Microsoft has posted the change log for the Windows Phone 7.10.8858.136, otherwise known as the Windows Phone 7.8 update.
While the hardware of our old Windows Phone 7.5 devices couldn't support a full-blown update to Windows Phone 8, the 7.8 update offers us a few performance tweaks but mostly cosmetic changes. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.
By George Ponder, Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 at 5:33 pm
If you've checked your Windows Phone 7.5 device for the 7.8 update with no success, you may want to try to force the process, just as we did with other Windows Phone updates like Mango.
This is a little different than downloading and installing Windows Phone 7.8 manually, which we reported on earlier. With this method you're basically tricking the Microsoft servers to recognize your Windows Phone and initiating the update early. Think of it as cutting in line (and Microsoft is okay with this, no worries).
The other benefit with this method (versus the CAB one) is it means you are getting the official carrier/OEM update that usually includes the firmware too. If using just CABs you are updating the OS but not any device specific software. That's not a bad thing but it's really not ideal.
Another fine day for rumors, and today we have a fairly big one. Chinese tech site WPDang just announced that according to their resources, the Windows Phone 7.8 OS update will be pushed to all older generation devices (Windows Phone 7.5 and older) in every corner of this world at about 18:00 GMT, January 30, 2013.
Considering you guys could be located anywhere, we'll not convert that into some other time zone. Instead let's just say that if this rumour is indeed true, your old Windows Phone will receive a welcomed update in 5 hours. Not every phone will get the push exactly on time though. Like each update before, Windows Phone 7.8 will roll out in 4 waves, with the whole process concluding in 3 weeks.
If there’s one thing we can count on from indie developer Karios Games, it’s frequent software updates. Karios’ standout jumping game MonsterUp Adventures has already received two substantial updates – one to ease the game’s difficulty and another that greatly improved its boss battles. One aspect of the game still needed tweaking though: its in-game purchases. That’s just what the new version 1.4 update addresses – for Windows Phone 8 users.
Full update details and a slice of MonsterUp news after the break.
Beem Plus is a Windows Phone music app that allows users to tap into Digitally Imported music sites and stream various EDM radio stations to their Windows Phones. The DI.FM client was updated the other day to version 1.5 to address a handful of bugs, tweak performance and now supports Last.fm scrobbling.
Scrobbling is basically the system building a profile based on the music you play regularly and makes recommendations based on that profile. With the update, you no longer need to have a specific track name written in your notebook, instead just have it listed in your "Recently Played" table. You can either perform manual scrobbling by tapping the sharing button above the heart (in the station player) or enable auto-scrobbling where, for each opened station, the current track details will be automatically sent to your Last.fm account.
I regret to report that the Xbox Windows Phone game release drought continues unabated this week, making the fifth week in a row without a new release (not counting Nokia exclusives). But it’s not all bad news. For one, we have the awesome cross-platform Skulls of the Shogun coming out next week on January 30th. And this week, Microsoft will be throwing Windows Phone 8 users a bone…
Following on the heels of yesterday’s Let’s Golf 2, another game gains Windows Phone 8 compatibility tomorrow: Shuffle Party from Babaroga and Microsoft Studios. Shuffle Party will be free as always, and is probably the third best free mobile Xbox game after Wordament and AlphaJax.
Wheel of Wealth is a popular, turn based (both local and online) Windows Phone game that is modeled after the Wheel of Fortune games. You spin the wheel of wealth to determine your earnings for guessing the correct letters in a word puzzle. You play against up to two opponents,or against the phone, in a three round game.
Wheel of Wealth was recently updated to version 2.6 to resolve a nasty bug that crashed the game when you went bankrupt. You can still lose all your money but that should be all that is lost. The update also fixes a few other bugs and throws in a few performance tweaks for good measure.
By Paul Acevedo, Wednesday, Jan 16, 2013 at 8:40 pm
After today’s disappointing news of another week without a new Xbox game for Windows Phone, our gaming readers could probably use some cheering up. Well, I’m pleased to share some win-win information with you now. Not one, but two partially delisted Xbox games for Windows Phone have just become Windows Phone 8 compatible: Feed Me Oil and Parking Mania, both from Chillingo.
That brings the list of incompatible games down to 23, the lowest it has been since Microsoft’s new mobile OS debuted. Hopefully it continues to shrink in the months ahead!
By George Ponder, Wednesday, Jan 16, 2013 at 3:32 pm
Note+ is a fairly simple note taking app for your Windows Phone 8 device. The app allows you not only to type out notes on the go but also dictate the text and use voice commands to create, open, delete, share and read your notes.
