Nov 20
The app offerings for Windows Phones have slowly been growing since the launch of Windows Phone 8. Today, the underdog mobile platform finally gets Instagram and Waze, two huge titles on iOS and Android.
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Nov 20
Instagram for Windows Phone arrives today, landing in the Windows Phone Store complete with Live Tile support. However, the much-anticipated app is lacking a few features compared to its iOS and Android cousins, most notably that video support isn’t present at release. Whereas the existing apps for other platforms allow short video clips to be […]
Nov 20
Instagram comes to Windows Phone Store today without in-app image capture or video support (update: image capture is there)
Posted in: Today's Chili
These days, a mobile OS is only as good as its ecosystem, and no company knows this fact more than Microsoft. Its smartphone platform known as Windows Phone has had plenty of growing pains during the first three years of existence, which is mainly related to a limited number of big apps and game titles. Despite these struggles, Microsoft has slowly but surely been able to court heavy-hitting developers — even if only one or two at a time. Today, however, a gaping hole in the Windows Phone Store will be plugged, as Instagram will be available as a free download beginning today around 2pm ET.
The Instagram app, which will be available only for Windows Phone 8 (sorry, legacy users), will offer Live Tiles that refresh with new data on the Start screen, and will also come with support for fast-resume; sadly, there are quite a few features that won’t be available right away, such as video capture and uploading, photo tagging, viewing geotaxis and — arguably the most important — in-app image capture. Instagram explains that it wanted to get the app out to users as quickly as possible, so a few features had to be left out of the first version (which Instagram is calling a beta), but it assures us that future updates will come with plenty more functionality (as updates are often wont to do). Still, the addition of official support by Instagram is a good indicator of health for Windows Phone.
Update: Despite Microsoft’s and Instagram’s repeated assurance that in-app image capture would not be available, it appears that it’s actually included in the official app after all. Pressing the camera button takes you into the camera roll by default, but choosing the camera icon allows you to take a pic. Once you take the image, it auto-selects that shot and lets you upload it through Instagram.
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Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Microsoft
Nov 20
Many game consoles aspire to be more than just a game console, but Xbox One really means it.
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Nov 20
This week the folks at Parrot have announced that they’re working with Microsoft closely to release not only apps and connections between Windows Phone and their Parrot.AR Drone 2.0 and Zik, but Windows 8 as well. This means that you’ll be able to work closely with the Zik headphones and pilot this beastly drone from […]
Nov 20
Microsoft rolled out its official SmartGlass application for the Xbox One on across Windows Phone devices yesterday, leaving many of the majority of us with Android and iOS devices out in the cold waiting for our turn to download the new SmartGlass app. It looks like we didn’t have to freeze our buns off for too long as the Xbox One SmartGlass app for iOS and Android have been released. (more…)
Xbox One SmartGlass App Now Available On iOS, Android original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Nov 20
Last month we found out that the PlayStation 4′s DualShock 4 controller more or less works with a PlayStation 3. PCSX2 forum member InhexSTER made a tool allowing you to use the controller with Windows games.
In simple terms, what the tool does is it maps the DualShock 4′s controls to a virtual Xbox 360 controller, which many PC games support. Check out InhexSTER’s video below for a demo:
You can download InhexSTER’s tool here. InhexSTER says that the DualShock 4 does work with some PC games out of the box, so you might want to try doing it the vanilla way first. Also, PC Gamer notes that you’ll only be able to use the DualShock 4 wirelessly if your PC is on Windows 8 or 8.1. If you’re on Windows 7 you’ll have to keep the controller plugged in to your PC via a microUSB-to-USB cable.
[via PCSX2 Forums via PC Gamer via Destructoid]
Nov 20
This article was written on April 23, 2008 by CyberNet.
In March 2007 Microsoft decided to give users even more of an incentive for using their Windows Live Messenger service. They started an initiative called I’m where part of the ad revenue would be shared from one of ten charities that you could pick from. Since the project’s inception chatty Windows Live users like yourself have managed to raise over $1.4 million, and the first year’s worth of money (totaling over $1.3 million) is already being distributed to the charities. As of August 2007 they had only raised $35,000, which means a lot of people have signed up for the program since then.
They didn’t mention specifically how much each of the ten charities would receive, but they did give a ballpark figure saying that each one will get over $100,000. That’s definitely not too shabby considering that it takes no additional effort on your part!
How do you join the I’m initiative? It’s very simple, and Ashley has actually already provided instructions on how to do so. The first thing that you’ll want to do, however, is pick which of the ten charities you want to support:
- American Red Cross
- Boys & Girls Clubs of America
- The Humane Society of the United States
- National AIDS Fund
- National MS Society
- ninemillion.org
- Sierra Club
- StopGlobalWarming.org
- Susan G. Komen for the Cure
- UNICEF
Give yourself a pat on the back if you are part of the program. You deserve it! 😉
[via Webware]
Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com
Nov 19
Your new running shoes have WiFi, but there are still — still! — no flying cars. We’ve got mini-supercomputers in our pockets, but where’s the kitchen machine that materializes beef bourguignon? It’s not quite the future we predicted, at least as far as Back to the Future 2 and The Jetsons informed us, but it’s the future we’ve got. Something as basic as, say, turning on electronics using your voice is still novel. Microsoft’s Xbox One is representative of just such a novelty, pairing old tech like IR and HDMI passthrough with brand-new 1080p video capture and voice control — all to impressive effect. When you turn on your Xbox One and TV in one fell “Xbox: On!” grandpa’s gonna be wowed, as will little Suzie. Guaranteed. The deeply integrated fantasy sports and ESPN apps will no doubt get pigskin-obsessed Aunt Linda interested.
But it’s not the expensive camera and sports partnerships that makes Microsoft’s proposition impressive to the hardcore gaming faithful. The Xbox One is a beast of a games console, capable of running beautiful games. But can it serve two masters? It’s not quite the game box we would’ve predicted, but it’s the one we’ve got.
Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals, Software, HD, Microsoft
Nov 19
Remember how we talked about an extremely rare white Xbox One that made an appearance over on eBay not too long ago, where this next generation console was offered by Microsoft’s Xbox Live’s programming head Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb? Well, the whole idea of placing this rare Xbox One model on auction would be to raise dough for the Wounded Warrior Project. Apparently, this particular auction has finally ended, where the anonymous bidder parted with $11,300, allowing him or her to enjoy some next generation goodness a short few days before the standard issue Xbox One is launched later this coming Friday.
I guess the $11,300 winning bid stood its ground since we talked about it last week. Is it worth that much? Far from it, but at least every single penny of this winning bid will be channeled to assist the Wounded Warrior Project, whose objective is to “honor and empower wounded warriors by raising awareness, helping injured service members aid and assist each other and providing programs and services to meet the needs of injured service members.” The white Xbox One is extremely rare, since it has been given away to those who happen to work in Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment division. [Auction Page]
White Xbox One Auctioned Off For $11,300 original content from Ubergizmo. 
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