Tag Archives: Windows Phone 7

JoinMe: Location-Based Interest Matching For Windows Phone 7 Users

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It is fair to say that in the recent days, the focus of the Windows Phone 7 community has mostly been on Mango and it’s looming release. This, of course, has made the pre-Mango WP7 apps suffer. Almost all new apps rolling out these days are for Mango only. This might be justifiable but it must be remembered that for at least another month, most of the WP7 world is on Nodo (unless you took the time to follow our guide to update to Mango without a developer unlock). Mango (and Nokia) might change things, but for now, WP7 users are a rare breed and JoinMe tends to connect them based on the interests they share. And it doesn’t run just on Mango. The main concept behind the app is to let you find other users of the service who are near your current location. Not only will you be able to chat with these users, there is also the option to interact with the users you find in your locality. Read More

Here Me: Location-Based Micro Blogging For Windows Phone 7

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There is only one name that is sure to pop up in your mind as soon as you hear the word micro-blogging: Twitter. Admittedly, there are a number of alternates which provide you with the exact same functionality offered by Twitter, but a far fewer number of apps or services exhibit the courage to think out of the box and make some additions to micro blogging and social networking. That’s where Here Me enters the Windows Phone 7 arena. Read More

Stream Free Music Playlists On Your Windows Phone Mango With 8Tracks

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Music is an integral part of many people’s lives. Even now, while writing this post, I have Evanescence blasting away on my headset. If you yourself are fond of music and own a Windows Phone 7, then life just got better for you (or will, once Mango rolls out). What music lovers hate most about WP7 is that it lacks the ability to play music in the background while using a third party app. Mango finally resolves that issue by bringing true multitasking to Windows Phone and letting third party apps run in the background. For music, 8tracks becomes the first app to take advantage of this Mango goodness. 8tracks lets you listen to playlists pre-loaded by the users on the app’s website and the tracks can keep playing while you navigate anywhere on your phone! Read More

Bandwidth For WP Mango: Keep A Check On Your Internet Connection Speed

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A smartphone without an internet connection is like a flower without fragrance. We have become so dependent upon internet that our real life has become completely entwined with our online life. Almost 90% of the apps on my Samsung Omnia 7 require (or at least can use) internet connectivity. Windows Phone 7 makes full use of the web, and if your net is not working properly for any reason, things can get really annoying. Bandwidth can not increase your download or upload speed, nor will it magically make internet connectivity available for you. The app will let you diagnose the problems bugging your network, thus making it more efficient. Bandwidth can also prove to be the perfect solution for some cursory network troubleshooting. The Bandwidth app has been around for quite a while in the Marketplace, but its new Mango-fied version adds some noteworthy and new features which we will be discussing after the break. Read More

Glassboard: The Extremely Private Cross-Platform Group Messaging & Sharing App

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Even the staunchest Facebook supporters admit that its privacy settings can prove to be unreliable at times. Google was among many others who noticed that and launched Google + to enhance the security users get for their data on the social network. But what if you want to take the privacy issue to the next level while having a group discussion? There’s an app for that. It's called Glassboard. Glassboard is an invite-only group messaging and media/ location sharing app which works for users on virtually any platform (via e-mails) or on cell phones. Currently, the app is available for Android, iOS and Windows Phone 7. Apart from the app's amazingly detailed privacy settings, Glassboard also distinguishes itself from other messenger apps due to its cross-platform compatibility. If you want to know more about the recently launched WP7 version of the app, read on after the break. Read More

Locations For HTC – Route Planning And Location Logging For WP Mango

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Maybe it’s the partnership between Nokia and Microsoft which has fired HTC up and compelled their Windows Phone 7 developers to become hyperactive in the Marketplace or maybe it’s because the release of Mango is nearly upon us. Whatever the reason, it’s the WP7 community who is benefiting from the latest flurry of free apps released by HTC. Just a few days back, we covered an app named Attentive Phone which was also from HTC, and now Locations has entered the Marketplace with the intention of providing Mango users with an easy way to find their way! Read More

