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Zynga Poker lands on Windows Phone at last

Sharang Sharma

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December 15, 2014

It seems like the Windows Phone Store will be less dry before this year ends. After Candy Crush Saga, another high profile title Zynga Poker has landed on Windows Phone, although 3 years after its launch on Android and iOS, it’s definitely lost some excitement around it.

Features:

– Play casual Texas Hold ’Em or competitive Tournaments like Shootouts and Sit-N-Go.
– Win up to 225,000 FREE chips daily with Lucky Bonus Slots!
– Play Zynga Poker seamlessly across all Web and Mobile versions – just login with your profile!
– Full support for Turkish, Italian, French, German, Simplified & Traditional Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian.

Zynga Poker is available to download from the Windows Phone Store. Additionally, you get 20,000 free chips and 10 gold for a limited-time with the download.

Zynga Poker – Windows Phone

Google lists the Best Games of 2014 on Android

Sharang Sharma

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December 15, 2014

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Similar to Google’s Best Apps of 2014 list (on the Play Store), the company has pushed another such list exclusively about the Best Games on 2014 of Android. Similar to the previous list, it’s comprised of games hand picked by Google staff that are of high standard and a crowd favorite.

Best Games of 2014 include both titles released in 2014 and before. Some of the older titles in the list include Subway Surfer, My Talking Tom, Cut The Rope 2 among others. There are fresh titles from 2014 in the list as well, including Angry Birds Stella, Monument Valley, Candy Crush Soda and 2048 Number Puzzle among others. In all, there are 104 titles, all of which have been popular among Android users.

So, how many of these titles have you played? Check out the entire list at the source link below and let us know.

Source

OneDrive receives a major update on Windows Phone

Sachin Sharma

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December 13, 2014

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OneDrive has received a major update on Windows Phone pushing it to version 4.5. The update brings a major UI overhaul removing many options in the hamburger menu. The app also gets a new page to view file properties, as well as features like access to the recycle bin to restore data, Shared with Me and Recent views for work accounts and search updates. There are also under the hood improvements and bug fixes.

Here’s the complete changelog:

• 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

Grab OneDrive from the Windows Phone Store below.

OneDrive – Windows Phone

BBM gets pushed to version 2.6 on Android and iOS

Sharang Sharma

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December 13, 2014

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BlackBerry has pushed a fresh update to its app on iOS and Android, taking it to version 2.6 on both the versions. The update finally allows you to send stickers in group chats, which was also one of the most requested feature on the app.

Taking user feedback into consideration, the company has also improved its Timed Messages feature. A Timed Message can now last up to 60 seconds (depending on how long you wish to set the timer) and can be viewed multiple times before it disappears.

On iOS, the app gets a new design that fits with the overall design language of iOS8. Also, the app now supports the larger screens on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. On Android, BBM now works well with Android 5.0 and adds a new landscape mode.

BlackBerry has said that the udpates should be available worldwide i the next 24 hours. Grab the app from the store links below.

BBM – Play Store

BBM – Apple App Store

Google Maps brings lane guidance to Europe

Sharang Sharma

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December 13, 2014

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It gets very frustrating when you need to take a cut on the highway and you find yourself on the opposite end of the road. Luckily for Google Maps users in Europe, this shouldn’t be a problem any more. Google has brought its lane guidance system to select countries in Europe, after having made it available in the US for some time. So if you’re using Google Maps in UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy or Spain, the app will now tell you when to switch lanes in the turn-by-turn navigation mode before you miss the exit or a junction. You can either use voice guidance or have it show up on the top of the screen.

Google hasn’t published any new update for its apps on iOS and Android, so we’re assuming the switch has been turned on the server side and was baked into the app in the last update.

[Source]

Amazon app pulled from Play Store for violating Google policy

Android
News

Sharang Sharma

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December 12, 2014

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Back in September, when Amazon updated its app on the Play Store that allowed users to pick apps and games, as well as Prime videos directly from the Amazon Appstore, we couldn’t help but wonder if Google would come up with something to stop it. Turns out they have. Google has updated its store policies and as a direct result, the Amazon app has been pulled from the Play Store.

To get a clear understanding of what’s going around, we should of course refer to the Google store policies. The policy until now stated, “Non-Compete. You may not use the Market to distribute or make available any Product whose primary purpose is to facilitate the distribution of software applications and games for use on Android devices outside of the Market.” Since Amazon’s primary purpose wasn’t selling apps, it was in its full legal rights to have the app in the store.

However, Google has now made changes to section 4.5 of the policy and it now reads as:

“Alternative Stores. You may not use the Store to distribute or make available any Product which has a purpose that facilitates the distribution of software applications and games for use on Android devices outside of the Store.”

