Camera 360 for Windows Phone Gets an Update

Camera 360 let's you play with your photos using different lighting effects and manual exposures making you a camera pro in seconds. This app unleashes the creativity in you. And what's more creative? The app was recently updated to version 2.0.2 making it cross compatible to Windows Phone 8 and 8.1.

The store changelog listed the following fixes:

Fix the bugs on 8.1
New tips for Double Exposure.
Improvement for Splash Screen 

Download the update in the Windows Phone Store today.

Adobe Photoshop Express Now Comes to Windows Phone

Just this month, Adobe Photoshop Express was released to the Windows Store on PC and this time, it's Windows Phone's turn. The app is now qualified as a Universal App so you can install it to a Windows phone, tablet or PC.

Here are its set of features listed in the store:

Basics: Crop, Straighten, Rotate, and Flip 
your photos. Remove red eye.
Auto-Fix: One-touch adjustment for Brightness, Exposure and Shadows.
Color: Slider controls for Exposure, Contrast, Clarity, Vibrance and more.
One-touch filters “Looks”: Choose from over 20 eye-catching effects!
Get creative by adding the Looks Pack* and Noise Reduction Pack*
Share easily to social sites like Instagram and Facebook, and via SMS text.

Looks Pack and Noise Reduction Pack are available as an in-app purchase if you want to add more detail to your photos. You can download Adobe Photoshop Express in the store today.

Skype for Windows Phone Updated

Skype, now part of Microsoft's services, is the most popular VOIP (voice-over IP) and IM (instant messaging) service worldwide, gets an update in Windows Phone store to version 2.19.0.172 today.

The improvements in this version as noted from the store are as follows:

• Misssspelt a word? Now you can correct instant messages in chat.
• Added support for even more languages (51 so far).
• General fixes and improvements.
  

There is also an added Cortana functionality that comes with the update. Download the update here. It's compatible with Windows Phone 8 and 8.1 as well.

Windows App Studio Gets an Update for Universal App

Windows App Studio, which allows Windows Phone users to get creative with their own apps, gets an update today. Once available only for Windows Phone, now it's updated as a universal app so if it's installed on your phone, it's going to update your apps list on Windows PC so you can install it later if you want to continue working on your project in front of the computer.

Download the app in the store today.

Glympse App for Windows Phone Gets an Update

Glympse, a location sharing app that needs no sign-up and social networks to work, received an update to version 2.1.0.8 today. The changelog states that the update brings:

Fix - International users should no longer have data loss issues involving shortcuts or destinations.
Fix - International users should no longer crash when using the destination picker.
Fix - Setting distant destinations should no longer crash.
Fix - Several cases where attempting to resume using the app (after tombstone) should no longer crash.


So head to the store and check for updates.

Bing Rewards Arrives to Windows Phone

Great news Windows Phone owners. Bing Rewards app is now available in the store. Now you can see your points rack up as you search with Bing and Cortana. Pinning it on the Start Screen brings a Live Tile of your current points. The only downside is getting points in searching through Bing is initially available for US residents only but hopefully, this is going to expand in the near future to other countries.

So go ahead and download the app in the link above.

Pinterest Beta for Windows Phone Updated Today

Pinterest, a social app that allows users to pin pictures to boards that users gets interested in, debuted to Windows Phone as a beta app last June 12th. Just one week after its release, the app received an update to version 1.0.1.0.

No changelog was published on the store. But a few tweaks and workarounds might have been updated including improvements in performance and stability.

Go ahead and update Pinterest today.

Lumia 520 Owners Might Need to Wait Till August to Taste the 8.1 Cyan Update

Windows Phone owners of the Lumia 520 might wait till August for the general public update to arrive. Based on a twitter post by @evleaks, the public OTA (over-the-air) update schedule of Cyan software for most Lumia phones will be on the August time frame. This is according to a leaked Microsoft schedule documentation labeled "Confidential".

Recent rumors suggested that the software will go live by June 24th but only select models like Lumia 925 received the update in countries like Finland and Argentina. WP owners should also note that Windows Phone 8.1 life cycle begins on the 24th of June, according to Microsoft, and it doesn't mean that the updates will be pushed immediately to users on that same day. Software update release is carrier-dependent. Carriers will determine its time frame because they will still have to do some internal testing before it's released to their subscribers.

Possibly, the updates may arrive unexpectedly a little later. Based on the leaked photo, the schedule varies by market and are subject to change. So this gives a little hope to Lumia owners out there who's itching to get the official update. We don't know what's up ahead so let's hope for the best. It'll come as it may.

Facebook Beta for Windows Phone Updated Today!

Facebook Beta just got its major update last week and today it'll be raised to version 8.3.0.2 from 8.2.x. The beta app has undergone a total redesign from its "Metroish" look into an Android-inspired Facebook interface yet preserving some Metro style in the app like the fonts used.

Microsoft has been intently listening to UserVoice and bringing this update answers to many requests from users. The app itself is a lot faster than it's previous version. Uploading pictures through status update is generally better. No more failed to post pop-up appears during upload.

The store notes what's new in this version:

• Updated design
• Improved performance
• Video upload
• Support for additional languages

Check out the update for Facebook Beta today.

Why I Love Windows?

Preferences speaks personality. And phones do have them. Most people would prefer the fast-rising Android phones or the expensive, elite-feel iOS. I once fancied owning one of these phones. But I made an aggressive move not to have them. They're too famous and it makes me feel like "it's kind of boring". Why not try something else? A different flavor that is. Something that's not used by many.

Jumping from one operating system like Windows 7 to Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 requires a learning curve. And it won't take days before you can make it a habit. With this fast-paced implementation, you need to keep up with technology.