1App Budget – Manage Your Money With Ease Right From Windows Phone 7

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1App Budget is a free budget management app that has just been released for Windows Phone 7, but after having a look at it, we can safely say that it looks nothing like a half-cooked freebie. The app has all the flashiness and usability of any of its paid competitors, and then some. With the focus recently shifting to Windows Phone’s latest expected update, Mango, there has been a lull in the Marketplace for new apps that don’t run just on Mango. Fortunately, the developers of this awesome app didn't feel the same way (according to latest reports Mango is coming this fall, so still at least a month to go). 1App Budget is a one-stop shop for all your financial affairs and has got pretty much everything covered when it comes to monetary issues. Read More

My Assistant For WP Mango – Set Reminders For Tasks & Important Calls

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For a platform with a relatively low app count, Windows Phone 7, has a lot of reminder apps . But most of these app merely maintain a list of tasks to be done and don’t set off an alarm when the time arrives. Of course, you can use the stock alarms app or the system calendar to achieve this but if you're on Mango, you can enjoy added functionality with My Assistant. This app makes full use of Mango’s ability to let third party apps run as background tasks and so doesn’t need to be active to alert you about the reminders you set up previously. Read More

Install Custom HTC WP7 Mango ROM With XAP Sideloading Through IE

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Great news for all you app sideloaders: a custom WP7 Mango ROM is now available for HTC devices with integrated support to sideload apps by downloading their XAP files using Windows Phone Internet Explorer. This will eliminate the need for you to connect your Windows Phone 7 to your PC to install downloaded XAP files. For more information on this ROM and the installation instruction, read on. Read More

Search & Download Ringtones To WP Mango Unlocked Devices [Homebrew]

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There has been a lot going on about Windows Phone 7 and ringtones. Custom ringtones have been one of those things which WP7’s competitor's have boasted about whereas Microsoft’s mobile operating system lacked it. There have been a lot of solutions swirling around but sadly most of them need a developer unlocked device as you have to deploy a XAP file to get custom ringtones. If any of you were wondering if the case will remain the same with Mango, then here is the answer. There’s certainly an improvement on this front but you still need an unlocked device for getting ringtones of your choice on your device. R1ng3d manages everything about ringtones in WP Mango. Read More

PhotoTimer – Windows Phone Mango Camera App With Capture Delay (Timer)

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Windows Phone 7’s latest update Mango and its promised 500 new features have become quite famous even though the update is just in its beta testing phase. For now, only developers have access to Mango (officially, at least, but you can get a taste of the Mango pie too using our guide to update to Mango on a locked device). According to rumors that we hope are true, Mango’s release is just days away. And even before the release, there’s already a healthy amount of Mango apps in the Marketplace. PhotoTimer is one such Mango app which brings timer/ timed capture options to the stock WP7 camera app. Read More

‘From Here’ – Navigate To Important Places Near You [WP7 Mango]

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There are quite a number of location-based apps available for Windows Phone 7 despite it being a developing platform. Almost all those apps will be coming to Mango and even now, many have already rolled out their Mango updates in anticipation of the fruity update. But there are some apps which are developed exclusively for Mango, making full use of its new features and improved functionality. One such app is From Here, which lets you know all about important places in your vicinity and even plans a route for getting there. Read More

Time Your Tasks To Perfection With Timer For Windows Phone Mango

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Some people might argue that no matter how idiotic it sounds, normal phones do have a lot of advantages over smartphones. You can’t transfer data as easily to your Windows Phone 7 as you can to a dumb-phone with an SD card (you can't on iOS and Windows Phone, at least). You have lots of restrictions which were unheard of in the pre-smartphone era. There isn’t even a stock app for countdown timer and stopwatch in WP7. There have been quite a lot of good timer apps in the Marketplace for quite a while, but since Nodo did not allow its users to run apps in the background, you always had to keep the timer apps running in order for them to work properly. However, in Mango this restriction has been lifted, and you can use the new app named Timer, which is a simple countdown stopwatch that keeps running even after you quit the app. Read More

Live Tile Now – Create Your Own Live Tiles For WP7 Mango Start Screen

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One of the few things that sets Windows Phone 7 apart from its competitors (iOS and Android) is its unique metro interface. And what’s so different about metro? Well, it all boils down to one thing - Live Tiles. It is an extremely lovable, user-friendly concept but, unfortunately, on very rare occasions does any third party app get it right. Most self-proclaimed “live” tiles turn out to be mere tiles, clearly dead as a doornail. Even if they update, the process is so laggy that it nullifies the whole purpose of this feature. But there is good news on that front. Looks like with Mango, this issue has finally been resolved, as demoed by the StickyTiles app we covered yesterday. And to further reinforce this theory, Live Tile Now has been launched for Mango phones, which lets you create your own two-sided live tile complete with text and a picture of your choice.

