marketplace

TalkBox For Windows Phone Now Live In Marketplace

May 23, 2012 | By Pradeep

Last month we reported about TalkBox, a cross platform voice messaging service coming to Windows Phone. Its now available from Marketplace and allows you to send messages with your voice and text input.

App Features:

? Push-to-talk (PTT) INSTANT Walkie Talkie, voice messaging, text messaging, photo sharing and location sharing with your friends
? Cross-Platform Messenger
? FREE and works over WIFI, 3G and any other data network
? GROUP CHATS
? Mark your message as favorite
? Post voice to Facebook, Twitter and make broadcast to all your friends
? Address Book and Facebook contacts Integration
? 12 theme color
? Conversation History

Download it here from the marketplace.

See a video after the break.
Continue reading →

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Windows Phone 7.5 Now Mandatory To Download Apps From Marketplace

May 23, 2012 | By Pradeep

As Microsoft announced last month, Windows Phone users will have to upgrade their OS version to 7.5 to access Windows Phone Marketplace from today. If you have an old version of the OS, an error message will be shown to you when you try to download app from Marketplace. You can get all the information you need, including an update checklist and easy step-by-step instructions, on Update Central.

Source: Windows Team Blog

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Runkeeper calls its quits on Windows Phone, not worth their time

May 22, 2012 | By Surur

Runkeeper has announced on their blog that they will no longer be supporting Windows Phone and Symbian, and will be removing their app from Marketplace.

Saying they have spread themselves too thin and that the two platforms combined only made up a very small percentage of their users, they said they could no longer justify “ giving our Windows and Symbian apps the support they need to be up to our quality standards, and if they can’t be up to our quality standards, they shouldn’t be at all.”

While this is pretty understandable, the company made one telling statement which suggests they are rather out of touch: “Combined, they make up less than 1.5% of our total userbase. We don’t see this changing any time soon, these platforms simply haven’t kept up with Android and iPhone, and we only see this gap increasing over time.”

Clearly the company has no real understanding of market share numbers. Hopefully by the time Windows Phone takes significant market share everyone on Windows Phone would be using a number of excellent alternatives available, such as Runtastic or Endomondo Sports Tracker.

See their blog post here.

Thanks Arbel for the tip.

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The 7 highest rated apps in the Marketplace…

May 21, 2012 | By andrewbares

James Booth from 7tutorials.com recently compiled a list of the top 7 apps in the Windows Phone Marketplace, based on user ratings (courtesy of AppFlow App Discovery). Here are the top 7!

RapDialer – 4.82 / 1539 ratings

RapDialer is a fast and fluid T9 contact searching/dialing app, meant to replace the default way of searching for contacts via the typical keyboard. James over at 7tutorials.com didn’t seem to think RapDialer is any faster than a traditional keyboard, but thousands of users (myself included) would disagree! Plus, over 1,500 reviews is really impressive!

Baconit – 4.80 / 2640 ratings

Baconit also has a ridiculous amount of reviews, and is also one of the best apps on WP7! If you love Reddit, Baconit is an excellent choice. If you’ve never used Reddit… try it out and visit the windowsphone Subreddit, you may find that it’s an excellent source of news (after WMPoweruser of course). James personally wasn’t impressed with the whole Reddit network, but he also mentioned that he’s not a big fan of social networks in general.

Stop The Music – 4.79 / 273 ratings

This app is great if you’re OCD and need to clean the last playing song from your volume controls. I personally have no use for this app, but those who need this app love it!

Power Planner – 4.79 / 222 ratings

Power Planner is a homework planner app I personally developed, with features like the fastest homework entry system yet, class schedules, grade/GPA calculator, live tiles, picture support, and much more. As James nicely wrote, “users have said it made the difference in their grades. I can easily see how it would be a beneficial tool for any student. Based on the apps covered so far, in terms of real world usefulness, I feel it deserves a higher placement on the list.”

Starbucks Finder – 4.78 / 144 ratings

Starbucks Finder is a simple app that lets you locate the nearest Starbucks and get info about the stores. James points out that this app was actually created by a Windows Phone fan, not Starbucks themselves, which makes their ranking in the top 7 even more impressive! If you’re a Starbucks fan, you’ll probably love this app too.