I'm at home with Windows and they've created a unified experience across all of their devices. Jumping from one platform to the next won't make you miss a thing as apps sync from device to device.

My name is Joe, and I'm a proud owner of a Windows Phone and Cortana is my personal digital assistant.

One experience, one Microsoft, one Windows!

Nokia Camera App Updated to Integrate with Nokia Editing Tools

Microsoft Mobile just released an update for the Nokia Camera app with version 4.7.2.5 adding support for Living Images and integration to Nokia Creative Studio and Nokia Video Trimmer.

What's new in this version?

• Support for Living Images
• Continuous autofocus for faster focusing

• Surround sound in video capture

• New camera roll with full resolution zoom and inline playback of videos, cinemagraphs, smart sequences and Refocus images
  

• Nokia Camera integrates with Nokia Creative Studio and Nokia Video Trimmer for editing your photos and videos

To update your apps just go to the store and install pending updates if you have set it to manually check for updates or just let it do the work if it's set to automatic updates. You can find the link here.

OneDrive Receives a Minor Update in the Recent Patch Tuesday

OneDrive, (previously called SkyDrive) is Microsoft's file hosting service to the cloud used for online backup and syncing of files to any device that uses a Microsoft account to access uploaded files.

The April 2014 Windows 8.1 Update 1 patch Tuesday made revisions to SkyDrive by changing its name to OneDrive and adding an icon in the notification area making it easier to access it instead of going to the OneDrive app in the Start Screen. This reduced the blur between the Metro UI and the desktop so as not to feel as if it's a different interface because it is now accessible in the desktop itself. At first, clicking on the icon opens the file explorer for OneDrive in the desktop. But the recent June 2014 update added small improvements to its notification. Now, clicking on the icon opens a pop up screen that shows you the sync status, manual syncing and pausing, and at the bottom, you can opt to open it in file explorer.

These are just some of the minor improvements OneDrive's interface has received and what more with the other updates that's going to arrive in the coming months. How about the left side of the taskbar? The Start Menu? Will it be receiving the promised upgrade as to what was announced during Microsoft's //build/ 2014 event in San Francisco? Let's just keep our fingers crossed and wait for it to unfold in front of our eyes. Who knows what Microsoft has in store for us? If we'll be lucky enough, we can have it this fall instead of waiting for Windows 9 on 2015. Please leave your thoughts in the comments down below.

Lazada Online Shopping Now Gets an Official Windows Phone App

Lazada is an online store/mall that is operating in the Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines. They have a great selection of items that you can purchase via COD (cash on delivery), or credit/debit card. Some items are discounted for a limited time while others go on sale for a while.

Their app is available only for Android and iOS. The store's look was revamped a few days ago and they added another phone platform for their phone app, Windows Phone. After installing the app you will be greeted with a welcome screen to select you country preference. Click save and you're good to go for online shopping. The interface is reminiscent of the desktop version so you won't have to feel like a stranger in navigating the app.

If you don't want to have the hassles in shopping to malls, why not go online? You can save time and energy plus you can have great discounts in its vast selection of products. I want to hear from you in the comments down below.

Windows Phone 8.1 Developer Preview Gets Another Update for the Third Time

It's been a week since the second update was rolled out and here we go again, another update for devs were released for the third time. I woke up yesterday morning with my phone notifying me of an update that's 5MB large. Unlike the second update that's packed with a 22MB installer, this one's lighter and smaller.

This time around, Joe Belfiore didn't tweet about the update. No information was also given as to what improvements were included in the package. Even I don't see any difference in the settings or UI.

Microsoft is rapidly implementing post-RTM updates for developers. This might be a hint that the final build is being fine-tuned for testing. It's been announced during the Build Conference dated April 2, 2014 that the official public update will be released this summer and it won't be long before it sees light.

Have you seen any changes with the latest update? Please feel free to leave what you think in the comments down below.

Cortana Gets a Refreshed UI Tweak

Last night, I opened Cortana to check for news that I follow when I was surprised to see that Cortana's interface have been changed. Topics are now separated by a dividing line.

Finance app is now fully integrated with Cortana. You don't have to manually add corporations to follow as it will pull what you have added in the app as opposed previously where you have to add them one by one.

At the buttom, Cortana will ask you to help her know you better by answering a short survey. After that, she will add new interests based on your answers and you're good to go.

However, something's broken. I have noticed that weather updates are still in Fahrenheit, even though when you open the weather app it's set to Celsius. I hope future updates will fix this so as to make it more personal. Google Now have implemented this fairly in Google cards wherein you can personalize the temperature to Celsius and that will be shown every time it's pulled up.

How about you? What have you noticed with this out of the blue Cortana update? Please leave your comments down below.

Windows Phone 8.1 Cyan Update to Arrive Soon

Microsoft's Joe Belfiore, Corporate Vice President and manager for Windows Phone Program Management, regularly posts on his twitter account to reach out to followers about the latest update in Windows Phone 8.1.

 Just yesterday, he tweeted that the software for Lumia devices has been finalized and is undergoing testing and fixes. If the updates come out as stable and with no problems, it'll be released OTA (over-the-air) in no time.

But Windows Phone owners should note that it's for Lumia devices only. Software updates for phones from other OEMs might follow through. These updates will slowly roll out to various Lumia models in the near future.

What do you think? Will the GDR update be the same as the Dev Preview or will it contain a slight UI overhaul with regards to Facebook and Twitter integration? Please feel free to share your thoughts.

Lastly, here's a video on some of the neat features of Windows Phone 8.1 for you to watch.