AVAILABILITY: WORLDWIDE

Microsoft offered 100 GB free storage for Bing users in USA, and anyone outside had to go through a convoluted process to access this.

It seems Microsoft has listened to the outrage of their loyal users outside USA, and have now expanded the offer to everyone.

Steps: 1. Create New Account HERE. (incase you dont have one)
          2. To get 100GB : Click Here: get 100 Gb extra Onedrive storage for free.

*100GB of OneDrive storage is valid for 1 year from redemption. Offer code must be redeemed by June 30, 2014. Limit: One offer code per Microsoft account. Not for resale, and not redeemable for cash or gift cards.

Windows Phone porting company Game Troopers have already announced in November that they will be bringing last year’s hit iOS game Make it Rain: The Love of Money to Windows Phone.Now the company has released the game to the Windows Phone Store for download directly.The game is fiendishly simply, requiring simply that you swipe to earn money, needing to build illicit empire.

Like all Game Trooper ports it features 20 Xbox Live achievements to keep your interest up

The game would be the second the company ports to Windows Phone, after successfully bringing Tiny Troopers to the platform. The company recently celebrated more than 1 million downloads of that game.

Game Troopers is also expected to bringing another unannounced game to the Windows Phone Store in the February-March time frame.

Download Make it Rain: The Love of Money from the Windows Phone Store here.

With iPass you get access to the iPass Mobile Network, the world’s largest commercial Wi-Fi network, with inflight Internet and far more hotels, airports, and business venues than any other network. So users get easy, reliable connectivity virtually anywhere they roam. Microsoft has now partnered with iPass to offer global connectivity to users of certain Microsoft products and services. Even though Microsoft didn’t reveal the product which will use iPass’ services, I guess this might be related to Skype WiFi. With Skype Wi-Fi, you can get online at over 1 million public WiFi hotspots worldwide at the touch of a button.

Read the full press release below.

REDWOOD SHORES, CA., 18 February, 2015 - iPass® Inc. (NASDAQ: IPAS), the world’s largest commercial Wi-Fi network, today announced a long-term agreement to offer global connectivity to users of certain Microsoft products and services.

The multi-year agreement gives Microsoft customers access to more than 18 million Wi-Fi hotspots worldwide while traveling, including airplanes, airports, hotels and other public areas.

“In this mobile era, connectivity is integral to the success of an agile business. By bringing together the iPass network with our products and services, we help our customers be even more productive by offering an integrated, friction-free Wi-Fi experience when they are travelling,” said Dayne Sampson, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft.

Rather than requiring users to register and remember credentials for different Wi-Fi networks across the world, eligible Microsoft customers will be able to use their existing Microsoft service credentials to automatically gain access to iPass’ global Wi-Fi network without providing credit card information to unknown Wi-Fi providers in remote locations.

“We are pleased to expand our relationship with Microsoft and we know the iPass global network has been a key ingredient for driving cloud adoption and increased productivity for many of our enterprise customers and their business travelers,” said Evan Kaplan, President and Chief Executive Officer of iPass. “I am thrilled that our unique collaboration with Microsoft opens the door for a wider audience of mobile, cloud and Wi-Fi first customers to reap the benefits of expanded connectivity. Together Microsoft and iPass will help our valued customers thrive in an ever-changing, accelerated world.”

via: WinBeta

Despite Microsoft and Dropbox working closely together on Office, the two companies are still competitors, and Microsoft would not mind poaching a few of the hundreds of millions of Dropbox users.

Microsoft’s latest offer to temp users away from Dropbox is by offering a free 100 GB of storage for one year if you can verify that you have a Dropbox account.  Microsoft does this by saving a document to your Dropbox.

Take advantage of the deal by clicking on this link here.

Lumia 530 vs Lumia 435 vs Lumia 532 comparison:

	Lumia 532	Lumia 435	Lumia 530
Display	Lumia 532 has a 4-inch, 800 x 480 resolution display	Lumia 435 has a 4-inch, 800 x 480 resolution display	Lumia 530 has a 4-inch 854 x 480 resolution display
Navigation	Lumia 532 has hardware touch buttons	Lumia 435 has hardware touch buttons	Lumia 530 has on-screen touch buttons.
Processor	Lumia 532 is powered by a quad-core Snapdrgon 200	Lumia 435 is powered by a dual-core Snapdragon 200 processor	Lumia 530 is powered by a quad-core Snapdrgon 200
Battery	Lumia 532 has 1560 mAh battery	Lumia 435 has 1560 mAh battery	Lumia 530 has 1430 mAh Battery
Storage	8GB of memory as well as the ability to house a micro-SD up to 128GB	8GB of memory as well as the ability to house a micro-SD up to 128GB	4GB of memory as well as the ability to house a micro-SD up to 128GB
RAM	1GB of RAM	1GB of RAM	512 MB of RAM
Sim	Dual-Sim support	Dual-Sim support	Dual-Sim support
FFC	0.3 MP VGA FFC	0.3 MP VGA FFC	No FFC
Rear Camera	5 MP rear camera	2 MP rear camera	5 MP rear camera
Glance Screen	Yes	No	No
Pricing (RRP in India)	Rs 6499	Rs 5999	Rs 6199
Pricing UK	£85 (expected)	£74.98	£76

