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Microsoft releases video editing app Movie Moments on Windows Phone

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May 1, 2014

With Windows Phone 8.1’s new set of APIs video editing has finally become possible on the platform. We saw being Movie Maker 8.1 released a few days back, and now Microsoft has brought its own video editing app called Movie Moments to the platform. The app is live in the Windows Phone Store and is available for Windows Phone 8.1 only.

Movie Moments on Windows Phone shares a lot with its Windows 8.1 counterpart. The app is a universal app, but it doesn’t really matter much, since it’s free. Here’ what the app has to offer:

Pick your favorite 60 seconds. You can trim from the beginning, middle, or end.
Highlight your favorite moments with fun, colorful captions in a range of styles.
Add music that matches the moment. We’ve included a few songs for different moods, or you can use songs from your collection.
When your movie is exactly how you want it, share it with family and friends right from the app

It’s probably not as advanced as Movie Maker 8.1 in terms of features, but it allows you to create nice 60 seconds clip that can be then shared on Facebook or OneDrive.

You can pick the app for your Windows Phone running on WP8.1 here.

Google announces Docs, Sheets and Slides apps for iOS and Android

Sharang Sharma

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May 1, 2014

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Google has announced three new standalone apps – Docs, Sheets and Slides for iOS and Android. As the name suggests, the apps can be used for creating and editing documents, sheets and presentations and aim to take on iWork and Microsoft Office, which recently made some progress on iOS and Android. Previously, these apps were a part of Google Drive app and required you to be online in order to get some work done using them. The new standalone apps allows offline use of these apps, which is an added bonus. Although, these apps will still continue to remain available in the Google Drive app.

Upon opening these apps, your most recent files show up, making it easier to start working from where you left. Docs and Sheets are already available on the respective stores, while the Slides app should come in the coming days. Interested? Find these apps in the stores at the links below.

Android: Docs, Sheets

iOS: Docs, Sheets

Yahoo Mail for iOS gets a new simplistic design, News and Today sections

iOS
News

Sharang Sharma

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April 30, 2014

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While Gmail might be the talk of the town now, a good number of us still use the Yahoo Mail. And Yahoo remembers its users too, for the company has pushed out an update for its iOS app, taking it to version 3.0. The update sees the app getting a major design overhaul, with prime focus on simplicity. The mail section gets a new swiping based gestures for quick sorting of mails, as well as a new conversation view to read those older messages in the mail thread.

Then, the app gets new icons for News and Today at the bottom of the screen. Tapping on the News icon brings you the latest headlines from across the world, be it political news or celebrity gossip. The third section called Today shows things that matter for that day, like the weather report, stock info, sports scores and more.

Yahoo Mail is available for both iPhone and iPad in the Apple App Store and can be picked for free over here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSjEMBLANjw

CNET’s official app lands on Windows Phone

Sharang Sharma

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April 29, 2014

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While CNET might not generally be generous while reviewing Windows Phone handsets, they haven’t completely ignored the platform. In fact, it’s contributing towards fixing one of the biggest gripes with Windows Phone (the lack of apps). Parent company CBS Interactive has released an official app of the tech news website in Windows Phone Store. The app allows you to easily go through the website’s content on your Windows Phone handset. Here’s the description:

“CNET is a collective of the tech-savvy and tech-obsessed. Anchored by the world’s largest volume of high-quality unbiased product reviews, CNET is the go-to source for news and recommendations about the latest tech and consumer electronics.

This award-winning resource is available anywhere with the CNET App for Windows Phone devices, 100% free and always here to provide information, tools, and advice to help you decide what to buy and how to get the most out of your tech.”

You can pick the app for free on the Windows Phone Store here.

Viber picks an update on Android

Sharang Sharma

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April 29, 2014

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Hot on the heels of an update for WhatsApp, competitor Viber has also pushed an update for the app on Android. The update improves the way the app handles photos, video and location messages. It also brings an improved sticker menu and the ability to reorganize them. The app also adds integration with native contact list for calls and . Here’s the full changelog:

Improved sticker menu
Ability to reorder stickers
Create group conversations easily
Integration with native contact list for calls and messages
Performance fixes

Recently Viber was in the news for the way it handles the user data. According to reports anyone with the correct link available to him, can access all of Viber’s user data, without having to go through any passwords. What’s more, the data is unencrypted and can be easily used for malicious purposes. Viber has since announced that it’s fixed the issue, but it shows how companies take user privacy for granted.

You can pick version 4.3.1.21 of the app on the Play Store here.

WhatsApp gets updated on Android, allows you to mute group conversations for a 100 years

Sharang Sharma

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April 29, 2014

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WhatsApp gets updated on Android, allows you to mute group conversations for a 100 years

WhatsApp has updated its Android app with some major changes in tow. Taking the version to 2.11.230, the biggest change is the ability to ‘mute’ groups for a hundred years right away. Earlier, groups could be muted for 8 hours, 1 day and 1 week, to 1 month, or 1 year. Users will now also be able to completely turn off notifications from groups, which is great since for those not wanting it, it was a nuisance earlier. Before, you could only mute the notifications (meaning they would still appear in your notification bar).

