apps

HeyWire (see website) is a cross-platform app that enables users to text each other for free from the US and 45 other countries.  It sends SMS over any internet connection from iOS, Android, "dumb phones," and now, Windows Phone. 

"We are very excited to provide the only free texting app in the Microsoft Marketplace -- a platform that Gartner predicts will capture the number two smartphone spot by 2015," said HeyWire founder and CEO Meredith Flynn-Ripley. "This was an important service for our company to bring to consumers, which continues HeyWire's mission to facilitate free global communications amongst groups of friends. Now, WP7 users can send and receive text messages with friends on multiple devices, quickly and easily."

HeyWire not only lets you connect across mobile platforms, but Twitter as well.  It has a simple, straight-forward user interface and can be downloaded for free here. Thanks, Amir, for the tip!

Our awesomely named fried Luigi Violin recently published a couple of updates for his WP7applist app. The first, version 1.3, added Mango support but had a few kinks which version 1.4 irons out.

WP7applist version 1.3 release notes:

• Added Fast App Switching support
• Graphical makeover
• Improved UX
• Infinite scrolling lists
• Performance improvements

WP7applist version 1.4 release notes:

• Revised graphics
• Dark theme added
• Various graphical improvements
• Better ad placement
• Fixed UI lagging introduced in v1.3

The new theme really does look much slicker and more in tune with the general Metro theme – just check out this comparison shot versus the original:

As for the ads, they appear at the top of the screen when browsing the app’s various subsections (Games, Price Drops, etc.) but not on the main menu. This keeps the main area attractive and clutter free – a nice compromise between the user experience and needs of the developer.

WP7applist is an incredibly useful tool for discovering new apps and games. You can quickly view price drops, apps gone free, the most popular apps in a variety of categories, and lots more. Each app page lists screenshots and user reviews - just like the real Marketplace browser, but much less cluttered. Other features include a Live tile that displays lots of useful marketplace information and the ability to browse Marketplaces from multiple regions.

WP7applist is free. Grab it here from the Marketplace.

Microsoft's Ben Rudolph tweeted to let Windows Phone retailers that there's a new app designed just for them.  Retail Insider offers vendors news, tips, info about the Windows Phone products they sell.  It also alerts them to promotions, contests and learning content exclusively for retail sellers.  The app fully integrates with Facebook, Twitter and email.  Key Features include:

• Multiple Live tiles you can pin to your Start Screen that show the latest content updates
• A device library with demo suggestions and selling tips
• A curated list of the best Windows Phone apps with links to Marketplace
• Easy sharing of app content via Facebook, Twitter and e-mail
• An aggregated stream of updates from Microsoft’s social media channels for retail sellers
• One-click access to customer demo videos that help you show your customers the best features of Windows Phone
• Built-in Windows Phone FAQ and quick links to step-by-step how-to’s

You can download for free here.

Cloud-based help desk provider Zendesk has released a version of their mobile app for WP7, complete with live tiles and Mango support.  Zendesk is a service that allows companies to host, log and track support tickets, be it for IT, customer service, or internal business.  With the mobile app, support representatives easily view and modify their tickets, as well as respond to them.  Simply download the app and log in to your account.  The full feature list is as follows:

• Access all your support ticket views
• View and update comments, CCs, tags, and ticket fields
• Apply predefined responses, or macros, to tickets with frequently asked questions
• View all support ticket events and notifications
• Pin ticket views and specific tickets to the start screen as Live Tiles for easy access
• Easily bookmark a ticket for future reference
• Search support tickets
• Upload and view attachments on tickets
• Take a photo and attach it to a ticket

If you use Zendesk already you can get the mobile app for free here.  Not a user yet?  Sign up for a 30-day trial.

