apps

Yes folks it’s finally here, the week that will see Microsoft launch Windows 8, spearheading its massive 2012 product launch schedule. It’s keystone of the ‘Three Screens & Cloud’ play and this is where we see how it’s all going to shake out.

The pre-orders for Surface have started and even run dry in some regions, invites to the various launch events have gone out and now it’s time to put all the cards on the table. With such a wide ranging spruce-up of the entire product line from Xbox to Windows Phone, we’re in for a wild ride. Windows 8 will be at the centre of these launches, not just because it’s Windows but because with it we will see a whole host of services light up to enable the entire eco system.

Reinstaller is a free little app available for Windows Phone that aids consumers in starting fresh on a new handset, or when reseting a Windows Phone. The app essentially does exactly what the name suggests - it reinstalls apps already purchased by connecting to windowsphone.com.

Once the user has logged in and connected Reinstaller to the official Windows Phone website, Reinstaller pulls down all previously installed apps (both paid and free downloads). Instead of searching the Store for each and every app you've previously owned, Reinstaller provides a useful shortcut.

Windows 8 has been pegged with the RTM title for some time but that does not mean it is really done. The code was simply ready to ship to PC makers and for developers to get busy creating apps.

The end user experience in Windows 8 has remained problematic, mainly due to the incomplete nature of the core app experiences when using the tile based WinRT interface. Whilst there have been a few minor updates nothing much has changed from when the OS was in its first public preview. All looks set to change as Microsoft just announced a slew of coming updates to the entire set of Microsoft WinRT apps.

A new menu option in Windows Phone 7.8 for sharing apps

When we covered the Windows Phone 7.8 custom ROM last week in our hands on video, one thing we missed that has been brought to our attention involves the Program list.

Evidently, when you press-n-hold any third party app within the jump list, you now have a new option besides the current Pin to Start, Rate and Review and Uninstall and that’s Share.

Windows Phone Central's London Travel Companion App Roundup

We've got a bonus Windows Phone Central Roundup for you today that focuses on travel apps, specifically London travel companions, for your Windows Phone.

When traveling through London it can prove to be baffling when attempting to make use of public transport - particularly the Underground system. There are a number of apps available on the Marketplace that each offer unique functionality and user interface thanks to Windows Phone. But which one should you choose? 

If only backing up was this easy

Continuing on with our series of Windows Phone how tos for those who are new to the platform, today we'll be looking at how to backup and restore our smartphones. Backing up is a chore than many have to undertake on their PC, whether it be apps, documents or photos from a memorable vacation - it's always best to have more than one copy of everything. The same goes for contents on your smartphone.

Should anything happen to your Windows Phone, or if you’d like to revert to an earlier snapshot, you’ll need a backup at hand to get everything working in perfect order. Unfortunately Microsoft doesn’t currently offer an official facility to manually backup a Windows Phone (not even in Zune), but luckily there are alternatives thanks to an active developing community.

With the launch of the new Lumia 920 and 820 Windows Phone 8 devices, Nokia has also announced new group of exclusive apps coming to the Lumia line of WIndows Phones. The apps making it to the demo during the Lumia showcase was Angry Birds Roost which will be Nokia only for the first three months of availability.

The new Lumia handsets will boast NFC technology and Nokia have secured exclusives on apps that take advantage of this. YouSendIt which will also be a three-month exclusive will allow NFC file transfers as well a NFC travel app from Michelin which will allow retrieval of specific information at Michelin 2012 NFC enabled restaurants.

We're back again with more spam (or useless app deployment) rants, folks. Apologies in advance but it really tickles the annoyed spot when we come across developers who either believe it's perfectly fine to publish copyrighted content with other owned properties, or simply launch themselves on a crap-posting-spree.

The last time we touched on spam itself, we were following the work of Eric_Rulz, but don't worry if you missed our coverage and investigation as his account is still present as well as the apps he produced. This is a developer who was obviously on a path to cause trouble by building and releasing apps that hold little (if any) functionality that's useful for consumers. In fact, he has an app called Spam.

Unfortunately we've noticed some more extreme levels of spam, from a developer called Bhavana Khatri.