Best Windows 8 apps this week
Forty-second in a series. If you thought that last week's application growth was bad, you may be even more disappointed this week as it took another dive. Only 613 new apps were published this week, down another 117 apps from last week's weak performance.
The total app count rose to 79,130 apps this week, with 61,062 of them free to install and 18,068 commercial. Free apps grew by 537 apps this week and paid apps by only 76.
Easily take and share screengrabs with the Dropbox-enabled CloudShot
Capturing the screen on a PC is easy enough, particularly with Windows 8, where pressing Win+PrtSc can finally save your grab as a file.
Actually doing something with that grab, like sharing it with someone else, normally takes rather more work, of course. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Especially if you install a copy of the open source CloudShot.
MapMyFitness integrates Jawbone UP and Nike+ FuelBand
The MapMy franchise continues to grow at a rapid pace. The company already has apps and web sites for general fitness, running and biking, but the expansion is not yet complete. Today, it continues, with the announcement of new integration with some of today's hottest fitness devices.
"MapMyFitness is excited to announce a 2-way integration with UP by Jawbone, a wristband and app system that helps you know yourself so you can make smarter choices and feel your best. Also added to our list of supported devices is the Nike+ FuelBand. The Nike+ FuelBand uses a sports-tested accelerometer to measure your movement throughout the day", says the official announcement today.
Create spectacularly psychedelic art with Fractal Zoomer
According to Wikipedia, a fractal is "a mathematical set that has a fractal dimension that usually exceeds its topological dimension", and that doesn’t exactly sound like an ideal starting point for a fun application, accessible to all.
Fortunately you don’t have to understand the math to have plenty of fun with fractals. It’s enough to know that they’re a great way to generate colorful abstract art, and if you’ve a copy of Fractal Zoomer (and a little time to spare) then getting started is very easy indeed.
Internet Explorer at 18 -- Microsoft's web browser comes of age
It's a big day in anyone's life -- turning 18. The strike of the clock at midnight opens up a world of opportunity that simply did not exist before. Things may not be quite so dramatic in the life of a web browser (they can't vote, for starters), but today is a big day for Internet Explorer nonetheless; today marks the 18th anniversary of the release of Microsoft's much loved and hated browser. There's something of a nostalgia-fest underway at IE's Facebook page!
Whichever side of the fence you fall on, there's no denying that Internet Explorer has been, and continues to be, an incredibly important tool in opening up the Internet to a wider audience. Usage figures may not be quite as high as they were back in the heady days at the turn of the century when there was slightly less competition in the market, but IE continues to do well -- amazingly well considering the criticism and ridicule often levelled at it.
Windows 8 is 21 times safer than XP, and 6 times safer than Windows 7
I remember the UK launch of Windows XP very well. It took place in London a few weeks after the attacks of September 11 and security around the event was tight. Steve Ballmer was there to discuss the new OS in his own inimitable style, and afterwards we were given a copy of XP to try out for ourselves. That was 12 years ago, and obviously a lot has changed in the tech world since then, yet plenty of businesses are still running XP -- a major source of frustration to Microsoft.
In a blog post yesterday, Tim Rains, Director of Product Management in Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing group, discussed the risks of running Windows XP after support ends in April 2014. In a second post elsewhere Chris Hallum, Senior Product Manager at Microsoft, talked about how the evolution of security threats impacts businesses.
Knowing your customers helps boost business
The holy grail for businesses is to understand what their customers are going to do. Marketing departments spend a lot of time and effort trying to predict consumer behavior. Enacomm's 4Cast customer relationship management product looks to help in the quest by using past and present data in order to predict future customer behavior.
By creating what it calls a 'Dynamic Decisioning Solution' Enacomm aims to help companies know who their customers are, what they want and what they're going to do. The result is better customer service, enhanced brand loyalty, increased efficiency and improved profitability thanks to the ability to cross sell.
