Friday, August 26, 2011

WiFi tethering is go

This just in Windows phone Mango WILL HAVE WIFI HOTSPOT AVAILABLE!!!! This means my new HP touchpad i bought (for 99.99 via theSource.ca) will be able to use my phones 3g connection for web browsing while I'm on the bus!
Posted with BloghuB for Windows Phone 7

Monday, July 18, 2011

What was I doing again?

No more will we have to wait for the Zombies game to load after responding to a text message! App switching is here! Well almost, its coming in Mango.

All you have to do is hold down the back arrow on your device and up pops the task switcher. This lets you switch back to something you were doing up to FIVE apps ago. It will be a joyous occasion when that finally hits.

Imagine you're playing a game, and you get a text message with a link to a hilarious youtube video. Before Mango you had the choice to either watch it now then have to wait for the game to load and possibly lose your place or wait until you're done. Once Mango arrives you'll be able to go and watch that video, share that video to facebook, send a text back to your friend saying how you liked the part where the guy got hit in the nuts with a pogo stick and then jump right back into your game with no loading!

How sweet is THAT!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Bing!

Well the title says it all! Bing is getting some great improvements in Mango! We'll get access to "Bing Vision", "Bing Audio", Turn by turn voice navigation and the new "Bing indoor maps"!

Bing vision is kind of neat, it's a lot like google goggles if anyone who reads this blog has played with that. it will let us scan bar codes, QR codes and Microsoft Tags. It will let us take a picture of a DVD, or book, or movie poster and then search Bing for things that relate to said object (like buying it on amazon).

Bing audio is a bit more of a mystery from what people can tell it's like Shazaam or Midomi and you hold your phone near a speaker and it tells you the song that's playing. Wonder if it will tie in with the Zune marketplace so you can find a song then download that song right from inside Bing. That would be swell.

Turn by turn voice navigation for Bing maps will be mighty handy. Don't think I need to go into too much detail here I'm sure everyone has seen a GPS before.

Finally there's the new Bing indoor maps. Ever go to a mall and wander around in circles about five or six times wondering where the hell EB Games is? No more! Bing fixes this (at least in the states at the moment, nothing good ever makes it up here to canada) You will be able to pull up an indoor map of most shopping centers complete with where the different stores are. That's pretty damn cool.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

More power to the Peoples hub!

Mangos done it! Its finally done it! You know in the future... The Peoples hub is good now! Its not just a list and a Facebook status list now (read Now as 'When mango launches')

The peoples hub is getting a LOT of work done to it, a whole series of improvements and face lifts. So much so even Michael Jackson would be jealous! First off, Twitter is now there so you get to see something other then just Facebook statuses!

Next on the Awesome List is the option for groups! You can create groups of contacts in the peoples hub now, Friends, Coworkers, Family, friends of mine who own Windows Phones, Whatever you want. What this new group lets you do is have a single place to check Facebook, Windows live and Twitter updates of all of the people in the group in a single "Whats new" window. It has its on area of the hub for Pictures the group has posted to Windows live and Facebook. Lastly you can see updates, peoples check-ins, missed calls (voicemail too), texts, and emails from these people.

Cool stuff!

Know what else they fixed? Hint its similar.....

The Me hub! It now actually has a purpose now! Basically it has all the features of a group, but just you're there. So its an amalgamated area for missed calls, texts, emails, check ins... You can set your IM status so people can chat at you from MSN or Facebook. You can see all your Facebook notifications so you can clue in when Someones posted a comment on a photo of yours.

Actually www.winrumours.com has a very nice video showing all of the above right... Here

Friday, July 15, 2011

App list

Just a tiny feature added but a great one. If your app list is getting very long (much like mine) Mango makes launching the app you're actually looking for so much easier. Once you get over 45 apps, the app list to the right of your home page will actually get the little letter headers like in the people hub. You know that thing where you tap a letter, it shows you the alphabet, you choose "s" and suddenly you're looking at Sam, Sandy, Sarah, Sue, etc? So launching BloghuB I just need hit the B and bingo bango bongo its there!

Also they're adding a search feature so if I have an exorbitantly high number of apps and don't want to have to scroll through my WHOLE "b" section I need only type the first few letters of the app I'm after and, guess what...

..

.

no really guess...


Yes! You're right! It shows you the app you're after and you can tap to launch! You know, just like the iPhones spotlight search, or vista/windows 7's "Start Bar". Who cares who had it first all that matters is we have it now.. Erm.. Will have it in September? October? Whenever this damned update actually goes live. Man do I want that to be tommorow...

