DEAL OF THE WEEK: Save 70% on the DICOTA Hard Cover for Nokia Lumia 900!

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Liquid Daffodil, the developer behind popular apps including Unification, tweepgods, Add to Contacts and more, has returned with another FUN4FANS special, where numerous apps have been made available for free. This price alteration will last for 24 hours on affected apps, detailed in this news bulletin. This isn't the first (or the last) time the developer has rewarded consumers with attractive price drops.

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Want some free Lumias? Of course you do! AT&T currently has the Nokia flagship Lumia 920 Windows Phone listed for free when taken out with a two-year contract. Checking out the official online store will present one with an online discount that drives down the price of the handset with only the contract to be added to the monthly bills.

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The popular Windows Phone instant messenger IM+ is currently on sale. Both the free and premium versions of the app were recently updated to support and take advantage of Windows Phone 8. If you've been keeping an eye on the price for a sale or currently use the free version, now is the time to upgrade, folks.

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Mindbloom (www.mindbloom.com) has released its first Windows Phone app. Titled Juice, the app is an interactive energy tracker to help consumers maintain a healthy lifestyle. While it's not for those who are serious about fitness (there are other solutions for such activities and training - look back at our Mobile Nations Fitness Month for more), Juice will certainly cater for those who are interested in how to improve general health.

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Nokia is spending the morning getting more updates out for Windows Phone consumers and the company doesn't appear to be halting as we've just got word that PhotoBeamer, Smart Shoot and Cinemagraph have all been bumped to new versions. So what's new in the latest releases? 

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We're about do for another Windows Phone Central podcast. Join Jay Bennett and myself for our discussions of current Windows Phone news, apps and Microsoft.

There will be live streaming video for the 'cast and a chat room to interact with us (and yourselves) so pop on by, say hello or ask us some questions.

Just refresh the site sometime before 5PM ET (or click here for your time) and you'll see the embedded video and chat.

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Hey developers, if you ever wondered what we at Windows Phone Central look for when reviewing apps and games, you’ll want to check out the latest episode of the AppBizDev podcast, run by Alan Mendelevich (AdDuplex) and Senior Technical Evangelist for Windows 8 in Microsoft's Developer and Platform Evangelism group, Ben Riga.

In case you haven’t heard of it before, AppBizDev (www.appbizdev.com) focuses on the business end Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8—advertising and monetization. It’s a solid tool for tips and advice how to make the most of your app strategy.

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Life as Lions is an up and coming rock band from Los Angeles, but the members are also major Windows Phone fans. The group decided when they moved from Houston to Los Angeles they would record the journey using their Lumia 920 smartphones and use the footage for a music video. The above is the end result.

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Oh, Canada! If you've been looking for a way to hop onto the Windows Phone bandwagon for cheap, then look no further than your local Rogers, Koodo, or Telus store. Nokia has announced that these three Canadian carriers have just picked up the Nokia Lumia 520.

The ever-affordable Lumia 520 is available starting today on Rogers for free with a three year contract or $199.99 outright. If Koodo is more your flavor, the 520 official launches there on May 9th for $150 without a contract or free on contract (though in reality you can already order one). And if your carrier of choice is Telus, you'll be able to pick up the 520 for $149 with a pre-paid plan.

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Pic Lock Ultimate updated, import bug squashed

Pic Lock Ultimate is a secure way to secure photos on your Windows Phone 8 device. Not only can you store images in a secure environment but you also have a few anti-intruder features that help Pic Lock Ultimate really stand out.

A recent update brings the Windows Phone 8 app to version 1.0.1 and addresses one of the bugs we noticed in our initial review.

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As well as Ringtone Maker, Nokia has also pushed out an update for its beta instant messaging solution. We previously looked at Nokia Chat when it was released for Windows Phone 8 last month, but the app was limited to a select number of markets. The company has now increased that pool to cover more regions.

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Nokia has a number of events lined up for the month of May, including a global announcement tomorrow in New Delhi, India. The company has published a new post on its official blog to detail webcast times for those unable to attend. What are we expecting to see from the company? We'll put some money down on new Asha products to follow the recently announced Asha 210 or even a low-end Lumia Windows Phone.

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Nokia has released a new beta version of its Ringtone Maker over on the Nokia Beta Labs. The app enables consumers to create ringtones from locally stored music files, removing the requirement to upload, edit and save files using various free web services. Numerous tools and controls are available to edit the chosen file.

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It looks like Nokia has given up on trying to keep their new Lumia 928, destined for Verizon, hidden any longer as they have tweeted about a new YouTube video showing off its low light capability.

Filmed in Farmingdale, New York at Adventureland (a place that is just 2 miles from where a certain Editor lives, ahem), Nokia took the phone on a literal rollercoaster ride at night to brag about their PureView camera with optical image stabilization.

Needless to say, it’s impressive.

