in my contacts list with duplicates that required linking my Skype friends to existing contact cards. People with lots of Skype contacts will not appreciate.

Unfortunately it is not the kind of integration I was hoping for. Managing Skype contacts must still be done in Skype app on the phone, tablet or PC. It is not possible to delete a Skype contact for example. While the Skype app does use the metro app, initiating a call via the people bub launches the Skype app instead of using the built-in caller app. It's better than nothing.

Support for high definition video calls will make you look better and, possibly, feel better. In case the latter does not work for you, the update also adds support for switching between front and rear camera during a call to show your friends what's around you. Finally, Skype for Windows Phone 8 is now capable of doing video calls in portrait and landscape mode. Overall, the latest Skype app for our beloved phones just got better.

If you have not got the download notification yet on your phone, go to Windows Phone Store to speed things up and enjoys those new features. Note that Skype for Windows Phone 8 is still a preview, so you may still find some glitch during use.

Photosynth panoramas contest winners announced.

For this month photo challenge, participants were asked to make panoramas with the recently released Photosynth app for Windows Phone 8. The Windows Phone team has published the 10 winning panoramas on their blog and I must say they're really cool. Check them out and maybe you'll be inspired to create your own. The challenge may be over, but you can still snap your own pictures and post to Twitter with the #WPphoto hashtag. Check out the 10 winning Photosynth challenge panoramas on the Windows Phone blog.

Xbox new titles: The Amazing Spider-Man and Real Soccer 2013

Gameloft strikes again. After the release of Asphalt 7: Heat last week, two new titles from the games developer has been added to the Xbox titles. The Amazing  Spider-Man is a $6.99 game that offers 25 immersive missions with all the climbing, web slinging and bounding across rooftops that only the Spider-Man is capable of. Download it here.

The second title will make soccer fans happy with the release of Real Soccer 2013. The game is free and has "more than 700 motion-capture animations in this new edition also bring players to life on your phone like never before. Finally, an official FIFPro license means you’ll see names and portraits of over 3,000 top athletes—a first for a Real Soccer title. Future game updates will account for any unexpected roster changes." Download your free copy.

Source: Windows Phone Blog

Nokia releases app for Windows Phone users to "petition" Instagram.

I can't figure why everyone is craving so much for Instagram on Windows Phone. I personally do not use it on Android and nor do I know anyone around me who does. And most of these people have Android phones, for now. I definitely use my phone to snap pictures on the go and I do not apply filters to them. But for sharing, I use Facebook and Twitter. No need to have another social network. That's why I question the very existence of Instagram. With that we're soon going to have a social network for about everything.

But again, it seems nowadays that a phone without Instagram is not a phone. Nokia is serious about that to the point of creating an app to help Windows Phone users to communicate with Instagram team to petition them to make an app for their Windows Phones. "The app allows Windows Phone users to have their voice heard so that instead of letters, chocolates, mix tapes or petitions (although very effective in some cases), the community can speak directly to Instagram and the Instagram community in a way they can respect…through the use of beautiful photography." 

The app lets you take pictures and apply a "classic polaroid filter" and share it to your favorite social network with the hashtag #2InstaWithLove. The hashtag is also the name of the free app. If you want to join the Instagram-on-Windows phone campaign, download a free copy of the app from the Windows Phone Store.

Source: Conversations by Nokia

Mehdoh merges Windows Phones code base.

In an update published today, Mehdoh, the popular Twitter client for Windows Phone, merged the code base for Windows Phone 7.8 and 8. Another noteworthy change is the ability to use Mehdoh without a Twitter account.
Checkout the full change log below:

+ Re-enabled support for different themes in WP8
+ Popup menu on retweet button
+ SkyDrive images now uploaded to sub-folders
+ Better handling of marketplace links
+ Removed requirement for a Twitter account (can now just be used for Soundcloud or Instagram!)
+ Merged WP7 and WP8 code bases
+ WP7 version also contains updates from version 8.7

Update link: Windows Phone Store

Windows Phone Photo Challenge: Photosynth.

Last week, Microsoft released Photosynth for Windows Phone 8, an app that goes beyond just taking panoramic pictures by letting you stitch pictures together to get a 360 degree image. Since the app is unique to Windows Phone 8, the Windows Phone team decided to make it the tool you need to participate for this month photo challenge. 
There are two ways to submit your pictures. The app lets you save photos you take to the phone in the JPG format. If you choose to go that way, simply attached the picture to an email and send it to windowsphone@microsoft.com or you can choose to upload your picture to photosynth.net and send the url only. 

No matter which you decide to go, the rules below applies. They are the same as previous challenges.

• To enter, please e-mail your entry to windowsphone@microsoft.com.
• In the subject line of your e-mail, please write “CHALLENGE: PHOTOSYNTH”.
• The photo you send must have been taken with (and edited, if you prefer to edit) on a Windows Phone. Please attach the original JPEG file to your e-mail, with metadata included, OR send us a Photosynth.net URL where your photo may be viewed and experienced. If the photo has been edited, please let us know which phone/apps/settings you used.
• Please name your image file using your first and last name, followed by the theme of the contest (this month it’s “Photosynth”). So, for instance, my e-mail would include a photograph named DavidChenPhotosynth.JPG or DavidChenPhotosynth.JPG.
• Please use the highest resolution possible when sending your photos.One entry per person, please.
• This challenge runs from now until 11:59 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, March 13th, 2013.
• After the contest deadline, we will look over all of your entries and choose our favorites. Entries will be judged on their creativity, resourcefulness, aesthetic beauty, and just the overall impression your photo makes on us.
• Winning entries may be posted on the blog, in our newsletter, as well as shared on our Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest pages 1-2 weeks after the contest has ended.
• Read the full rules here.

Source: Windows Phone team blog

Photosynth for Windows Phone 8 released.

It is finally here, the app that lets you capture 360 degrees horizontally and vertically. "Photosynth for Windows phone is the panorama app that makes it easy and fun to capture and share interactive panoramas of the places, people, and events that are important to you."

The Windows Phone 8 release contains several handy new features including:

• Lens integration – Quickly capture and view panoramas by launching Photosynth directly from the camera.
• Ability to view shared panoramas—New sharing capabilities let other Windows Phone 8 users view your panoramas on their phone, and as always you can show off your panoramas by email, Facebook and Twitter.
• More camera controls – Adjust for various lighting conditions by using new exposure and white balance locking options

Download: Windows Phone Store

Source: Windows Phone Team blog