Nokia starts buyback offer on Lumia 520 and Lumia 620 in INDIA

By Vijay @ 05:31pm

In our previous article I mentioned buyback offer by Sony, now Nokia has launched a buyback scheme on two of its most affordable Windows Phone 8 smartphones – the Lumia 520 and the Lumia 620 in India. The Finnish company is offering great discount deals on both the phones under this new exchange offer.

Those interested in buying these handsets can avail a minimum discount of Rs 4,000 on a brand new Lumia 520 which is currently priced for Rs 11,200 and a minimum Rs 6,000 off on the purchase of a new Lumia 620 handset which costs Rs 16,000 under the offer. This is a good strategy from Nokia as its most affordable Windows Phone smartphones will now be available for Rs 8,200 and Rs 10,000 respectively.

Prior to this, brands like Apple, Samsung and BlackBerry had also launched similar offers on their handsets, and received a great response for the same.

 

Microsoft shows the Iconia W3 in latest ad against Apple’s iPad Mini

By Vijay @ 08:22am

Microsoft recently released its latest commercial, published on the WindowsVideos YouTube channel, addresses the small tablet competition – namely, the iPad Mini. Taking the Acer Iconia W3 to the ring, the video shows off some of the cool features a tablet sports when running Windows 8.

The Acer Iconia W3 is a recent attempt by the manufacturer. Powering a full version of Windows 8, the Intel Atom processor combined with the loaded software allows you to install all your favourite x86 programs. As the footage boasts, you can enjoy some Halo, after working hard on word processing – it’s a real PC.

Not to mention the pricing. $429 for iPad Mini or $299 for the Iconia W3? Both have 32GB storage, but are worlds apart in terms of functionality.

Source: YouTube

Flipkart eBooks launches on Windows Phone for India.

By Vijay @ 08:36am

Flipkart (www.flipkart.com), one of the largest online retailers in India, has launched an eBook service on Windows Phone 8. Titled Flip kart eBook, the app will enable you to enjoy a large collection of books. Offline storage is alos supported for  areas with low signal coverage, as well as those who enjoy long-haul flights.

Books can be purchased on the main retailer website or through the eBook app itself. If you’re unsure whether a particular title is worth the investment, you can enjoy 10 percent of each book before making the purchase.

Content downloaded to any device can be synchronised and accessed from the central library. It’s basic in functionality, but Flipkart eBooks gets the job done and we’ve got yet another official app. Multiple features are present, including day and night settings, font size configuration, bookmarks and more. Please note that you can download full books using app only if you reside in India..

You can download Flipkart eBooks from the Windows Phone Store

 

 

Microsoft announces Bing Apps for Windows Phone 8, brings News, Weather, Sports & Finance apps

By Vijay @ 07:47am

Yesterday Microsoft has introduced some apps based around the Bing search engine. Called as Bing Apps, the collection of four apps includes Sports, News, Weather and Finance, including Live Tile support for Windows Phone 8 devices.

The new applications bring all of the latest news right to the Start screen, continuing the “glance and go” usability that Windows Phone users have become accustomed to. Indeed, this is the first time, some real parallels between the desktop and mobile OS drawn and it should make using the two systems more seamless than before for new customers.

Watch our first-look video of the new apps in action and enjoy the gallery of screenshots after the break.

Bing News

Bing Finance

Bing Weather

Bing Sports

Source: WPCentral…

Office 365 University is available for students at just Rs. 4,199/-

By Vijay @ 08:31am

Microsoft had introduced Office 365 University pack (which contains all office applications) for Students in India at a very economical price of Rs. 4,199/- which is valid upto 4 years.

This pack can be installed on two PC’s or Macs. It consists of Office on demand & 20GB premium Sky drive storage. Students studying in reputed universities & colleges can only avail this offer. This offer is available for Colleges, Professors & Lecturers also.

You can click on the below link to reach microsoft website to avail this offer.

Source Link

Now you can Voice Message through Watsapp

By Vijay @ 08:13am

 Here’s a very Good News for Wats app Users around the World. The app, which has been receiving numerous updates in the last few months, has remotely enabled a new feature today: voice messages.

When users enter into a chat with a contact, to the left of the text window a microphone icon should now be present (see the photo above). Users can simply press and hold that icon to record a voice clip which is then sent instantly to the contact. The quality of the recording is excellent and it is certainly a welcome feature, especially with services like Voxer breathing down the necks of companies like WhatsApp.

You won’t need to update the app to enable this feature as it is being done so via their servers.

All in all, a pleasent surprise to what is becoming the go to messaging app. Pick up WhatsApp for Windows Phone here in the Store.

Skype for Windows Phone 8 gets a small update today

By Vijay @ 11:14pm

While Skype on Windows Phone 8 still falls short of the more seamless experience on Android,  Developers at Microsoft and Skype are at least working to improve the Windows Phone experience.Skype Version 2.9.0.129 should be going live in the Store right now for users, meaning if you follow the link below you can force update the app instead of waiting 12 hours for your Store tile to refresh. More interestingly, Skype actually included a changelog with the update and it’s more than the usual “bug fixes”.

