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BBM Beta gets updated on Windows Phone bringing plethora of changes

Shivendra Pal

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October 1, 2014

BlackBerry Messenger for Windows Phone has received an update taking the app to version v120.0.0.1. There’s a detailed changelog published along with the update that details tons of changes, bug fixes and new features. We’re putting it here as it is, since it’s pretty self explanatory.

In This Build

Notification Improvements

Providing impactful notifications to users has long been one of the aspects of BBM that our users love. We’re taking that a step further in improving the BBM for Windows :

BBM for Windows will now see message details as part of the notification without having to open the app
BBM users that send their BBM for Windows Phone friends a message will now see a “D” even if their Windows Phone friend doesn’t have BBM running
The new notification number displayed will now indicate the number of new chats (previously displayed the total number of new messages)

Even More Features

Since the last BBM v1 for Windows Phone beta build, we’ve also introduced:

People you know suggestions now appear full screen during setup
Invitation screen updates
Long press to move contact into category
UI treatment to make groups stand out in contact list
Implemented Contacts pinning from Homepage
Groups invite improvements
Support for new emoticons
Barcode scanner/view finder display

Software Quality Improvements

The story for this updated version of BBM for Windows Phone doesn’t end with the new features. We’ve carefully pursued through issues that you’ve raised on the discussions forums and other feedback tools to target software quality improvements for this release too. The most notable software fixes are below:

Selecting BBM contact crashes app after changing BBID password
BBM stops responding when using emoticons
Portion of BBM screen gets black for some time while selecting contacts to invite to a group after it has been created
Chats – Share location- Map not displaying the accurate location when tapped on the chat bubble
User is taken to the sent invitation tab on hitting back after opening an email invite
Invitation: Scanning barcode seen in scanning device screen become stretched
Invites: Contact is not adding directly to the users contact
Feeds: Text ‘No updates’ displayed instead of ‘No new items’

Known Issues

Notifications for received location are not received on the home screen; only after opening BBM
Notifications for received pictures do not handle the HQ automatic request
Notification not received when a user leaves multi-chat. Only after open BBM the notification is received
No notifications when users join a group
Group picture comment top notification has no content after the colon
Existing contacts show on the list of “Find friends” and “Add, Invite to BBM”
After 3 notifications (3 chats) subsequent notifications are not received, sometimes no notifications at all
Only 4 notifications for voice note received out of 7
The notification number indicator is out of sync with the notification on the top of the screen

It’s still a beta though, so you can expect more to come in the future. Grab BBM Beta from the Windows Phone Store here.

[via]

Google starts to display in-app purchase price range in the Play Store

Android
News

Chetna Chauhan

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October 1, 2014

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Most of us realize while looking at a quality title being given away for free on mobile that it’s going to be riddled with in-app purchases and that;s usually true. However, Google has introduced new rules for developers that requires them to reveal the price range of in-app purchases on the app page. It’s still a range and doesn’t talk about individual prices, but still gives consumers an idea of what they might expect within the app.

The pricing info can be found in the expanded information section within the app page/tile next to the developer info. For instance, Clash of Clans shows a range of $4.99 – $99.99. For apps with a fixed price for everything (or to purchase the full game without ads) it shows as a fixed price per item. The price can only be seen on Play Store and isn’t reflecting on the web version of the Play Store yet.

Although it still doesn’t go into the specifics, it’s a welcome change from before ,where users discovered their downloads to have been a waste of time and data (not all of download our apps on WiFi) due to exorbitant pricing. At least, this way users will have a clue before hand as to how much will they have to shell out of their pockets. We wish Google has made developers be more specific with these prices, but understandably, that would have made the list rather quite long in some cases.

[via]

Nokia HERE Maps APK spotted for Android, works fine on any device with Android 4.0 and above

Sharang Sharma

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September 30, 2014

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Nokia has made clear that it won’t be playing favorites with Microsoft’s Windows Phone and plans to brings its mapping services to other platforms as well, namely Android and iOS (for smartphones at least). Now, Spanish website El Android Libre has spotted the APK of the app for Android on MediaFire. Naturally, the folks didn’t waste much time trying it out.