It may seem for the price it commands, Lumia 532 is perhaps the unbeatable package here, because of its processor, cameras and unique features like Glance screen. Lumia 530 is better than Lumia 435 in terms of quad-core processor and 5 MP camera but Lumia 435 beats it with its 1 GB RAM, 8 GB internal storage and FFC. So it may be better to go for Lumia 435, if you want better app availability, while for camera Lumia 530 may be better.

Source: nokiapoweruser.com

1) That expandable action center is great and also the fact that you can access so many quick-access buttons by expanding it. But if you long press on any of these quick-access button it will take you to the settings of that button. For example in above screenshot I long pressed on “Brightness” quick action button to go to “Brightness” settings.

2) If you copy text and then lock your phone on Windows 10 for Phones you don’t loose it. What that means you can unlock your phone and can still find the text copied and retained to clipboard to paste it anywhere you want. That looks quite useful.

3) 

Download US Engligh Keyboard and get the speech to text option. Its userfriendly and very fast. we love it.

We reported sometime ago via our sources that Split View and Actionable notifications will arrive with Windows 10 for Phones. Actionable notifications are already here with first preview build9941.12498 of Windows 10 for Phones.

Now, split view has appeared in API documentation and as you can see in the above screenshot needs “Windows Phone Threshold” or Windows 10 for Phones as the minimum requirement.

SplitView class

Represents a container with two views; one view for the main content and another view that is typically used for navigation commands.

Application view Title Bar API reveals some enhancements and even hints at hover interaction and while we have reported it appearing in Windows 10 Desktop APIs, it is supported for Windows 10 for Phones now, reveal the documentation.

ButtonHoverBackgroundColor	Read/write	Gets or sets the background color of a title bar button when the pointer is over it.
ButtonHoverForegroundColor	Read/write	Gets or sets the foreground color of a title bar button when the pointer is over it.

Source 1 2

Every year, brand valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance puts thousands of the world’s top brands to the test. They are evaluated to determine which are the most powerful, and the most valuable. In the Brand Finance Global 500 report released today, Microsoft was ranked No.4 in the list, retaining its last year’s position. Google, Samsung and Apple are ahead of Microsoft in the list. Microsoft’s brand value grew in single digits year over year. With new consumer apps for other platforms and revolutionary products like HoloLens, Microsoft’s brand will see a nice jump this year.

Details: Brand Finance

Microsoft today announced the general availability of Apache Storm for Azure HDInsight. Storm is an open source stream analytics platform that can process millions of data “events” in real time as they are generated by sensors and devices. Using Storm with HDInsight, customers can deploy and manage applications for real-time analytics and Internet-of-Things scenarios in a few minutes with just a few clicks. It is ideal to solve real-time challenges like fraud detection, click stream analysis, financial alerts, telemetry from connected sensors & devices (IoT), and social analytics.

Today, we are announcing the general availability of Storm as a deployment option. Customers can now benefit from a fast and easy way to deploy real-time analytics in just a few clicks and within minutes. You will also have Microsoft’s 99.9% service level agreement for uptime and elastic scale powered by the Azure cloud. Any amount of data can be ingested through Event Hubs or Apache Kafka and processed through Storm.

Read more about it here.

At the Strata+Hadoop World conference, Microsoft announced that ustomers can run HDInsight on Ubuntu clusters with simple deployment, a managed service level agreement and full technical support. This is particularly compelling for enterprises that already use Hadoop on Linux on-premises like on Hortonworks Data Platform, because they can use common Linux tools, documentation, and templates and extend their deployment to Azure with hybrid cloud connections.

With HDInsight growing 20 percent every month and being one of the fastest growing services in Azure, we had a steady stream of requests to support Linux so our customers can take advantage of the ease-of-use and productivity benefits of Hadoop-as-a service. Responding to this demand, customers can now choose Windows or Linux operating systems when they deploy Hadoop in Azure. Both options are first class citizens, offering simple deployment, SLA, technical support for the entire stack, ranging from Hadoop to the operating system.