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Messaging hub changes!

As you might have guessed from yesterdays blog post. Today's mango feature is the new improved and very shiny Messages hub! Now when you go to the messages hub and start a conversation with someone you now have the added options of messaging them over MSN if they're online there. Over Facebook chat, if they happen to be on Facebook, or if they're offline on both MSN and Facebook (they might be dead if that's the case with my friends) all messages sent will instead be sent as text messages! If they suddenly come back online on either service without having to do anything any of your messages will go to these instead!

The neat thing here is you get to keep the WHOLE conversation (not just snippets that happened to be the texting part) in your threaded messaging hub all together. The only thing I'm confused about is if they are both online on Facebook and on MSN at the same time I'm assuming that we will have a choice of WHICH to message them on and don't spam them from both sides at once (now doesn't that sound unpleasant.... )

Man hubs rock don't they?

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Mango Feature Rumor:

For my first micro-blog post, I bring you a feature I'm looking forwards to a fair bit. Developers are gaining access to... something, don't ask me what it is... but what this something means is suddenly VOIP is possible for WP7 apps! Yes, yes this means Skype. Skype has officially announced that it will have a WP7 app available as of the Mango update!

Finally I can save some minutes calling Long distance by Skype'ing instead! Whether or not this means I will have access to Skype text chat from the phone is another matter. If it does turn out that Skype chat is available I sure hope it rolls in with.....

....

... See tommorows update!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Filler Post. Nothing to see here...

So once again I have run out of things to blog about. All the apps I want I already have and already use and have already reviewed. There have been no new updates since my last "Update Review" so there's nothing to see there. None of you readers have made any suggestions for topics so I've decided to do something that everyone else has already done, talk about mango.

Everywhere you look on the internet (at least everywhere you look while searching for information about Windows Phone 7) you see posts about Mango this, Mango that. So I realized, if you can't beat em, join em! Of course, knowing me, I'll put a BIT of a my own spin on it.

So for the benefit of the new guy I'll start off with the answer to, "What is Mango?". Well first off it's a tasty citrus and is great in smoothies, more importantly though its the code name Microsoft has given to the next major WP7 update. Actually its closer to making it Windows Phone 7.5 (this thing really blows NoDo out of the water). According to Microsoft there are over FIVE HUNDRED new features added. How many exactly will the end user (Read: You) notice? Actually most of them, and this is where my idea kicks in. Each day I will make a Micro-Post about one new feature I've noticed!

Be warned in advance, I'm lazy and forgetful. Days WILL be missed. Also, I have no idea as of yet how long I will continue doing this. It may be 500 posts and go long into the lifespan of Mango or might only be this post and like two or three more. You'll just have to keep coming back to find out!

3

2

1

MISSION START!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

App Review: RemoteSuite

Found another great app for you folks out there in the IT crowd! It's called "RemoteSuite: Ultimate" and it is an RDP client / file sharing / PowerPoint controlling beast.

I have used this app a LOT since finding it and it is now firmly pinned amongst the top few tiles on by home screen. Set up is a snap all you need to do is download the app for your phone and a paired program for any computers you want to connect it with (yes you can save multiple computers) and then set up port forwarding for your router, also don't worry you can choose any port you want so don't think this thing is a huge metasploit issue.

Once all that is done you're free to have at. Use your phone as a mouse, grab some files from one computer and upload it to another, use it to restart your private Minecraft server if you want! This app can do it all including connect to a power term window.

Not bad for for the price of a single Starbucks coffee!
Posted with BloghuB for Windows Phone 7

Sunday, May 8, 2011

App Review: Lazytube

I am greatly sorry dear readers! I just now realized that as of yet I hadn't even so much as mentioned the name of an app that I use close to twenty times a day! Lazytube!!

Lazytube is a YouTube client with a huge plethora of options available to it all for about a buck. The app is laid out in your typical hub style with Search, Featured, Favorites, Subscriptions, Most Viewed, Top Rated, Recently Played and Lazylist sections. The first seven are pretty standard so I won't get too much into them I'm sure you can figure out what they do however the last one, Lazylist, is quite neat. Basically Lazylist is like a combination of Stumble Upon (Google this NOW if you've not heard of stumble upon) and a friend who knows what you like. After looking at a few videos Lazytube will compile a list of videos that are similar to the videos you search for the most. Nine times out of ten they're worth looking at but every program has glitches, I like cats and electronics but I don't want to see a cat get stuck in a washing machine.

