With Windows Phone 8.1 being released today to those participating the Preview for Developers program, there is a lot to chew on. I wrote about the OS in a 5,500 word review and overview, but there’s so much in there, I figured you folks needed some quick tips on features you may not have known about! Head past the break to see our eight must-know tips for Windows Phone 8.1! One...
The official Facebook app for Windows Phone, developed by Microsoft, is a sweet client for those who simply cannot live without being notified about when friends are playing Farmville. Should you be new to Windows Phone and/or the Facebook app, we have you covered with five tips you may not know about the app.
All of us here at Windows Phone Central use Bing for our day-to-day searches, and we are positive that most of our readers do also. For those of you who have installed the Google Search app onto your Windows Phone or Windows 8 machine, we will try not to judge you. Despite your choice of search engine, we reached out to the community to find out what your favorite Bing features are, and...
WhatsApp is a super popular messaging app, which has enjoyed substantial growth over the last handful of years. Recently sold to Facebook (for $19 billion), we added the Windows Phone client to our roundup of best messaging apps for the platform. We know many of you actively use WhatsApp, but we've got some handy tips for you should you be getting started. 1. Tap a contacts name to...
Niche apps are always tough to write about. For some, they’re indispensable. To others, they don’t make sense. DayGlance is one of those apps, designed specifically for Lumia devices running Nokia’s Glance screen. You may not have noticed, but Nokia’s Glance screen omits the date. Instead, it just shows the time and any notifications. While I understand the logic – keep it simple – for...
You've seen something awesome on your Windows Phone (perhaps a sunny day in England reported by a weather app) and you wish to share this screen with the world. Taking screenshots is super easy and fast (hold power and tap the Start key). The only issue with taking screenshots on any Windows Phone, especially when wearing earphones and listening to music, is the camera shutter sound...
Microsoft’s Bing search engine keeps getting better, especially with all the little refinements and new features that keep getting tacked on. One of those we were alerted to today is the new interactive calculator. By typing in Bing web search a simple math problem, like ‘402 x 28 =’ users will not only get the answer to their question, but also have access to a mini-calculator. From...
Xbox Music is the phoenix that rose from the ashes of Zune. As you know, Zune wasn’t just digital media hardware from Microsoft. It was an entire ecosystem of music and videos that went with you from your smartphone, to your desktop and to the browser. The entire Zune brand and marketplace was more or less killed off in late 2012 so that Microsoft could instead focus on building Xbox...
Nokia Windows Phones are solid smartphones running Microsoft's mobile operating system and we've previously looked at how physically durable the devices are. According to AdDuplex reports, almost 90 percent of all Windows Phones are part of the Nokia Lumia family of devices. Consumers have enjoyed both stability and reliability when it comes to said Nokia hardware, but there are times...
Here's a neat little trick to get your on your way to customising your Start screen with Nokia's App Folders solution. The app was recently published to the Windows Phone Store and just like you could with contacts, you're able to copy and paste emoticons from the SMS text box to App Folder titles to add some personality. Putting together a games folder, why not add a controller? It'...
It wasn’t too long ago that Nokia rebranded their Nokia Music service to a more hip MixRadio on Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8. The new emphasis on mixes and likes/dislikes has triggered many to reconsider the burgeoning service as an alternative to Pandora or Spotify. Plus, that new design is really eye catching. Still, Nokia MixRadio is a work in progress and if there’s one thing...
Microsoft has published a new post on the official Outlook blog, detailing some upcoming changes to the service that make it even easier to switch from Gmail. It's no secret that many consumers have switched from Google's email service to Outlook.com and Microsoft is looking to further push tools and services available to make the switch as seamless as possible. These are said to be...
The Microsoft Store’s 12 Days of Christmas Deals kicked off yesterday with some serious discounts on the Dell Venue 8 Pro Windows 8 tablet. During Monday’s deal, the first 20 people at the Microsoft Store could purchase the Venue 8 Pro for only $99. Everyone after that had the option to buy it for $199 until stock ran out. We already posted a photograph of one Microsoft Store’s Venue...
It's already set in stone that Microsoft's next-generation console, the Xbox One will require a day one patch - just like the PlayStation 4. Unfortunately, with the next Xbox, you'll not be able to play any games (or really do anything at all) until you've installed the update. Luckily, should you be afraid that something may go wrong on the day to prevent you from getting on with some...
Windows, Windows, Windows. It sure has been a busy day for Microsoft. If you've upgraded to Windows 8.1 from Windows 8, you're good to go almost immediately. It's really easy to get the latest release. But what about those of us who had the Windows 8.1 Preview? There has been talk about not being able to upgrade as Windows 8 keys won't work, etc. but there's light at the end of the...
We've already looked at the spinning cogs issue with Nokia Windows Phones. You reset (or update) your handset and the when booting the handset, you simply cannot get past the spinning cogs. Luckily, while Nokia has been busy replacing damaged hardware, the manufacturer has also released an update to its Nokia Software Updater that looks to address the problem. When launching the...
Question. How do you go about deleting the high resolution image files from you Nokia Lumia 1020 Windows Phone without deleting the 5MP, lower resolution copies? That's a question Windows Phone Central reader Binson#WP has tossed out over in the WPCentral Forums. There's no way to sync just the low resolution images and you can't see the high res image file from your phone. So what's...
It can be a pain if you find yourself being allergic to mobile phone cases when you pick up the Lumia 925 and realise you can't wireless charge it without one attached. Nokia opted to not include wireless charging as a complete packing inside the shell of the main device, much like what's available on the Lumia 920, instead going with a 50/50 setup and firing out accessories that enable...
Update: Only a few days after we posted this and it looks like Twitter plugged the hole...so if you have an animated GIF, keep it. If you wanted one for Twitter, you're out of luck! Yesterday we reported on the new update for Tile Me! that now allows you to create an animated GIF in addition to a static Me Tile image. The purpose of the app is so that you can use the generated image for...
Here’s a good tip for you if you’re a fan of the endless runner Jetpack Joyride. On the Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 versions, just about everything in the Stash (the game’s store) is free today. Bug or giveaway? We’re not sure but it’s worth checking out. Indeed we bought just about everything we could from unlocking levels to new outfits to utilities on our Surface Pro. On Windows...