ZDclock – 4.78 / 422 ratings

ZDclock is meant to be an app that reminds you to do everything… take your pills, wake up in the morning, make a bank payment, etc. James points out that all of these features could already be done with the built in Alarms or Calendar app. While that is true, ZDclock does give a more streamlined interface for creating reminders, and is worth a try.

Relax Melodies – 4.77 / 252 ratings

At the time James wrote his article, Flixster was actually the 7th highest rated app. As of our press time now, Relax Melodies jumped ahead. Relax Melodies allows you to create a custom soothing sound mixture that is meant to help you relax off to sleep. Reviews have been extremely positive, with one reviewer stating that the soothing sounds “make a marvelous ambiance for any situation.”

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Official Nectar app now in Windows Phone 7 marketplace

May 20, 2012 | By Surur

Microsoft has been pretty good about getting official Windows Phone apps from big brand names in UK into Marketplace. These wins are particularly important, as every ad on TV for the apps which mentions Windows Phone in the same breath as iPhone and Android is a boost for Windows Phone.

Their latest achievement is an official Windows Phone app for Nectar, UK’s largest loyalty card scheme.

The service serves hundreds of brands, including Sainsbury’s, Debenhams, and even iTunes, with each 500 points worth £2.50 to spend on rewards at a host of big names like easyJet, Philips and more.

The app features:

Bonus point offers available at your fingertips
Easy access to your Nectar account balance
Collect points when you shop online with hundreds of brands via nectar eShops
Store Locator – check out all the places you can collect and spend your points
Register via the app

Read more and find the app in Marketplace here.

Thanks Paul for the tip.

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Nokia Hong Kong create WP7 Marketplace “trading cards” for salesmen

May 19, 2012 | By Surur

One of the toughest perceptions Windows Phone has to fight against is that the OS has “no apps” or certainly nothing of note.

Nokia Hong Kong is attacking this idea head-on in a very interesting manner. They have taken the best apps in Marketplace and made them rather physical, in the form of “trading cards” which contain details about the app, its “fun ratings” and other features and a QRcode which can be scanned with Bing vision and will allow apps to be installed easily.

The cards are meant for sales people selling the phones, and are divided into categories like social, games, Music and video etc., allowing the salesman to easily demonstrate the range of apps in Marketplace to prospective buyers.

It sounds like a great idea to bring over to the rest of the world.

See more examples at WeloveWP.hk here.

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Microsoft applies for App Migration utility

May 17, 2012 | By Surur

It seems Microsoft has been thinking for a long time about the conundrum users encounter when moving to a new platform – which are the good apps on their new platform, and do replacements for their current ones even exist.

In a November 2010 patent application Microsoft describes a service which would analyse the apps on your Android device for example, and then find the same apps (if the cross-platform version exists) and install them all at the same time, and if the same app does not exist offer known alternatives.

If no alternative exists the service would keep a record, and notify the user when this app does become available.

The service would even attempt to migrate the app data from the Android app to the Windows Phone app, though of course this is much easier said than done.

The service could also be used for promotional purposes, to demonstrate to users on other platforms that alternatives to their apps do in fact exist on Windows Phone, and if they do not, notify them if the blocking app does become available.

With Windows Phone marketplace soon reaching the 100,000 milestone, the likelihood of app alternatives existing for Android and iOS apps is increasing exponentially, and a service like this, if it could be implemented, would make it clear concerns about the absence of apps are largely unfounded.

Via Unwiredview.com

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Keep Track Of Your Contacts With Friend Tracker For Windows Phone

May 17, 2012 | By Pradeep

Friend Tracker For Windows Phone allows you to keep track of your contacts who added, removed, etc,. You can track your contacts on various services like Facebook, Windows Live, etc,. The developer of this app is also looking to add more services like Twitter to this app.

App Description:

Who added me? Who has removed me from his friends? Who changed its name?

This application is there for that! Tracked facebook, windows live, outlook contacts, etc… All without the need to login you.

The application also allows to view statistics on your number of friends very easily.

Features:
- Live tile
- Statistics on the number of friends
- Scheduled agent

Download it here from the marketplace.