Apart from all these features it actually does the basics REALLY well including support for HD streaming even on 3G and lets you log into your normal YouTube account for everything else.

The only things it can't do that I wish it could was check YouTube messages, play audio back through A2DP, and share things to Facebook.

If you like watching video clips of random things or are subscribed to someone like Philip DeFranco on YouTube (check him out he's hilarious) this app is for you!
Posted with BloghuB for Windows Phone 7

Friday, May 6, 2011

Game Review: Praetor

Bored of Tetris clones and card games? Fan of strategy board games and have a craving for some pirate slaying, gnome smashing, dragon feeding fun? Go download Praetor!

Praetor is a strategy game mixed with some elements of deck building games like Magic the Gathering made by Random Software. You play as a SRoman general named Scipio (or whatever else you want) who's sent to invade some island only to be ship wrecked on arrival.

The game is a turn based strategy game on a hex grid where you're pitted against various enemies with different abilities. Each unit you can play has a different amount of speed, deals different damage, and has different amounts of both armor and health. However things get a wee bit more complicated as you encounter wolves which can attack twice a turn or Hastatus or Triarius which get tougher and hit harder the more tiles you have next to eachother in phalanx or Golems which stun people.... The list goes on.

As an added element you have other non-creature tiles you can play like Javelin which hits a creature that's within at most two squares of one of your troops or Campsite which gives you one more energy (used for "casting" or pretty much everything else like moving and fighting) for each of your troops next to it but can be destroyed if your opponent can get near it.

All in all it's a very good game and I am eagerly awaiting the next expansion. Best dollar I've spent in a long time. I suggest you get it!
Posted with BloghuB for Windows Phone 7
Search Engine Submission - AddMe

Thursday, May 5, 2011

App Review: FIM

Just a quick review here while I'm on break at work here. Today I found a scary good Facebook messenger app known as FIM and its free to boot!

FIM has toast support so even if you're in another app or closed FIM you'll get a message at the top of your screen just like someone texted you and tapping this notification it will jump you into FIM and straight to the message. Also its one of the few apps I've seen that have actual live tile support and will show you how many messages await you.

Last but not least (quite possibly the coolest feature really). FIM can run in the background even when your phone is locked and you're waiting in an app (Like a match of Praetor)!!! It also chimes to let you know what's up.

Also did I mention it's free?

One of these days I'll get around to putting app tag pictures on this blog so you can jump straight to downloading but for now you'll have to use marketplace search.
Posted with

Friday, April 29, 2011

App Review: Project Emporia

Ever get tired of scrolling through Google news for something you actually care about? Have a few different topics you like to stay informed on but really don't care what Charlie Sheen is up to? Have I ever got an app for you! It's called, "Project Emporia" and its a news reader app for Windows Phone 7.

Emporia lets you save a couple different (or if you're like me a lot of) topics then feeds you any news or interesting tidbits of info including blog posts that pertain to said topic.

Find an article you really like and emporia has a couple things you can do with it. First off you can save it so no matter how long ago you read it it's on your phone for you to show your friends, your coworkers, your dog or the waitress at that club you like. Also if you have a twitter account you can tweet about it right from the app! Living in the dark ages and don't have a twitter account? No worries! So long as you gave an email account synched with your phone (you've done THAT right?) you can email a link to the article to someone you know... Or don't know and can guess at an email address.

All in all its pretty snazzy and seems really polished. The only real thing I see it missing is the option to share via Facebook. That would be swell.

Go get it!

Posted with BloghuB for Windows Phone 7
Search Engine Submission - AddMe

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Update Review: NoDo

Once again Microsoft has given me a reason to come back and shout out my love of the OS to the blogosphere. Nodo has arrived for my HD7 on bell (a week or two ago but I'm a lazy blogger) and is chalk full of great features!

First thing that comes to mind is that copy and paste is here! It's really here! Really! For real! Also its a lot smoother then it was on my old WM6.5 device Microsoft really came through on that one.

Next best (at least for all of us gamers) is a boost in loading speed while resuming apps, particularly apps that are heavy in graphics. No more waiting two minutes to resume Zombies after my coworker sets the phone down without telling me it's my turn.

Then theres the generic bug fixes and improvments on both search and the marketplace. Still have issues with bluetooth headphones not working with videos though. Seriously Microsoft if you read this FIX THIS it's so annoying when someone sends me a link to a youtube video on the bus and suddenly my phones making loud noises and my headphones seem to suddenly stop existing.