Version 2.9.0.129 brings the following new experience to Windows Phone:

• It’s now even easier to find who you’re looking for, simply filter your People list to only show Skype contacts.
• See even more favorite contacts at a glance with the new and improved layout.
• General fixes and speed improvements.

The Skype blog goes on to describe those changes in more detail, noting:

• People List Filter – We received feedback from users that they’d like to see Windows Phone contacts and Skype contacts split out in the Skype People List. So, in 2.9 we’ve added a filter so you can see either all your contacts, just Skype contacts, or only available contacts.
• Home Screen – The Skype home screen has been improved so that users can now pivot through app functions. The Favorite Contact tiles are now smaller, fitting three across on the screen so it is faster for you to contact the people you care about most.

Regarding “general fixes and speed improvements”, we’ll never turn those down, but unfortunately, Video Messages are still missing.

You can pick up Skype for Windows Phone 8 version 2.9.0129 here in the Store  or scan the QR code below or swipe right in our app.

Source: Skype Blog; Via: Plaffo

Have multiple twitter accounts? Here’s an app for Windows 8 to manage..

By Vijay @ 01:45pm

Twitter has updated its app for Windows 8 and Windows RT according to Micro blogging Site, which brings along the access to sign in to multiple accounts, and some additional new features.

Twitter users on Window 8 platform can now access multiple accounts or simply delete an account on the app with a simple process. To do so, one will need to swipe from the top or bottom or just right-click to bring up the app commands, and choose the people icon at the top right. Further, clicking on the plus option or on the delete sign will allow users to add or delete accounts.

Apart from this,  the app now comes with a list options which will allow users to view lists on a person’s profile. Additionally lists and user profiles can now be pinned to the Start screen, which is a default & favorite feature for windows 8 users.

Along with these, the app now also comes with some bug fixes and performance improvements.

Twitter has started rolling out the update, and those interested can download it from here

 

Want more than one image as your WP lock screen backgrounds. Here’s an app.

By Vijay @ 09:09am

Imagefusion app enable you to create images for the lock screen background from local libraries. If you’ve used media players in the past where a collage of images are displayed from multiple artist albums, this is the same affect but with images you choose. The end result is best of all &  it’s free and really simple to use. Multiple sources can be used, including the profile pictures of contacts stored on the Windows Phone,  album covers from the local music library and photos from the local library. Images are loaded and tiled on the lockscreen to produce a collage of images that matter to you, adding a personalised touch to the first screen displayed when turning on the device.

Recently updated to version 2.0, Imagefusion now sports an image picker to let you pick the exact images you want in your lock screen background. A new “accent tint” effect has also been added to provide a lock screen tint to match the phone accent colour. It’s the little touches like this that really make the difference.

As noted above, Imagefusion is free and also sports zero advertising so the experience is both clean and clutter-free. A total of six image effects can be added to the chosen collection of items, including black & white, polaroid, sepia, negative and accent tint. Images can be shuffled once selected to create a unique, random affect and it’s possible to preview the end result before applying it to the live environment.

Once done, you can save the result for further use externally, or directly apply the new lockscreen background from within Imagefusion. More filters are stated to be on the way, so be on the look out for future updates that include more choice. We’ve given it a go and can safely recommend the app, especially if you’re looking at more ways to personalise your Windows Phone.

You can download Imagefusion from the Windows Phone Store (available for free – Windows Phone 8 only).

TaxiCOP, a real-time taxi fare calculator available now in Windowsphone stores

By Vijay @ 10:20pm

 Have you ever questioned a taxi fare? Wonder if the cabbie took the most effecient route? TaxiCOP is a Windows Phone app that may help ease your concerns or tell you it’s time to switch cab services.

TaxiCOP will monitor your route, time, and mileage to make sure what you pay is accurate. I can see it coming in handy while traveling or if cab services are part of your day to day routine.

When you first launch TaxiCOP you will go through the set-up screen where you give the app authorization to use your location services, choose the distance units and set the pricing (distance and time) and choose the currency. TaxiCOP supports a very healthy list of world wide currencies ranging from Afghani to Zimbabwe dollars.

From there, user interface is rather simple. Tap the “Start” button on the main page of TaxiCOP as your cab ride begins. Your distance, duration and fare is displayed as you travel. When you get to your destination, press and hold the “Stop” button. I like the press and hold requirement because it prevents accidental taps from stopping the fare tracking.

Your trip history is logged to the app’s Recent Page where you can map out the route taken and compare it with Bing’s route recommendation. It will show if your cab ride took you off the beaten path instead of taking the less costly, more efficient path.

In just taking TaxiCOP out for a test drive, the distance calculations were spot on. I would have liked to have seen a way to log your cab history so you can track expenses, distances, and other variables collectively. The Recent Page is nice but you can only look at things trip by trip.

TaxiCOP is an attractive option for those wanting to keep track of cab rides and make sure what you’re paying is accurate.

There is a trial version available for TaxiCOP with the full version running $.99. It is compatible with both Windows Phone 8 and 7.x devices and you can find TaxiCOP here in the Windows Phone Store.