Daily Archives: 6 February, 2013

Windows Phone Blog

Q&A: Britt Atack, 44, school athletic director
[Part of our occasional series spotlighting real people and their real Windows Phones. –.ed] To all appearances, Britt Atack is an easygoing kind of guy. He pads around The Northwest School in shorts, t-shirt, and a well-worn pair of Vibram Five Fingers, calling out affable greetings to students and colleagues. But his job as athletic director of this Seattl […]
Popular Microsoft photo app BLINK adds animation, sharing features
Back in February Microsoft Research released BLINK, a handy free photo app for Windows Phone 8 that captures a burst of images when you press the shutter button so you can pick the best shots. It was an instant hit, racking up more than 317,000 downloads and hundreds of 5-star reviews in the four months since. Today Microsoft scientists released an update to […]
Say what! Speech recognition gets faster, more accurate on Windows Phone
Your Windows Phone is becoming a better listener. In a blog post today, the Bing team announced that voice search and voice-to-text—two popular Bing-powered phone features—are now up to twice as fast and 15 percent more accurate, a feat accomplished by exploiting some recent biology-inspired artificial intelligence breakthroughs from Microsoft Research scien […]
Now in the Store: Fairway Solitaire for Windows Phone 8
Fairway Solitaire is an unusual but award-winning combination of golf and solitaire from Big Fish Games. The new Windows Phone edition features more than 350 hand-crafted courses—including 18 new ones you won’t find on any other phone. The app and first few courses are free—or unlock them all for $1.99. Download it now for Windows Phone 8. The game has you a […]
N.O.V.A. 3, a first-person sci-fi stunner, launches on Windows Phone 8
Gameloft’s highly-anticipated first-person shooter N.O.V.A. 3 ($6.99) touched down in the Store this morning. The game costs $6.99 and runs only on higher-memory Windows Phone 8 models. Buy it now In the game, you play under the helmet of Kal Wardin, former officer of the Near Orbital Vanguard Alliance, who’s been called back to war-torn Earth. His mission: […]
This month’s Windows Phone Photo Challenge: summer nights #reinvented
We’ve been impressed by all your submissions to our past Windows Phone Photo Challenges. So we want to show them off even more. This month, we’re changing our Facebook cover photo to feature one of your photos. We’ll also showcase select fan photos on Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, and the Insider newsletter. Our latest theme is Summer Nights #Reinvented, so se […]
Now in the Store: MapQuest for Windows Phone 8
It’s always nice to have options—and now there’s a familiar new one to help you get from A to Z. MapQuest, one of the original web-based mapping services, released its first Windows Phone app this morning. The app is free and works only on Windows Phone 8. Download it now The MapQuest app gets the job done and looks good doing it. The clean, modern design s […]
Temple Run: Brave for Windows Phone 8 is here
Lace up your shoes, Temple Run fans. The Brave-themed version of the megahit endless running game just arrived for Windows Phone 8. Price: $0.99. Buy it here In Temple Run: Brave, you play Merida, heroine of the Disney/Pixar movie, as she races, slides, jumps, turns, and shoots across Scotland’s backcountry wilds—all in gorgeous visuals inspired by the film. […]
Official Twitter app adds new features
It seems like only yesterday that we were announcing big improvements for Twitter’s official Windows Phone 8 app. Today, Twitter delivered yet another batch of nice upgrades, including several new photo-friendly features. Here are the highlights: Lens app integration. An improved tweet composition experience with photo filter support. Just tap the camera ico […]
Domino’s delivers an official app for Windows Phone 8
Need to refuel after that Jetpack Joyride binge? Satisfying your pizza craving just got a big assist from the free and official Domino’s Pizza app, which also arrived for Windows Phone 8 today. Download it now You can custom build your own pie, pick from their lineup of popular pizzas—or go in a totally different direction: the app lets you order anything on […]