All in all I'm very pleased with the update and am still in love with the OS. Cant wait until mango ships! /happydance!


Posted with <a href="http://social.zune.net/redirect?type=phoneApp&amp;id=a1303275-51f7-df11-9264-00237de2db9e">BloghuB </a>for Windows Phone 7

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Gaming on the HD7

Hey guys, guess I lied about the fast and plentiful updates, this phone has been so amazing I haven't found the time to stop playing with it and write a post.

Today I'll be talking about gaming on the HD7. I've been doing a LOT of that lately, mostly on these three games from XBox Live: "The Harvest", "Zombies", and "Ilomilo".

The Harvest is an adventure RPG set in the future. You pick a character type (I'm playing as Scarab and he's a beast at mitigating damage) and off you go to save the human race from an alien invasion of "Harvesters". As you progress you get more special abilities, unlock special characters, find gear and learn how best to destroy everything nearby.


Zombies is a direct copy of the famous board game and is also loads of fun, more so with friends. It's you're basic screw your neighbor, zombie killing, survival horror/comedy game... Ok maybe it isn't so basic but it's still a barrel of laughs when you play "Your shoe's untied" Five squares from the escape helicopter.

And lastly but not leastly (leastly?) have "ilomilo" a puzzle game where you try and reunite the two friends Ilo dand Milo. Move block defy gravity, operate catapults, find more friends and more. The greatest thing is how immersive and addicting this game is, you use your accelerometer to look around corners or over ledges so playing this game you will find yourself pointing your phone around much like your parents and your old Sega controllers while playing Road Rash...Or maybe that's just me...


Moral of the story? GAME ON!



Posted with
Search Engine Submission - AddMe

Friday, February 18, 2011

App Review: BloghuB

Hey there! I figured for my first official app review what better app then then the one I'll be using from now on for all my blogging on the go, BloghuB!

Despite only having played with this app for a short while I feel myself falling in love! It has a few glaring issues like no autosave (so if I back out to main menu to respond to a text or someone calls me I lose the whole post... Which by the way sucks this is the third time trying to post this) but has plenty of great features.

Lets start with formatting. This app gives you all the basics, bold, underline and italicize work as expected even with multiple options on at once. It has plenty of choices for font size from big to littleand lets you change bothfontcolor and highlightcolor.

You can align left

You can align center

You can even align right


It has a dedicated link button and you can snap a photo and add it right from the app... but apparently it doesn't work.... At least with blogger...

If you blog a lot or even a little grab this one!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

It's here! It's finally here!

My HTC HD7 has finally arrived and I am so far loving it the UI is super responsive, the web browser is nice and snappy and pinch to zoom is SO FLUID it's unbelievable! I'll get into some more indepth reviews later on but for now theres just a couple things I wanna say I love...

1) Wireless sync with Zune software, no need to plug it into my comp to sync which, with my limited USB slots, is one hell of a boon no more need to unplug my printer to put media on my phone.

2) The super LCD screen is quite frankly gorgeous. Really crisp and clear with vibrant color, not quite as high contrast ratio as my friends Galaxy S's SAMOLED screen but its a huge leap past the standard amoled on my old Omnia I8000.

3) Xbox Live support - Havn't gone too in depth into this yet but so far its been useful was playing with my phone when I noticed somone on Live wanted me to join them in Black Ops, just one more way the phone is described as a "Social genius"

4) The peoples hub. I know android has this too but coming from an iphone and WM6.5 it has brought a smile to my face almost every time I pick up my phone. Have my girlfriend and friends Facebook pages on my homepage who post a LOT being able to see the comment and post on it without having to launch a dedicated app is wonderful.

Anyways, I'll leave the rest for later! Off to enjoy my phone!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

And we're back!

Guess what faithful readers who have most likely forgotten about this blog, I am back and with exciting news! I'm transforming this blog from its current state into a blog devoted to the new Windows Phone 7 OS!

I know you guys are going to be sad about the lack of updates for WM6.5 and of course my Omnia II but... well.. seeing as that's now an outdated phone and a discontinued OS I've gone ahead and ordered an HTC HD7 from Bell Canada and am EAGERLY awaiting its arrival! Once it gets here be sure to expect (at least until I get bored again) more posts about useful tips and tricks and many reviews!

The Phone is due to arrive sometime next week so hang in there!