Hey DJ! updated to version 1.8 and is now free until July 31st

Hey DJ!, previously known as Speak To Play, is a Windows Phone app that enables users to tap a button to speak, and state clearly an <artist>, <song>, <playlist> or <genre> and the app will start up whatever matches in your music collection. Sounds pretty neat already, right? We previously covered the app when it was rebranded, was updated with new features and had its price tag slashed.

Now we're excited to report that Hey DJ! has been bumped to version 1.8 and is now completely free for the next 72 hours (until July 31st). So if you haven't already purchased a copy for your Windows Phone, you'll want to do so now while it's on offer. Once the period has closed, the pricing will return to $0.99.

So what's new in version 1.8? Take a look below to see the highlighted features that have been implemented since 1.4 when we last looked at Hey DJ! (features included in 1.7 have an asterisk * at the end, while those without are new features in 1.8):

• History section containing a list of Live Tiles with recently used commands, which can be selected without needing to speak.
• New voice commands: "play all" (plays complete music collection using your current shuffle setting) and "surprise me" (Hey DJ! picks some music for you, from a random artist, song, playlist or genre).*
• The "play song <name>" command  now plays songs within their album so when the song is over the next song in the album plays.* 
• German language support.*
• Bug fixes and performance improvements.

You can download Hey DJ! from the Marketplace for free until July 31st (usually $0.99 / £0.79).