You may have heard the rumors of Microsoft building their own phone. Many have dubbed it the “Surface Phone”, taken from the name of Microsoft’s soon to launch tablets. A... Does a Surface Phone make sense?

You may have heard the rumors of Microsoft building their own phone. Many have dubbed it the “Surface Phone”, taken from the name of Microsoft’s soon to launch tablets. A…
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Pirate Cat gets improved features and a new bonus item

By
Sasu Kemppainen
– August 6, 2012Posted in: Games, News

Remember this stylish game? Pirate Cat has been updated to version 1.1, which gives you a nice excuse to get your game on! The new features are:

  • New bonus item to unlock: time travel
  • Live tile for the game, pin it to your start screen to see at any time your best score and ranking
  • Improved the highscores display
  • Lot of optimizations to run more smoothly on first gen devices

In Pirate Cat, your goal is to fly to the moon in search of treasure, using a pair of handmade wings. Maintain the wings by collecting feathers from birds, or you’ll fall! If you didn’t already get the game while it was free, head out to the Marketplace!

You can get the game here, for $0.99, or by scanning the tag below.

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Got 30 days? Make an app!

By
Nelson Ocampo
– August 5, 2012Posted in: News

Generation App is Microsoft’s web resource focused on helping developers, and potential developers, navigate the app creation process from beginning to end. It’s a handy site where you can find a lot of the information you need all in one place.

In June, Microsoft launched Generation App by announcing a “30 to Launch” promotion, where they would give potential developers resources and support to create the app they’ve always wanted.  At the end, the top app developers would end up winning prizes.

It is too late to enter this particular contest, but the resources are still available at Generation App to help you create that app of your dreams. After all, creating something new and awesome is the real prize, isn’t it? If you can commit yourself for 30 days, then Microsoft has the resources you need to get an app up and running.

The site has two main sections: one focuses on Windows 8 app development, while the other focuses on Windows phone. Many of the things you learn will apply to both.  So if you create your app for one of these platforms, you should be able to get another version of that app up and running on the other platform fairly quickly.

Give it a try and tell us what you come up with!

Source: Generation App

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A trademark issue forces Microsoft to abandon the “Metro”-term

By
Sasu Kemppainen
– August 4, 2012Posted in: News

It seems that Microsoft needs to start thinking of a new name for their Metro user interface. Apparently, a threat of legal action from a German company, Metro AG, has prompted Microsoft to completely drop the term. A technology news and information website, Ars Technica, was able to get a short comment from a Microsoft spokesman:

“We have used ‘Metro style’ as a code name during the product development cycle across many of our product lines. As we get closer to launch and transition from industry dialog to a broad consumer dialog we will use our commercial names.”

Despite this, Metro was obviously more than just a code name for the UI and it’s a shame to see it go. Microsoft is expected to reveal a new name next week, so hopefully we won’t have to settle for “Windows 8-Style UI”.

Source: Ars Technica, WPCentral

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Deal of the week: Need for Speed Undercover

By
Sasu Kemppainen
– August 3, 2012Posted in: Games, News

Every week, the Windows Phone marketplace puts a new title on sale. Don’t miss your chance!

This week’s deal is Need for Speed: Undercover by Electronic Arts. You can now get the game for $2.99, discounted from $4.99.

In this game, you take the role of a police officer, infiltrating a criminal organization. The goal is to gain their respect by taking on different jobs and competing in races around the open world of Tri-City. Drive like crazy, avoid cops and try to keep your car in one piece!

If it’s speed you need, check this game out here for $2.99, or scan the tag below.

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Interview: Jake Kazdal, Skulls of the Shogun design lead and art director

By
Sasu Kemppainen
– July 30, 2012Posted in: Features, Interviews

The core of 17-BIT: Borut Pfeifer, Jake Kazdal and Ben Vance

We recently had a chance to conduct a quick interview with Jake Kazdal of 17-BIT, the creators of the much hyped, turn based strategy game Skulls of the Shogun. Jake told us about his experiences with working on the game, his stance on Windows Phone as a gaming platform, and gave us some hints as to what the future holds for Skulls of the Shogun and 17-BIT.

You’ve been working on three different versions of the game pretty much simultaneously. Have you had any big challenges with this development strategy?

We’ve had to spend a lot of time tuning the 3 different UI’s into account, while developing all three simultaneously.  I would prefer to do one at a time next game!

What specific things did you have to consider when designing the Windows Phone version?