Other changes include new camera and voice icons. The camera now takes you to the phone’s default camera app, instead of going through the album, thus saving plenty of time. All you need to do is click the photograph and it will be shared automatically. It’s something we’ve seen on the Windows Phone version of the app already.

The APK is available for download through the official website, but is yet to hit the Play Store yet. Although it surely would in some time, so you need to be patient for a little while.

[Source]

Mailbox (Dropbox) gets updated on Android, adds notification actions

Android
News

Sharang Sharma

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April 29, 2014

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Dropbox’s email management app Mailbox has received an update on Android taking it to version 1.0.1. The update brings notification actions to the app, allowing users to reply directly to mails from the notification center. Users can also hit Snooze or Archive from the same location. This makes email management even better on the already convenient and time saving app. The update also adds UI refinements and bug fixes.

For those f you who are unaware, Mailbox first came on iOS and became an instant hit due to its simplicity. The app allows people to better manage their emails on the phone, by quickly pushing them to archive or trash using simple swipes. The app also shows emails in chat like conversations making them easier to read.The app also learns from your actions and automatically categorizes future emails from similar recipients. The app currently only supports iCloud and Gmail accounts, but developers have promised support for more email clients in the future.

Last week the app also received an update on iOS that brought auto swipe and other bug fixes and general improvements.

It’s free and can be grabbed on the Play Store here.

Movie Maker 8.1 allows you to edit videos on Windows Phone 8.1

Sharang Sharma

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April 28, 2014

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Video editing has been another of those features that until now, was unavailable on Windows Phone. Well, Windows Phone 8.1 enabled that feature and we already have an app available. Movie Maker 8.1 does all that and more. The app is universal, implying it can be purchased on Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8.1 and be used on the other one without paying the price.

Taking advantage of the new APIs in Windows Phone 8.1 (and it’s exclusive for Windows Phone 8.1), Movie Maker 8.1 allows you to do plentiful with your videos, including cutting them, introducing slow motion effect in them, add images, soundtrack or more videos into them. Here’s the full feature list:

Allows the user to compose a movie using all kinds of video, images and music files supported by Windows Phone 8.1
All the clips and tracks can be copied, moved, deleted, and duplicated (same for the audio tracks)
Volume can be controlled on single clips and tracks
When an image is added, you can set the duration on the movie and you can apply one of the awesome Nokia filters
“MP3 extractor” feature: a user can load a YouTube video previously downloaded, extract the soundtrack and use it as the movie background of exported
All the work is done by the app; no internet connection is required.
The final movie is saved as mp4 on a folder chosen by the user (SD card too).
Easily trim, crop and split clips
Set clip volume level
Copy, paste and delete clips at any position
Use simple playback controls to review clips
Zoom able real-time preview
Slow motion effect 10X

The app costs $1.49, but comes with a free trial. The developers (who were also behind Instagraph) have promised more features in the future, including hardware acceleration and transitions. You can pick the app here.

[SOurce]

Nokia offering £54 worth of apps and select Gameloft games with new Lumia handsets in the UK

Sharang Sharma

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April 28, 2014

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Nokia (or Microsoft now) is running a promotional scheme in the UK, wherein it’s offering £20 worth of entertainment from the Windows Phone Store and Xbox Video collection, along with another £34 worth of Gameloft games free (that have to be chosen from pre selected 9 games from the company) with the purchase of Lumia 1520, 1320, 1020 and the Lumia 625 from select stores. Here are the finer details of the deal:

Buy a Nokia Lumia 625, 1020, 1320 or 1520 (each a “Qualifying Device”) and get a free app voucher worth £20 to be used for purchases of eligible apps and games in the Windows Phone Store or for the purchase or rental of movies and TV shows from Xbox Video.
Additionally, after making your Qualifying Purchase you can enjoy the Gameloft Offer, which lets you install free Gameloft games from a predefined selection. The Gameloft Offer includes a selection of nine games, valued at £34.
Please note: The Gameloft Offer for the Nokia Lumia 625 is limited to 5 select games, worth a total of £16.75
This offer only applies to original purchases of a Qualified Device from participating retailers only* in the UK (“Qualifying Purchase”) made between 14 April 2014 and 30 June 2014. *EE, Vodafone, O2, Carphone Warehouse, Phones 4u

After making purchase from an eligible store, users will need to download the Gift Voucher app from the Nokia collection in the Windows Phone Store and follow further instructions. In case you’ve already made the purchase, you can get the Gift Voucher app here and proceed with the further steps.

More details on the deal here.

Xbox Music updated for Windows Phone 8.1, now supports Cortana

Sharang Sharma

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April 26, 2014

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Although the Windows Phone 8.1 has been well received generally, some of its features not so well. Xbox Music has been on the latter side, with most people calling the service a downgrade over Windows Phone 8.0. Well, Microsoft isn’t sitting idle and has pushed out an update to the app as promised.

Here’s what version 2.5.2842.0 has to offer:

General performance improvements
Bug fixes

Fortunately, the changes are more than that. The black screen issues are gone, while the UI looks more polished during transitions and animations. Then there’s also Cortana support in the app. Simple say ” Play <song name>”, and Cortana will open the app to play that particular song.

Microsoft has promised biweekly updates for the app, so we’re hoping if some issues have been left out in this update, will be resolved in the next. Grab Xbox Music here on the Windows Phone Store.