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Attentive Phone Adds Useful Options To WP7 Mango Settings Menu [HTC Only]

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Well here’s a first (as far as I have seen). Finally there is an app which has the capability to make additions to Windows Phone 7’s settings menu! Admittedly the app belongs to a device manufacturer, HTC, but still is a refreshing addition to Mango’s arsenal. Attentive Phone has been around for some time in the Marketplace for HTC WP7 devices, but now there is a new app with the same name, functionality, publisher, icon and interface available in the Marketplace. The app differs from its predecessor in one way. It makes a new entry at the end of the options in the Settings menu and has a few really handy features listed under it. The features offered by Attentive Phone make your Windows Phone more smart and adds some pretty awesome gestures to the mix. The app brings back the "Phone" part in Windows Phone 7, as the tweaks offered by the app all deal with making phone calls more convenient for users. Read More

StickyTiles: Pin Up Two-Sided Sticky Notes To WP Mango Home Screen

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It is pretty ironic that some of the features that bring Windows to your mind as soon as you hear their name, are absent in Windows Phone 7. The Sticky Notes feature gained popularity through Windows 7, but it’s a third party app which finally brings it to WP7. Sure, you can pin Office’s OneNote to your Start menu but that does not show its contents on the live tile, just the note’s name. StickyTiles for Mango does the trick by attaching a whole note to your start screen so that you can view what you wrote at a glance. Of course you can only write a small amount of text on such a note, but that is the whole point of the app. StickyTiles is equally useful for reminders, small notes and to-do lists. Read More

Add Connectivity Shortcuts To Windows Phone Mango Start Screen

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Just the other day, I was thinking that why there isn't a toggle or shortcut on my Samsung Omnia 7’s Start screen that allows me to turn Wi-Fi on and off without having to go through the trouble of navigating all the way to the Settings menu and then to the connectivity options. Common sense demands that there should be some way to take advantage of the metro interface of Windows Phone 7. Luckily, users like me who have already switched to Mango don’t have to fight against our laziness anymore. ConnectivityShortcuts is a free app that lets you accomplish exactly what is described above. Read More

Car Parking Made Easy With Park It For Windows Phone Mango

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The recent weeks have seen a flurry of Mango updates for a number of popular (and some not so popular) apps. That is quite understandable, with the expected date of the fruity release just days away (15th September maybe). Hopping on to Windows Phone 7’s new Mango bandwagon is Park It. The useful little app has been around for quite a while now, but the latest update makes it available for Mango in addition to adding some handy new features. The basic concept of the app is to help you remember where you parked your car and find your way back to it. This might sound like an insignificant task to some, but the truth of the matter is that in a crowded parking lot, it can get pretty confusing to find your car. Read More

WPV App Data Backup – Save WP7 App Data & Restore It After Flashing

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Windows Phone 7 has just started to come of age and custom ROMs have started to roll out recently. The biggest reason which keeps people from flashing a ROM they really like is the fear of losing all their data during the process. Even if your pictures, music and messages are safe after updating, you will still lose all that progress you made on Angry Birds or all the map data you had cached to your device. Now you don’t need to worry about all that. WPV App Data Backup allows you to save the data of all applications on your device to your computer and restore it later with only a few clicks. Of course it is extremely easy to restore your purchases and other Zune data, but in-app data is the thing that gets affected the most each time your Windows Phone is wiped. This data is what the Homebrew aims to save. Read More

Awesemulator Brings Screen Capture & Hardware Buttons To WP7 Emulator

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An operating system’s emulator is helpful for a variety of users and for a number of reasons. Developers use emulators for testing out their apps, whereas users can get a taste of the OS before actually buying a product. But when using the emulator, you do miss the real feel of the device, its hard buttons and several other features that just aren’t there. To fill in all these voids for the Windows Phone 7 emulator , WireBear Awesemulator is here. Awesemulator is meant to complement WP7 emulator and both these utilities have to be run side-by-side. Awesemulator gives you a host of new options for your Windows Phone 7 emulator, and the most important features it offers are screen capture buttons, and all the hardware buttons you will find in a normal WP7 device. Read More