We were surprised with the performance, it was much less optimization than we would have forecast.  The textures had to be resized lower, but because the resolution of the screen is lower you really can’t tell.  A few of our shaders had to be redone but overall its basically the exact same game as the PC/XBLA version!

What are your thoughts on Windows Phone as a platform for video games and game development?

Microsoft is taking the multi-screen approach very seriously, and we’re proud to be part of that first wave.  I think the future of the Windows 8 phone being very easy to work cross platform with Xbox and Win 8 will mean more great, console-like experiences on phone.  My biggest dream is for Microsoft to release a “Gamers Phone” that has buttons, dpads and access to XBLA!  That would be the go-to gaming experience for me over everything!

Read the rest of this entry »

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Gabe Newell calls Windows 8 “a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space”

By
Sasu Kemppainen
– July 28, 2012Posted in: News

The co-founder and managing director of Valve, Gabe Newell, gave a small interview at this year’s Casual Connect video game conference and it wasn’t pretty! When addressing Valve’s interest in developing games and services for Linux, he came out with some pretty rough criticism of Windows 8:

“I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space. I think we’ll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that’s true, then it will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality.”

Gabe is not the only big name Windows 8 skeptic, however. The executive vice president of game design at Blizzard Entertainment, Rob Pardo, seems to agree with his sentiments:

“nice interview with Gabe Newell – “I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space* – not awesome for Blizzard either”

Sounds bad, but perhaps it’s still too early to make any serious judgements. Gaben has been very vocal about his criticisms of different platforms in the past, calling the Playstation 3 “a waste of everyone’s time”, for example. He did warm up to the console later on, releasing a Steamworks supported PS3 version of Portal 2. There’s definitely hope for Windows 8 still, as long as Microsoft takes heed of the criticism.

Don’t worry, Gabe! We still love you!

Source: AllThingsD.com, Twitter, Daily Tech

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Deal of the Week: geoDefense

By
Sasu Kemppainen
– July 26, 2012Posted in: Games, News

Every week, the Windows Phone marketplace puts a new title on sale. Don’t miss your chance!

This week’s deal is geoDefense by Critical Thought Games. You can now get the game for $1.99, discounted from $2.99.

Being a tower defense game, geoDefense is simple, but visually pleasing and addicting. The creeps move in predestined paths towards their goal and it’s your job to stop them by strategically placing different defense turrets.

Check out this game here for $1.99, or scan the tag below.

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Free W Phone 8 app lets you try out the new start screen

By
Sasu Kemppainen
– July 24, 2012Posted in: Apps, News

If you can’t wait to get your hands on the new start screen of Windows Phone 8 and 7.8, look no further than W Phone 8. The app offers a simple simulation of the upcoming start screen so everyone can get a little bit of “real” hands-on time.

Just remember, this is only to give you the feel for the upcoming features. It’s not actually a fully working start screen, but you can still organize the tiles, resize them, and change the color theme. The tiles just mostly link to the Marketplace.

Get the app here for free, or scan the tag below.

Source: WPCentral

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Does the Windows Phone team care about challenges that developers face?

By
Nelson Ocampo
– July 23, 2012Posted in: Apps, News

Matic Bitenc, co-founder of Toshl, developer of Toshl Finance, recently detailed some of the challenges they experienced developing for Windows Phone on their blog.

They chose to develop Toshl Finance for Windows Phone because they saw potential in what they believe to be a beautifully designed OS. However, their blog goes on to state what they describe as a “surreal and horrible” experience.

The first roadblock they faced was due to their location. Toshl is located in Slovenia. In many countries around the world like Slovenia, a developer cannot register directly to create applications for Windows Phone. Instead, applications must go through a third party. In this case, Toshl had to go through Microsoft Slovenia. In some other cases, depending on region, developers might go through a company like Yalla Apps. The blog goes on to detail some of the challenges that resulted from this arrangement.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Deal of the Week: Splinter Cell: Conviction

By
Sasu Kemppainen
– July 20, 2012Posted in: Games, News

Every week, the Windows Phone marketplace puts a new title on sale. Don’t miss your chance!

This week’s deal is Splinter Cell: Conviction by Gameloft. You can now get the game for $2.99, discounted from $4.99.

In this stealth game, you control the familiar covert operative, Sam Fisher, investigating the grim circumstances of his daughter’s death. Sneaking in the shadows and avoiding direct confrontations is the key to survive. The fans of the series will surely know what to expect from this port of the Xbox 360 version.

Feeling sneaky? Check out this game here, for $2.99 or scan the tag below.

 

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