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When Cut the Rope: Experiments arrived on Windows Phone last month, fans of the Cut the Rope series were of course pleased to see another installment on our platform. But the sequel’s arrival also reminded us that the first Cut the Rope had yet to receive an update since launch. The original game on Windows Phone had only 275 levels - 75 less than other versions.

As mobile Xbox gamers surely know, Rovio has been busy updating several of its Angry Birds games lately. Now it looks like Russian developer ZeptoLab has decided to join in the fun, because they’ve updated Cut the Rope at last! The update brings our version up to par with the iOS and Android games and gives players a great reason to rejoin Om Nom on his quest for candy.

It's been almost three years since Windows Phone succeeded Windows Mobile and now Microsoft has managed to take third position from BlackBerry in the global market for Q1 2013 shipments, according to IDC. The gap between the two platforms has been closing in for some time and with Nokia's strong marketing push, Windows Phone is now well on its way to the iOS and Android pool party.

Nokia has published an update to the Windows Phone Store for Access Point, a system app for consumers who utilise more than a single SIM. Access Point essentially makes it easy to manage multiple mobile operator settings for MMS, Internet and more. So what's new in version 3.5.2.8?

Microsoft has unleashed this weeks Windows Phone Red Stripe Deals. Pricing has been slashed on the Xbox game Super Monkey Ball 2, glƏƏk!, and Hockey Nations PP.

For those not familiar, every week Microsoft discounts the pricing on a Windows Phone Xbox title as well as a app and game from independent developers. You easily identify them by the red stripe that surrounds the app/games Store icon tile.

The Xbox Windows Phone version of Monster Burner started out as a free game before jumping up to 99 cents a few days later. Like most freemium games, it features In App Purchases that speed up player’s progress in the game. Using the in-game currency, you can buy upgrades to increase your firepower and life or single-use items to slow down the enemies and make tough levels a bit more manageable.

The game doesn’t force players to buy coins; you’ll earn some every time you complete a level. But while the first upgrade of any type sells for a reasonable price, subsequent upgrades cost astronomical prices. Even if you repeat an easy and high-coin level like Plains 3, it would still take hours of grinding to afford the best upgrades on your own.

Fear not! We’ve caught wind of a trick that reduces grinding times tenfold. Using this method, you could easily earn an average of 10,000 coins every two minutes! Read on for our full guide and video.

Memorylage is a photography app for your Windows Phone 8 device that lets you view your photo albums in collage style, create collages, share your photos and use them as your lockscreen collage-styled wallpaper. It's a nice alternative to the native Pictures Hub and was recently updated to version 1.2.

The update brings a handful of new features and performance tweaks. Lockscreen collages can now be automatically generate (you can still manually create them) and updated periodically from your collage library. You can now adjust the margin between images and select which photo albums you want the collage generator to pull the photos from.

Last week the official YouTube app for Windows Phone received a major overhaul. Version 3.0 of the app brought some awesome Windows Phone 8 features like the ability to play under Lockscreen, download videos for offline play, pinnable channels and more. It went from web-wrapper to awesome with the recent update. Google now wants the app removed from the Store for violating YouTube’s API and Terms of Service.

Like a lot of you, we’ve been yearning for Microsoft to come up with a gift card solution for Windows Phone. Sunny skies ahead. Looks like Microsoft is finally gearing up to drop the Points system on Xbox and replace it with gift cards and cash.

It’s time for another new Xbox Windows Phone game this week. Sadly, Gameloft’s N.O.V.A. 3 didn’t make it out yet, but we still expect it at the end of May or early June. Instead, this week’s release is the not too surprising but still appreciated Angry Birds Rio from Rovio.

I say not surprising because two weeks ago Microsoft and Nokia both announced that Rio would be coming very soon. They weren’t lying! Meanwhile, Angry Birds Rio has also flown in on Windows Phone 7 without Xbox Live features, just as we predicted. Now then, what makes this Rio game different from the 1500 other official Angry Birds titles already available on Windows Phone? Read on to find out.

Developers have a hard time getting word out about their work, especially since the platform is still relatively young. Here in the UK we have the Windows Phone User Group, headed up by Matt Lacey (@mrlacey). The monthly meetings enable developers to showcase their apps and / or work in all areas of Windows Phone. We tag along each time to offer more support for developers and to see what's new in the community.

It's a perfect opportunity to get involved and also to meet ourselves for some coverage on this very website. This coming Monday (May 20th), the group is heading to Nokia's new offices in Paddington, London. We encourage all developers to register, come along and demonstrate their work to the audience. As an incentive, there's a special prize on offer too for the best app. Who doesn't want free promotion these days?

Vox Communications is planning to support Windows Phone with its mobile VoIP service. The company currently supports Android, but it has since revealed that plans are set to launch versions on other platforms in the future. The first platform to receive such blessing will be iOS, but we are likely to see BlackBerry and Windows Phone on the horizon thereafter.