Marketplace Archive

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Problems with the Marketplace this week? Microsoft has an explanation.

By
Sasu Kemppainen
– August 15, 2012Posted in: Apps, News

From WPCentral

Some of you may have noticed a problem with downloading or updating apps this week. Luckily, Microsoft is on the case!

The issue has to do with digital certificates used to sign apps. The problem only seems to affect phones that were upgraded to 7.5 from an earlier version and only a small percentage of new or recently updated apps on the Marketplace are refusing to install or update. It is completely on Microsoft’s side and they’re already working on sending out a fix.

Developers may also notice the app submitting process taking a long time. Microsoft is holding all app certificates until the problem is taken care of.

If you have any of these problems, just be patient and don’t uninstall any important apps until the issue is fixed.

Source: Windows Phone Blog, WPCentral

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Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition coming next week

By
Sasu Kemppainen
– June 23, 2012Posted in: Games, News

It's not brain surgery.

The upcoming release of Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition has been rumored for some time. Well, there’s some good news for monkey fanciers: the game will be happily rolling its way to Windows Phone next week!

Super Monkey Ball is a simple game at the core: you control a cute monkey rolling around in a ball, trying to keep him out of trouble. It’s a lot like a modernized version of the old Labyrinth board game with the tilting playfield and marbles. Give it a try, if you’re good at balance games and not too easily frustrated.

According to Wikipedia, playing the game also improves your performance in laparoscopic surgery. Just a heads up for all the medical students out there! Just try to keep the monkeying around in the operating room to a minimum.

Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition will be out June 27th and will cost $2.99.

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100,000 apps reached!

By
Sasu Kemppainen
– June 7, 2012Posted in: Apps, News

We’ve been following Windows Phone Marketplace’s development with great interest, and now it’s finally reached 100,000 published apps! According to AAWP, 100,145 apps have been published over the last 20 months, as of June 3rd, 2012. Windows Phone actually reached the milestone faster than Android (24 months), but it took more time than with iOS (16 months).

100,000 is an important number. The amount of apps is often used when comparing different platforms, and comparisons now look much better when Windows Phone is actually in the same league with its competitors. After all, humans tend to subconsciously perceive 99,999 a significantly lower number than 100,000.

The amount of apps seems to be steadily rising at a pace of 10,000 a month. Reaching Android and iOS still doesn’t seem likely, when it comes to the quantity of the apps, but Windows Phone is a credible challenger. The quality of the apps appears to be pretty much on the same level when each store is compared and perhaps Windows Phone 8 can do something to further accelerate developer interest in the platform.

Source: AAWP

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UK app streamlines train ticket sales

By
Steve Lesniewski
– June 1, 2012Posted in: Apps, News

The U.K.’s leading independent train ticket retailer, thetrainline.com, recently released an app that makes the process of checking train times and purchasing tickets a whole lot easier. The site has access to all train companies and all national trail destinations in the U.K. You can buy tickets up to 10 minutes before departure.

The app includes:

  • Access to train times information from official national rail timetable, which is updated throughout the day
  • Ability to see recent journeys as well as save favorite ones to re-use later
  • A list or map of nearby stations based on current location, as well as a list of departure times at each station
  • Ability to purchase tickets up to 10 minutes before boarding, and save preferred payment card

You can get the app here, or by scanning the tag below.

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RunKeeper leaves Windows Phone in the dust

By
Steve Lesniewski
– May 31, 2012Posted in: Apps, News

The step-tracking app RunKeeper has left the Windows marketplace. The developer said the move was because it had stretched itself too thin and saw the Windows Market as an extremely small portion of its consumer base. In addition to removing support from the Windows Phone, it also removed its app from Symbian.

“Combined, [Windows Phone and Symbian] make up less than 1.5% of our total userbase,” said Jason Jacobs, founder and CEO of RunKeeper, in a blog post. “We don’t see this changing any time soon, these platforms simply haven’t kept up with Android and iPhone, and we only see this gap increasing over time.” This likely was reflected due to the abysmal showing of the smart phone market share the Windows platform posted in the first quarter of 2012.