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Microsoft hasn’t been shying away from the competition lately. Last week they finally hit a home run with an ad for Windows Phone. So here’s one highlighting the strengths of Bing over Google. It also happens to showcase a killer, but underused feature of Windows Phone. Videos below.

The following videos aren’t HD. Sorry, we got them from a reader before they were hidden from the Bing YouTube account. They were prematurely posted there, but not before our man grabbed them for us. Check them out.

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With Facebook Beta for Windows Phone 8 (and soon for Windows Phone 7) becoming more mainstream on the platform, one can’t help but notice all of the copycat apps on the Store, causing brand confusion.

One devilish one is literally called “Facebook WP8 beta”, in an obvious attempt to steer naïve people towards their app.

That’s not to say there aren’t some genuine attempts to make a better Facebook app for Windows Phone users, indeed there are several with nothing but good intent by the developer. But at the end of the day, corporations need to protect their brand and with 41 clone apps on the Store competing with their official one, Facebook has evidently had enough.

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A common complaint among most of you is that Microsoft sometimes appears to be lacking dedication to its own platform. When a Microsoft owned property, like Skype, gets a feature on iOS before Windows Phone it’s hard to argue. Apps like Photosynth took months after Windows Phone 8 launched to come to the Store. So when Microsoft launches a new game Halo game you’d expect something to happen with the Halo Waypoint app right? That didn’t exactly happen last year, but the app was updated updated this week. Let’s see what’s new.

So Microsoft Studios updates the Halo Waypoint app. An app that hasn’t seen any love or attention since Halo 4 launched. The latest update (version 1.7) finally includes “stats” for Halo 4.

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App counts don’t matter but so-called “flagship apps” do. Ever since Windows Phone 7.x came out nearly three years ago, the “break moment” has been anxiously anticipated. That’s the instant where things click with consumers and the phones become an accepted, viable option for people to consider when shopping—the third way, if you will.

There have been false alarms in the past: Windows Phone 7.5 “Mango”, Nokia’s Lumia 900 (with AT&T’s “Hero” status) and then finally Windows Phone 8 and the Lumia 920.

Every one of those turning points it felt as if Windows Phone would finally catch on and go mainstream, but alas it never happened. Granted, with the Windows Phone 8/Lumia 920 combo, Microsoft and company had their best opportunity. But even then, things have been slower than expected despite the award winning OS and hardware.

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Nokia unveiled DaVinci Pinball on April 23rd for Nokia Windows Phones and now the game is on sale for consumers. The game is themed around Leonardo DaVinci’s inventions and sketches. The wooden table is chock full of levers, pulleys, and other era-appropriate gadgets. The inventor himself also provides vocal narration, but it's essentially a pinball game.

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Windows Phone head Joe Belfiore has announced on Twitter that the recent updates for Microsoft's Facebook and YouTube apps will be made available to those who are on Windows Phone 7. Currently only those with the latest hardware can enjoy the added features and improvements, but this will soon change. 

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We’ve had a few tips over the last few days about a new Xbox Avatar prop featuring a bold Yellow Lumia 920 showing up on people’s Xbox 360s. Evidently, the mysterious offering appears in the “Advertisement” section on your Xbox Home page, allowing folks to add it to their collection and showing off some Windows Phone pride.

Alas, none of us have seen here at Windows Phone Central on our consoles, despite the occasional “refresh” of our Xbox Home (Menu Guide > Y button). That makes this addition quite the rare one to actually find, and despite our attempts to get a Store URL to manually add it, we have come up with nothing.

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When it rains, it pours. Today, the official YouTube app for Windows Phone 8 has received a massive makeover, bringing new features and becoming more than just a web-wrapper for the popular video streaming site.

Version 3.0 is now going live in the Store (depending on region) and brings a new UI, High, Medium and Low video quality settings, pinnable channels, ability to download videos for offline play, play under Lockscreen and more. Indeed, it’s just about everything most casual users could want in an official YouTube client.

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One day after Windows Phone 8 users received the new Hulu Plus app, they’re being treated again to another major app: Foursquare. While Windows Phone has had an official Foursquare app for some time on the platform, the new version is a complete overhaul.

Co-developed with Microsoft and Nokia, the new app is a completely new UI, is much faster to use and is simply gorgeous.

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Some mixed news for Viber users on Windows Phone. Although we were recently blessed with a fully-functional Windows Phone 8 “HD” version of the increasing popular VOIP app, we’re still lagging a bit behind our Android and iOS brethren in terms of features and release cycles.

Version 3.0 for Apple and Google devices went live today, bringing new features including more languages, video messages, online status, “last online” feature that shows how long your contact has been offline, brand new stickers, improved UI with an “enhanced photo experience,” and a few other changes.

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Many of our readers have noticed that Chronos Calendar is no longer available on the Windows Phone Store. The app received a major upgrade only yesterday, but the developer has found a bug within the app and has pulled Chronos Calendar until an update is published. If you've already updated or downloaded the latest version, the developer has offered a quick solution to avoid issues.

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