When it was first updated to Windows Phone 8 there were a few bugs in the voice recognition. The version 2.2 update addresses those bugs and as an added bonus, the $.99 Windows Phone 8 app is free.
It’s always a good news/bad news situation when it comes to Xbox game compatibility and Windows Phone 8. Nearly every time a game gains compatibility, another title is discovered with incompatibility issues and subsequently pulled (see this article for the full incompatibility list). That story repeats itself again today: Turn N Run from MaxNick has finally received its Windows Phone 8 compatibility patch. Ghostscape from Psionic Games however, is now restricted to Windows Phone 7 devices.
As if someone was reading our minds the Windows Phone 8 photography app, HDR Photo Camera, has been updated to add post-processing and flash control to the app.
HDR Photo Camera still has a simple interface with settings that allow you to adjust the processing parameters before you capture the photo. With the version 2.1.0.21 update you can now perform post-processing adjustments for brightness, contrast and saturation.
ProShot is a nice camera app alternative for your Windows Phone 8 device and a recent update hopes to add more stability to things. The version 2.0 update should make the app more stable on HTC and Nokia Windows Phone 8 devices but the app is still not compatible with the Samsung ATIV S.
Along with the bug fixes and stability improvements the update also brings a few new features to ProShot.
Prepare yourselves, ladies and gentlemen. WhatsApp has announced a number of releases are in the pipeline for its Windows Phone client, which are said to contain improvements for the overall user experience.
The popular communications app was made available for Windows Phone 8 just last month, following a period where the app was not available for consumers on the latest version of Microsoft's mobile platform.
Evernote, the popular note taking app for your Windows Phone, has been updated to version 2.5.4 and adds a few handy features to the app.
The update adds Evernote Business support to the Windows Phone app and allows you to create searchable Business Notebooks, in addition to the Personal Notebooks. Premium Evernote users now have a PIN Lock that allow you to secure the Evernote app from prying eyes. The PIN Lock will kick in automatically after ten minutes of inactivity.
Hello Friends is a really nifty Windows Phone lockscreen app that generates a wallpaper based off your Windows Phone contact photos. While the original release had Hello Friends only compatible with Windows Phone 8 devices, the latest update brings the app to our Windows Phone 7 devices.
Version 3.0 of Hello Friends is now available for the Windows Phone 7 devices and while it won't automatically change your lockscreen wallpaper, it allows you to create the image collage, save it to your Pictures Hub and set it manually as your lockscreen wallpaper as you would any other photo.
627.AM is a nifty daily assistant that includes a wake-up alarm, daily weather forecasts, and notes. While the free, ad-supported version is still Windows Phone 7.x compatible, the paid version of 627.AM was recently updated to Windows Phone 8.
The version 1.6 update for the paid version of 627.AM adds fast app resume support, a few bug fixes, resolution support for 720 HD screens and live tile support.
AppoinTile is a Windows Phone 8 app that you can use as an alternative to the native calendar tile and bring a little more information about your schedule to your Start Screen. AppoinTile's live tile can display up to four upcoming events with the backside of the tile displaying a 42 day calendar with markers on days with activity.
AppoinTile was recently updated to version 2.1 and brings lockscreen support to the table. AppoinTile's live tile will show up to four upcoming appoints and the new lockscreen support will display three upcoming appointments and the number of appointments left in the day.
Weather Smiles is a fairly simple weather app for your Windows Phone that has been recently updated to support Windows Phone 8. Version 2.0 adds multi-sized live tiles, support for all Windows Phone 8 resolutions, and lockscreen support to the mix.
Weather Smiles supports two locations for your weather forecasts, your current location and another that you choose. The app will display the current conditions and a five day forecast for each location. Live tiles will display current conditions (and forecast depending on the size) for each location as well.
By Rich Edmonds, Wednesday, Jan 9, 2013 at 2:08 pm
As well as a number of Windows Phone app updates, new releases have also been hitting the Windows 8 Store, which include both Fantweestic! and the official OneNote app. So what's new in the new versions for both Windows apps?
CameraPro is a feature rich camera app for your Windows Phone 8 device. An update is being pushed out for CameraPro bringing the app to version 1.0.3.
The update should fix the stability issues experiences on HTC Windows Phone 8 devices (8X and 8S) and the Samsung ATIV S. It also adds options to switch between fixed exposure times and exposure compensation for image bracketing and adds the option for manual white balance. The developer does note that the manual white balance feature does not work properly on Nokia Windows Phones.
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