“We can’t justify giving our Windows and Symbian apps the support they need to be up to our quality standards,” Jacobs said. “If they can’t be up to our quality standards, they shouldn’t be at all.”

Jacobs said users who previously bought the app will still have access to it, but the app will not have future support and it was removed from the marketplace. He then recommended Endomondo for Windows Phone users who would like to have a similar product.

You can purchase Endomondo here, or by scanning the tag below.

Source: Blog.runkeeper.com (via winsource.com)

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Top 7 Highest rated Apps in the Marketplace

By
Sasu Kemppainen
– May 30, 2012Posted in: Apps, News

Baconit is sure to draw the attention of the bacon obsessed Reddit community.

Searching through the Marketplace, trying to find apps that are worth your time, can sometimes be a chore. Luckily, James Booth of 7tutorials.com has compiled a nice list of the 7 highest rated apps on the Windows Phone Marketplace, with a little help from AppFlow App Discovery. All of the following apps are free, except Power Planner, which offers both paid and free versions.

  1. RapDialer
    A speed dialing app, RapDialer attempts to replace the default way of searching for contacts.
  2. Baconit
    A Reddit interface, Baconit streamlines browsing and contributing to Reddit. A must have for all the Redditors out there.
    Read the rest of this entry »
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UK paper names Nokia Lumia 900 ‘Best for Operating System’

By
Steve Lesniewski
– May 29, 2012Posted in: News

The Sunday Times, a magazine in the United Kingdom, recently had a feature on smart phones challenging the iPhone’s dominance in the market. The Times named the Nokia Lumia 900 “Best For Operating System.”

The paper called the Lumia 900’s system “slicker than Android, although [it] has fewer apps.” While the Android and iPhone may have more apps now, the Windows marketplace has been increasing its app amount drastically over the past few months.

Additionally, the Times noted the 900 was “the heaviest device on test, it feels solid and build quality is superb, with a battery that will last for more than a day.”

These seem like comments that would get Siri to take notice.

Source: The Sunday Times (via wmpoweruser.com)

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Nokia ends Skype support for low-memory phones

By
Sasu Kemppainen
– May 24, 2012Posted in: News

The owners of low-level Windows Phone devices are out of luck: Nokia has decided to disable Skype from being downloaded on devices with low RAM. For example, the Lumia 610, with 256MB of RAM (compared to Lumia 900′s 512MB), can no longer download the app.

“Nokia attaches great importance to the launch of products and services to bring the user experience, so even if the Skype Windows Phone version on the Nokia Lumia 610 does, but after intensive testing, we found the user experience does not guarantee to Nokia and Skype the expected level. Therefore, we do not recommend users to use Skype on the Nokia Lumia 610. Nokia Lumia 610 users in the Windows Phone Marketplace will not be able to download Skype, Windows Phone version. Skype, Windows Phone version will continue to open to other users to download.”

Maybe it would’ve been enough to just not recommend the usage of Skype? Was there really a need to actually block users from downloading it?

Source: WeLoveWP (via WPLife)

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Get ringtones off of YouTube really, really easily

By
Sasu Kemppainen
– May 22, 2012Posted in: Apps, News

Sure, there are pretty simple ways of making ringtones already. YouRang, however, makes the process ridiculously simple. Start the app, search YouTube for an interesting ringtone, decide the start and end points and voilà! You just made a new ringtone.

Did we mention it’s free?

 

Get the app here, or just scan the tag below.

Source: 1800PocketPc

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Update: No more Marketplace for Windows Mobile 6.x, now requires 7.5

By
Sasu Kemppainen
– May 22, 2012Posted in: News

We’ve reported earlier on Microsoft’s plans on discontinuing the Marketplace for older Windows Phones. As of today, Windows Mobile 6.x devices can no longer use the Marketplace.

Dear Windows Mobile 6.x customer:

Beginning May 22, 2012, the Windows Mobile 6.x Marketplace service will no longer be available. Microsoft recommends you review the applications or games installed on your Windows mobile 6.x phone and install any available updates in advance of the Windows Mobile 6.x Marketplace service shut-down.

Update: The Marketplace now requires Windows Phone 7.5. Time to move on, if possible.

Source: Engadget

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