As it turns out, the APK works fine on just any Android device with Android 4.0 and above. It comes with basic mapping and navigation functions like turn-by-turn directions, search functions, bookmarks and a satellite map. That’s not all though, as the app also allows you to download apps to your device to use them for offline use. The app requires you to sign up with either a Nokia account(which you can setup in no time) or through your Facebook account.

Although, the app is noticeably slower than Google Maps, indicating that it might still be in its early stages of development and we might not see it arriving officially on Android for some time. You can still grab it from MediaFire and sideload it on your device of course.

[via]

Bing suite of apps get rebranded as MSN apps on Windows Store and Windows Phone Store

Sharang Sharma

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September 30, 2014

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We know how hard Microsoft is trying to rejuvenate the MSN brand once more. So much infact, that it has decided to rebrand the Bing suite of apps on Windows Store and Windows Phone Store to MSN apps.

Only last month, Microsoft launched the overhauled MSN portal along with its intent to rebrand Bing apps. Apps which will get rebranded include Bing Travel, Bing Finance, Bing Sports, Bing Food & Drink, Bing Health & Fitness, Bing News and Bing Weather. After the update, the apps have shed Bing from their names, while Bing Finance has been renamed as MSN Money. MSN Health & Fitness also gets a new lock out screen option and an independent cloud store to sync data between devices. Other than that, there’s no big change in terms of usability for the apps.

The change is now live on Windows Phone, but is yet to take place on the Windows Store. However, it shan’t be long before its done.

Waze gets pushed to version 3.9 on Android adding custom user locations and more

Promil Bhardwaj

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September 29, 2014

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Waze which was acquired by Google sometime ago has been pushed to version 3.9 on Android. The update adds a few noticeable improvements like being able to mark your own places on the maps business or residential addresses. You can also edit existing locations and add things like parking locations and photos of that location to help other users identify it. Of course, you’ll be able to see edits made by other users as well. The update also adds parking pins, which helps you to remeber where exactly did you park your vehicle in a sea of those. Also, autocomplete has gone global.

Changelog:

Easily add or edit places, business or residential
Add driving related info like if a place has a parking lot or drive-thru
Add arrival photos to help others find a place at any time
Drive with Waze until you park: your parking location will be saved automatically. Plus, Waze will learn where to find parking and how much time to account
Search autocomplete now worldwide
Bug fixes

These changes are yet to reflect on the iOS version and should be added in the coming days. However, Waze recently announced that its Windows Phone app won’t be receiving anymore love and won’t be update any further.

Waze – Play Store

Vine on Android adds video import and editing a month after iOS for the same features

Sachin Sharma

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September 28, 2014

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Vine for Android has received a major update, adding two new big features, video import and editing. However, like always, the Android version of the app is significantly behind its iOS counterpart when it comes to receiving the same features. These two for instance, were rolled out on iOS almost a month back.

Vine for Android now allows you to import clips, meaning you now longer have to shoot in live mode. Also, you can make edits directly within the app, making it much easier to shoot videos with cuts. There are other changes aswell, which you can find in the changelog below.

Version 6.0 changelog:

We’ve unlocked something new: new camera tools that offer additional, more advanced ways to edit your videos, and you can import existing videos from your phone.
In the capture screen:
A new button on the bottom left to access your camera roll
Preview videos of any length, and trim them to 6 seconds or less
Upload a single video, or mix and match to tell a story!
Undo last recording
Flashlight for recording in low light
In the edit screen:
Duplicate a clip, or trim a clip

With this, only the Windows Phone version of the app remains lagging behind and we hope it will be updated with the same features sooner or later.

Vine – Play Store

Halo: Spartan Assault, IQ Mission and more are Red Stripe Deals of this week

Sharang Sharma

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September 27, 2014

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This week’s Red Stripe Deals on Windows Phone Store include the critically acclaimed Halo: Spartan Assault along with 5 other titles. Here’s the complete list.

Halo Spartan Assault – $1.99

Halo: Spartan Assault brings the excitement of Halo combat to touch-based devices for the very first time. Battle your way through 30 action-packed missions against the Covenant as you explore the origin of the Spartan Ops program and Halo 4’s Spartan Commander, Sarah Palmer.