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Bloomberg Front Office Trade Analyzer App Now In Windows Phone Marketplace

May 17, 2012 | By Pradeep

Bloomberg Finance released their “MLB Front Office” Draft Kit 2012 app for Windows Phone last month and now they are back with Front Office Trade Analyzer 2012 just in time for the 2012 baseball season.

App Description:

Trade smarter and win your league! Easy-to-use tool for building and analyzing fantasy baseball trades. Syncs directly with CBSSports.com, ESPN or Yahoo! to provide customized advice based on your fantasy league’s settings and your roster. Recommends specific trades and demonstrates how they affect your stats.

Bloomberg Sports’ Front Office 2012 Trade Analyzer offers powerful algorithms to tell you whether a trade is good or bad for your fantasy team. Straightforward recommendations tailored to your fantasy team will ensure that you never make a bad trade again. View suggested trade ideas to improve your team. Use local market news to stay up-to-date on every player. And when you have built the perfect trade, open your fantasy provider and make an offer that can’t be refused. Drag-and-drop player cards to create your trade.

MAKE BETTER TRADES WITH GAME-CHANGING FEATURES:
• Sync directly with your CBS, ESPN and Yahoo! fantasy baseball leagues
• Trade ideas based on your fantasy team strengths and weaknesses
• Dynamic trade meter to see which side is getting the better deal
• Interactive chart shows how the trade will impact every scored stat
• Trade evaluations driven by advanced, proprietary algorithms
• Player cards with key stats, local market news and historical performance

It costs $1.99 and you can download it here from the marketplace.

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Official The Register App Now Available In Windows Phone Marketplace

May 16, 2012 | By Pradeep

The Register is one of the largest technology publication on the internet and its official app is now live in Windows Phone Marketplace.

App Description:

The Register
Biting the hand that feeds IT

With more than 6 million readers a month, The Register is the one of the world’s biggest online tech publications.

It has news desks in London, San Francisco and Sydney to make sure you get the news you need on the tech market wherever and whenever it happens. And it has columnists who’ll give you an interesting take on the implications.

It has an active community of IT Pros from across the world, who discuss everything from cloud to chips, systems design to sys admins, Virtualisation to Vatican bloggers, Latvian hackers to liquid crystal solid-state raygun turrets.

For an original slant on the world of technology, you could do worse.

The Register. It’s where tech lives

Download it here for free from the marketplace.

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AAWP confirms 90,000 Windows Phone apps, add more details

May 15, 2012 | By Surur

We posted yesterday, as calculated by WP7Applist.com, that Marketplace crossed the 90,000 apps mark.

Today AAWP has has weighted in with their own count, confirming 92,383 Windows Phone apps in Marketplace, being added at the rate of 340 apps per day, 24,371 in the last three months, 7,409 in the last month and from over 22,000 different publishers.

AAWP expects the 100,000 mark to be reached in June 2012.

Entertainment remains the the single biggest category (17,079 items), followed by tools + productivity (13,605), games (11,509) and books + reference (10,821 items). These proportions remained steady over the least few months. 68% of apps are free, with the number slowly increasing over time as more developers turn to ad-supported applications.

Now more than 90,000 apps in Marketplace

May 14, 2012 | By Surur

The Windows Phone 7 Marketplace has continued its sprint to 100,000 apps, crossing the 90,000 app mark recently.

WP7Applist.com has been crawling the 65 worldwide Windows Phone Marketplaces looking for the total number of unique apps, and their count has already crossed 90,327 with a dozen more marketplaces to go. This method is different from their usual survey, which does not count all markets, resulting in the number higher than their usual official result.

The last noted milestone was 82,000 announced by All About Windows Phone on the 3rd April and with more than 300 apps being submitted every day we should be well over the 90,000 mark now.

A number of apps in the 6 digit range should go far negate the argument that Windows Phone has no apps, so we look forward to that major milestone, likely in the next 3-4 weeks.

Thanks Luigi from WP7AppList for the data.

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FastMall For Windows Phone Allows You To Navigate Easily Inside Malls

May 13, 2012 | By Pradeep

FastMall for Windows Phone now allows you to navigate any mall map even without active internet connection. You can choose the mall you visit and once you download any mall map you can get interactive navigation even without an active connection. This app may come handy for people when visiting the Mall for the first time, etc,. Its also a free app, so why not give it a try?

Download it here from the marketplace.

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