XDA forum member Thunder_ has created an app called Office File Uploader that allows you to move MS Office files directly from your PC to your phone's Office Hub.  Using it is easy. Simply extract the ZIP file from the source link below, connect your phone to your PC and double-click the bookloader.exe file.  Once connected, go to the Office tab and choose what file you want to add to your device by clicking on the upload arrow icon at the bottom.  Make sure your phone is not screen-locked.

Thunder_ discovered that Office File Uploader will also port PDFs over to the Office Hub, which displays them with the red PDF icon that launches Adobe Reader.  However, because the Adobe Reader app does not have access to the My Documents folder on the phone it fails to open them.

Source: XDA; Via: Plaffo

Happy Holidays everyone! With some of our readers finding a new Windows Phone under the tree or getting their Windows Phone Marketplace gift card in the mail, we thought it was a good time to throw out some app suggestions. We've polled our staff and have come up with a few games and apps that we think every Windows Phone should have. Or in the least, we highly recommend you give them a try.

We haven't been covering the whole "Marketplace hits XXX" for awhile now, mostly because it got old, but we're returning for 'the big fiddy' aka 50,000. According to All About Windows Phone, the app store is now at 50,126 items with 17k apps being added within the last 90 days. In fact, though it took a year to hit 40,000 apps in the Marketplace, another 10,000 were added just in the last 40 days, which hints at a strong improvement in rate-of-growth.

However, some caveats do apply here. While there are over 50k apps, not all are available in all regions and some have been pulled by the publisher or Microsoft, meaning they are no longer available. In that sense, the numbers are a little more sobering: "US (42,655), UK (40,305), France (39,235), Spain (37,027), Italy (36,944), Germany (36,958), Australia (37,024), India (36,752) and Singapore (36,922)".

All About Windows Phone also points out though that average number of submissions is now 265 a day which is almost double what it was a month ago when it was just 165--that increase in submissions is most likely due to increased awareness since the Gen 2 devices launched, especially Nokia's push in Europe and Asia.

Other interesting stats note that 58% of apps are free on the Windows Phone Marketplace, with 14% being paid with free trial and 29% are just paid. This figure puts WP7 right in between Android (69% free/31% paid) and iOS (43% free/57% paid).

Finally, rate of growth is important to look at with Windows Phone taking 14 months to reach 50k while Android took 19 months and iOS did it in just 12. The Android numbers show how even a slow-start can lead to explosive growth when all the right pieces are in place (e.g. device availability, advertising, etc.) while iOS was a bit different since it already had around 4 million users even before it launched the Marketplace (that's actually quite impressive). Sill, the Windows Phone Marketplace numbers show very strong growth and it is still very much a competitor against Android and iOS--given enough time.

Source: All About Windows Phone; Thanks, James, for the tip!

Should you be looking for some creative festive fun, then look no further. The above video, directed and produced by "WPMom", features 10 applications and a little girl performing "Jingle Bells". The apps used in the video can be found below (in order of appearance):

• Xmas Tambourine
• Sleigh
• Sleigh Bells Ring
• Toy Xylophone
• Christmas Lyrics
• Christmas Bells Free
• Holiday Musicbox
• Happy Xmas Game
• Holidays Slurpy
• Tiny Christmas Tree

Anything to get everyone in the Christmas spirit!

Source: YouTube (WindowsPhoneParent), via: WPSauce

Celltrac Software is working on the Windows Phone App CloudMusic, a SkyDrive music app, and is looking for a few beta testers. The application taps into your SkyDrive account and allows you to play any music files that you have stored in the cloud.

We've gotten a sneak peak at CloudMusic and the app is laid out in simple fashion with pages for your SkyDrive music collection, what is now playing, recently played songs, and new songs. The app does require you to organize your music in a specific manner in order for CloudMusic to find the tunes.

Just tinkering with the Beta, it does have room for improvement but a nice step in the right direction. Songs took a while to load and you've got to get the music file organization just right. If you're interested in being a beta tester for CloudMusic just email your Windows Live ID to support@celltracsoftware.com.