So its cleverly included Amazon as a violator in the new clause, thus making the app illegal. Amazon has responded by saying:

“We launched a new Amazon App for Android Phones on September 9 that provides an award-winning mobile shopping experience, enables customers to discover and purchase all of Amazon’s digital catalog, and provides customers access to the Prime Instant Video player and unlimited streaming of over 40,000 movies and TV episodes. Google subsequently changed their Developer Distribution Agreement on September 25. As a result, we removed the app from Google Play and published the Amazon Shopping app. Customers who want the best Amazon experience on their Android phone, including access to Prime Instant Video and Amazon’s entire digital catalog, can still get the Amazon App for Android Phones at amazon.com/androidapp.”

Oh, there’s a new Amazon Shopping app in place, which we suppose will be there till the time Amazon removes the app section from its main app and brings it back. Although for some reason, the direct link to Amazon’s original app in the Play Store is still working.

Amazon Shopping – Android

Amazon – Android

Facebook’s Trending section will now show up in the Android app

Sharang Sharma

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December 12, 2014

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If you notice, there’s a trending section to the right of the News Feed when you access Facebook through a web browser. This section had been absent from Facebook’s mobile apps until now, but a recent addition has changed that.

Facebook has announced on its Newsroom blog that its rolling out the Trending section to its Android app in the US. Tapping on Trending will show conversations organized in up to five different sections:

Articles shows you how news organizations are covering the story.
In the Story shows you posts from people who are part of the story.
Friends and Groups shows you what people in your network are saying.
Near the Scene shows you posts from people near where the story is unfolding.
Live Feed shows you a real-time stream of reactions from people around the world.

The new section will enable users to find relevant content around a topic more easily (if people use Facebook for that). The content will be updated in real time which can be seen as a move to take on rival Twitter.

The feature is available on Android and that too only in the US for now. It should be rolled out to iOS and other countries soon.

[Source]

Candy Crush Saga lands on Windows Phone at last

Sharang Sharma

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December 12, 2014

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Candy Crush Saga has been one of the most demanded, if not the most demanded app in the Windows Phone Store. The good news is that recent rumours about a Windows Phone port of the game were true and after all this time, Candy Crush Saga is finally available in the Windows Phone Store.

Tasty candy graphics that will leave you hungry for more
Unwrap delicious environments and meet the sweetest characters
Helpful magical boosters to help with challenging levels
Complete adventurous levels and unlock treats
Easy and fun to play, challenging to master
Hundreds of sweet levels in the Candy Kingdom – more added every 2 weeks!
Leaderboards to watch your friends and competitors!
Easily sync the game between devices and unlock full game features when connected to the Internet

The game needs to introduction of course and has been one of the most played games on mobile devices. In fact, the game single handedly put the valuation of parent company King at over $7 billion. Like with other platforms, Candy Crush Saga is free to download, but comes with in-app purchases. Also, it works with devices having 512MB RAM, so millions of Windows Phone users will get to enjoy it at launch.

You can use the link below to go to the Windows Phone Store and grab the app.

Candy Crush Saga – Windows Phone

Hangouts for Android updated with Material Design, stickers and more

Sachin Sharma

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December 11, 2014

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While Google might have launched Messenger on Android, it intends to keep it along side Hangouts. We’re saying so because Hangouts has received the biggest update on Android so far, taking the app to version 2.5.8. The update brings Material Design to yet another app from Google’s stables, after YouTube got the design makeover recently.

Speaking about the design, the app looks much better overall now that Material Design is in place. The app also supports stickers now and Google has put in place 16 sticker packs for users to choose from. Video chats also get live filters. Swiping on ton the screen similar to how its done on Snapchat brings Instagram-style filters on top of the active conversation.

Apart from that, you can now search for users using their phone numbers, similar to how it’s available on other services like WhatsApp. The update also brings a contextual tool that can provide relevant options depending on what you’re talking about. For instance, a chat saying ” Where are you” will allow you to share your location with the other person.

Lastly, if you hated the last seen feature on WhatsApp, you’ll hate this new addition to Hangouts. Fortunately, users have the option to disable it.

Grab the latest version of Hangouts from the Play Store here.

[Source]

YouTube gets offline playback on Android in select Asian markets

Sharang Sharma

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December 11, 2014

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Of all the YouTube features, offline playback is pretty much the most demanded one. And while Google has been adamant on not providing users the delight of watching YouTube videos on their mobiles without an internet connection, it’s making an exception for select markets.

The recent update for YouTube on Android has brought offline viewing capability to users in India, Indonesia and the Philippines. However, there’s a catch (or two). First, offline viewing will be only available for select content and second, you can only watch a video offline until 48 hours after it’s been buffered. Users can select the quality in which they want the desired video to be buffered and once selected it will stay cached on their phone in the same quality for 2 days.

As for why Google chose to make this feature available only in these markets, we think it’s got to do with the untapped potential that these countries offer as well as the company’s initiative to bring technology to these markets That, with the poor internet connectivity coupled with slow internet speeds. In fact, Google has been working on this feature since the launch of Android One.

Although, we do not doubt that users in other parts of the world would welcome offline viewing more than any other feature on the service. It could be that Google adds more countries to the list (presumably developing ones), but we don’t know that yet.

[Source]