Redesigned NFL Mobile app hits Windows Phone 8
Google forced a Microsoft fumble yesterday by blocking the new YouTube app for Windows Phone 8. While this was a major blow to users of Microsoft's mobile operating system, they may have scored a touchdown with the new and improved NFL Mobile app.
For readers living outside of the USA, NFL stands for "National Football League". This is American Football not the football as it is known around the rest of the world. In other words, helmets, tights and an oval ball; not short-shorts, high-socks and a round ball!
Microsoft shows off Skype and more in Windows 8.1
The slow but steady plod towards Windows 8.1 continues. What began with leaks later became a full-blown Preview edition and has now made it back into leak status again with another build that hit the web unexpectedly. Couple that with a solid release date and you have almost everything you need to know.
While much was unveiled in the latest build, today Microsoft makes this official, announcing what it terms "one experience". This is an attempt to give users the same thing across devices, be it a computer, tablet or smartphone.
Google gives us all a laugh and raises money for charity with the Hangout Comedy Club
Right now in Edinburgh, the Fringe festival is taking place. Billed as the world's largest arts festival, this three week long extravaganza is home to the weird and the wacky, the silly and the serious, the new and the inventive. But what it's really known for is comedy; it's where many household names took their first steps on the road to fame, and huge numbers of big names come back year after year.
Thousands of shows take place in bars, basements, theatres, on street corners -- just about anywhere you can think of. The Fringe is famous the world over, and the Scottish capital swells in size as performers and fans travel from not only around the UK, but from all over the world. Sadly, not everyone who wants to make it to the festival is able to do so. Google thinks it has the answer in the form of the Hangout Comedy Club.
Google once again blocks YouTube app for Windows Phone
When I first got my Nokia Lumia 928, the YouTube app was already unavailable at the request of Google, so I never got a chance to try it. However, the Windows Phone community was quick to tell me how great it was. Sadly, it was replaced with a different "app" that only served as a shortcut to the mobile YouTube site.
Yesterday, the full version of the app returned to the Windows Phone Store so I excitedly downloaded it. However, the app never worked for me. Coincidentally, this was during the Outlook.com outage so I assumed it might be related. Today, I learn that they were not related -- Google has actually disabled the video sharing app!
Football Manager 2014 comes to Linux -- Tux goes for goal!
It was only six months ago that Steam officially launched for Linux as a direct result of Valve's dissatisfaction with Windows 8. Company co-founder Gabe Newell famously called the controversial operating system "a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space". As a result of Steam, Linux is finally getting taken seriously by game developers.
For the first time, the popular football management simulation franchise Football Manger is coming to Linux by way of Steam. My fellow Americans, this has nothing to do with the NFL, but instead true football, which we stateside call soccer.
HubSites lets local businesses harness the mobile web
The Texas-based marketing platform for small businesses Main Street Hub is introducing HubSites. These provide a mobile-friendly landing page to act as a link to a company's main site.
Features include a prominent click-to-call button, the ability to capture testimonials, Google Maps integration, a real-time Twitter feed and more.
Google web search gets Now functionality
Those on newer versions of Android are likely very familiar with Google Now, the increasingly more functional personal assistant for phones and tablets. Google has ambitions for this service that move beyond the mobile market and onto your computer via the company's website.
"Ever had trouble checking your flight’s status on the go because it meant digging through your email for the flight number? Or wanted to just quickly see whether your package would arrive on time, without having to look up the tracking info first? You’ve told us it would be much easier if you could skip the fuss and just ask Google", says Roy Livne, Product Manager at Google.
K-Lite Codec Pack bundles 32 and 64-bit codecs into a single package for the first time
Problems playing certain video or audio files on your PC? For a number of years now, K-Lite’s collection of Codec Packs have been the answer, making it possible to play most popular media formats. And now, with the launch of K-Lite Codec Pack 10.0, users will find it even simpler to play the formats they need.
Version 10’s headline feature is the incorporation of 32-bit and 64-bit codecs in a single package for convenience and flexibility, while the new version includes some universal filter updates, including LAV, xy-VSFilter and Icaros.
Most Commented Stories
© 1998-2024 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.