Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft has announced that it will roll out updates for People, Calendar, and Mail in the Windows Store tomorrow, promising “big improvements” in terms of both new features and improvements to current features. The updates are touted as making it easier to organize and manage accounts and the apps across both the work and personal life spectrums, and to do so in a way that is seamless and unobtrusive.

Starting with the Mail app, users who download the update will see the ability to filter messages by unread-only, as well as a new feature for creating and tweaking folders directly from within the app, making it easier to sort things and keep them organized. Flagging from within the Mail app has also been aded, appearing in both the “Flagged” folder and the inbox. There’s smart contact suggestions, improvements to inserting hyperlinks in messages, and more.

The Calendar app also enjoys its fair share of features and improvements, including a visual update so that it is easier to take in the sum total of all your items and menu options. A “Work Week” view has been added alongside Day, Week, and Month, and support for Microsoft Exchange users’ business account scheduling assistant has been included.

And finally, there’s the People app update. With this update, Microsoft promises that it’ll be easier to “touch, manage, and connect” with friends and other indiviuals across multiple accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter, and the company’s own Outlook.com. App commands can be pulled up via a right-click/top-to-bottom swipe, and navigation has been added for easily toggling between profiles and statuses. Users can now directly post to Facebook walls, and Twitters and other such notifications are now shown under “What’s New”.

[via Windows Blog]

Microsoft to roll out Mail, Calendar and People app updates tomorrow is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft has finally has over 50,000 apps in its Windows Store. According to MetroStore Scanner, there are currently 50,304 apps available from the Windows Store as of today. There have been an average of about 279 apps developed daily in March alone. March is the first month in a long time in which Microsoft saw an increase in app development. Since November, app development had been on a rapid decline.

App development for Windows 8 hit its peak in November, with an average of 468 new apps being developed daily. The number dropped down to 412 apps developed daily in December, plummeted to 174 apps in January, and fell even further to 142 apps in February. The new surge in app development is possibly due to Microsoft’s new cash incentive for developers to create apps for its ecosystem.

Microsoft is offering developers $100 per app they develop for Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8. They are allowed to develop up to 10 apps per OS for a grand total of $2000. The contest began on March 8th, and is set to end on June 30th. There will only be 10,000 apps accepted. While $100 per app may not be too enticing to developers, Microsoft is also offering developers a 80% split for revenue generated by their apps. That’s 10% more than what Apple and Android offers.

The statistics account for apps for both Windows 8 PCs as well as Windows RT tablets. So saying that Windows 8 has surpassed the Mac’s available 14,000 apps would be a lie. If you take into account the 370,000+ apps the iPad currently has, the Windows Store is still miles behind in development. Nonetheless, 50,000 apps in 4 months is an impressive milestone, and as more people adapt to Windows 8 and Windows tablets, we should see some great advancements for the OS in the future.

[via MetroStore Scanner]

Microsoft’s Windows Store reaches 50,000 apps milestone is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Last week, we talked about a new keyboard for Windows 8 called TouchPal. It’s been available for Android and iOS devices for some time now, but the company behind the keyboard just recently made it available for Windows 8 touch devices. While, the app was only available on the developer’s website, users can now grab it for free in the Windows Store.

The keyboard is available for free in the Windows Store and it features abilities such as switching back and forth between swiping and typing modes, and the ability to split the keyboard into to sections — something that the default keyboard does offer. This allows users to easily type with their thumbs like they would on a smartphone.

The keyboard also comes with Swype-like typing, meaning that you can type out words by just sliding your finger across the keyboard, going to each letter to spell out a word without lifting your finger at all. It’s a form of typing that’s all the rage nowadays, and Windows 8 users can now join in on the fun.

Previously, the Windows 8 version did experience some hiccups with installation, but since the app is now available through official means (a.k.a. Windows Store), users shouldn’t have a problem getting the keyboard up and running on their Windows touch-enabled device. The app works on all Windows 8 touchscreen tablets and any x86 based Windows 8 computer.

TouchPal keyboard for Windows 8 now available in the Windows Store is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It has been drummed into the heads and minds of many, that if you are using pirated software, it is as good as using stolen goods. Assuming you do not want to have any kind of goodwill with Santa this coming Christmas, you might want to find out just how you are able to crack and pirate apps from the Windows Store. It goes without saying, there is no 100% foolproof security measures, and despite Microsoft’s best efforts in ensuring that the Windows Store remains secure, Betanews claims that it has discovered an application which was posted over at My Digital Life which can be used to convert trial applications on the Windows Store into fully paid applications – all with a single press of a button.

This does sound too good to be true, and it sure as heck brings back memories in the past where old school DOS-based games which required a key or passcode to work could be cracked by overwriting the .EXE file of the game itself, which came included on the pirated disc. It seems that the Wsservice_crk has been available for some time already, first appearing on October 30th before it was on the receiving end of a bunch of updates. Apparently, once you have patched some of your system files, you are able to transform free trial applications available on the Store into full versions.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google Pushing Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean To Nexus 4, 7, & 10, Foxconn reportedly chosen to manufacture Microsoft’s Surface phone,

Windows 8 has been available for a couple of weeks now and Microsoft is itching to get developers making apps for the Windows Store, as it should be. Earlier in the month, Microsoft teamed up RocketSpace to host the first Windows Store App Lab, which helps Windows 8 developers with making apps for the Windows Store. Today, the company announced that it will be hosting even more of these Windows Store app labs in 30 different cities around the world.

These Windows Store app labs are designed to provide a boost to the development process, whether a developer needs help bringing their ideas together to form the beginnings of an app or simply wants to test their app on a range of Windows 8 equipment. Each app lab will last for four hours and will be taking place in a variety of locations around the globe, including New York, London, Paris, and Shanghai.

This seems like it will become an ongoing thing, with several dates and times shown for a number of the locations on Microsoft’s list. Even better is that these app labs are free, and those who wish to attend are welcome to drop in on the day of to see if there are any open spots. If you like to plan ahead of time, you can also register to attend, which guarantees you a spot in the lab you’ve got your eye on.

“Whether you have an app in progress or a set of design ideas you want to advance, we designed our Windows Store App Labs to provide you with in-depth technical guidance and leading design assistance to get your app launched in the Windows Store,” Antoine Leblond wrote on the Windows Store Developers blog. It sounds like these labs are the perfect springboard if you want to get an app published on the Windows Store but don’t really know where to start. Are you planning on checking one out?

[via TechCrunch]

Microsoft set to expand app labs to help Windows 8 devs is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.