IQ Mission – $0.99

*** TOP 1 *** in more than 50 countries in the Board and Puzzle Games category on the App Store! OVER 1,500,000 PLAYERS WORLDWIDE!

Goat Smash Pro – $0.99

Hit everything you can, unlock all secret achievements and do cool tricks with this goat simulator kind of game!
Can you get the highest score? Beat your friends and show of your goat simulating skills! Crash the barrels to get a higher score.

Package Tracker – $0.99

Package Tracker is a tool for tracking the delivery status of packages on your Windows 8 and Windows Phone devices and supports over 60 carriers. Package Tracker saves you to visit the website of the respective carrier again and again and notifies you automatically with live tile updates (push notifications) when the status of a package has changed.

MusicStation – $2.99

MusicStation is a tool designed to find scales and chords through four search modes: By notes, by type, by root and by guitar position. It features no less than 63 scale types and 59 chord types!

CleverToDo – $0.99

CleverToDo is a task management application. Manage your tasks efficiently. This To Do application is based on “Get Things Done” methodology created by David Allen. Slick and intuitive design allows you to focus on tasks. Simplify your daily life, reduce stress and stay productive.

ProCamera 8 and Camera+ get manual camera controls on iOS 8

Sharang Sharma

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September 26, 2014

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Thanks to iOS 8’s ability to allow users tinker with manual controls in the camera mode, developers have started taking advantage of the new feature. Popular camera apps ProCamera 8 and Camera+ are among the first to get the new feature and have been updated subsequently.

ProCamera 8 changelog:

manual selection of ISO (from 32 to 2500) with live preview
manual selection of shutter speed (from 0.5” to 1/12000) with preview
manual white balance
live histogram with indications for over and underexposure
select to turn the flash on, off, or use it as a fill light
HDR support

Camera+ has also been updated with similar features. Enthusiasts will likely find manual controls in the setting handy, as it allows them more control over the shot. Casual photobugs, however, should best leave the settings to automatic as before.

You can grab ProCamera 8 for $3.99 from the iTunes store. Camera+ costs a little less at $1.99, making it a more attractive deal.

ProCamera 8 – App Store

Camera+ – App Store

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HealthKit apps make a comeback with iOS 8.0.2 rollout

iOS
News

Sharang Sharma

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September 26, 2014

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Apple’s much touted HealthKit apps ran into trouble the day iOS 8 was announced and had to be pulled due to a major bug with the suite. Apple sorted that out with iOS 8.0.1 update, but it had to be pulled due to some other critical issues. Now, with update 8.0.2 out, we guess everything has been sorted once and for all.

With the fix, all apps based on the HealthKit framework should start making a comeback to the iTunes store. These include third party apps like Strava, WebMD, Carroft Fit, which then interact with Apple’s native health apps. By the way, the update also fixes some other issues with third party keyboards.

Asphalt Overdrive launched on Android, iOS, Windows Phone and Windows

Games
News

Chetna Chauhan

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September 25, 2014

0

Gameloft has released Asphalt Overdrive on Android, iOS, Windows Phone and Windows today and the game is available for download in the respective app stores. Rather than being a direct sequel to Asphalt 8: Airborne, the game is rather a spin-off featuring different gameplay mechanics from the previous games in the series.

Asphalt Overdrive (no, it’s not Asphalt 9) features lane shifting mechanism where you’re supposed to change lanes by swiping left or right. There’s no gas or braking and as you might have guessed it by now, the game is an endless runner and runs in portrait orientation. The game makes you ram traffic and other obstacles and earn nitro to evade cops. In all, there are seven mission types and 30 licensed vehicles including the Lamborghini Countach and the Ferrari Testarossa. Overdrive is based in 80’s California setting. You can also play along with your Facebook friends.

Asphalt Overdrive is full of IAPs, although it’s free to download initially. Grab the game on the store links below.

Asphalt Overdrive – iOS

Asphalt Overdrive – Android

Asphalt Overdrive – Windows Phone

Asphalt Overdrive – Windows (not live yet)