We are excited about what this means for customers who might already be familiar with Hadoop on Linux on-premises. Customers can now augment their current deployments with the cloud and leverage all of their existing skillsets and tooling (documentation, samples, and templates) to do so. Within a hybrid environment, customers can mix the control and flexibility of on-premises deployments with the elasticity and redundancy of the cloud. In conjunction with Hortonworks HDP 2.2’s out-of-the-box Falcon connectors to Azure, HDInsight on Linux can make hybrid scenarios an easy transition.

Read more about it here.

Microsoft today released three new hotfix updates for Windows 10 Build 9926. One of them is a cumulative security update for Internet Explorer in Windows 10 Technical preview. The other two updates are related to Windows 10 OS and it enables upgrade to next Windows 10 build that Microsoft will be releasing next month.

• KB3021952
• KB3040021
• KB3038930

Farmville is a popular online game developed by Zynga and has many Facebook users addicted to farm life.Farmville 2: Country Escape brings the Farmville concept to our Windows Phones and Windows 8 devices with a slight twist from the original game.

While the original Farmville was more free-play in nature, Country Escape is more task or quest oriented. You still have a farm to build and manage with crops to grow and livestock to raise, but the game seemed to have more structure.The Farmville gaming genre is a fun way to pass the time and Farmville 2: Country Escape came across as a nice installment.

When you first launch Farmville 2: Country Escape you will meet Marie, an old family friend. Marie will walk you through several aspects of game play and will always be around to show you new features as they become available.

Game play with Farmville 2 will have you first tasked with fixing up your farmhouse and barn. From there you will be shown how to grow crops, feed the cows and go to market to sell your goods. You will also have the option to connect with your Facebook account. Connecting with Facebook is not required. However, if you do connect with Facebook you will be able to synchronize game play between the Windows Phone and Windows 8 versions of the game.

The main gaming screen for Farmville 2: Country Escape centers around your farm with a few gaming controls/menus scattered about the edges of the screen. They include:

• Cash, Keys and Seed counts in the upper left corner
• Your Experience Level is displayed in the top center screen
• Facebook tools and game settings are in the upper right
• The game's current task/mission and country store is in the bottom left
• Your messaging center is in the bottom right corner

Cash, keys and seeds are earned through game play. These items will open up opportunities to buy more land, more crops, more livestock and speed up timed events (that would be the keys). Farmville 2: Country Escape does have the option to join a farm Co-Op with your Facebook friends. If that does not sound appealing and all you want to do is build a farm, grow crops and raise pigs you can play on your own in Anonymous Mode.

Farmville 2: Country Escape does pull down a 4 star rating in both the Windows Phone Store and the Windows Store, which is about right for this gaming title. Are you a Farmville fan? If you've given Farmville 2: Country Escape a try, let us know what you think about the game in the comments below.

• Download Farmville 2: Country Escape for Windows Phone (Free)
• Download Farmville 2: Country Escape for Windows 8 (Free)

It has been a week since Windows 10 Preview for phone was released and you've probably realized that it is far from being finished. While you had fun checking out the Preview, you want to go back to a more stable build. If you want to roll back to Windows Phone 8.1, Microsoft has made it really simple. You'll need a computer, your phone, a USB cable, and the Windows Phone Recovery Tool. Watch our step-by-step instructions on video.

If possible, make sure that your computer and phone are charged. Are you ready? Continue reading for the next steps.

1. Download and install the Windows Phone Recovery Tool to your computer.
2. Open the Windows Phone Recovery Tool and connect the phone to your computer with the USB cable. If your phone is not automatically detected, disconnect it from your computer and press 'My phone was not detected' at the bottom and follow the instructions on the screen.
3. If the phone is detected, tap the phone model on the screen to continue.
4. The next screen shows software versions. Tap the reinstall button at the bottom
5. There's a disclaimer that suggests to backup your phone. Tap continue at the bottom.
6. The recovery tool downloads and installs the firmware. This may take a while depending on your network connection. The installation files are about 1.7 GB. Make sure not to disconnect the cable.
7. If all goes well, you get a message that says, "Operation successfully completed."

That's it! You should now be back on Windows Phone 8.1. We'll let you know if a new build for Windows 10 Preview for phone shows up.

Microsoft is now rolling out Lumia Denim update with Windows Phone 8.1 OS to several Lumia devices in India. The list includes the most popular Lumia 520, Lumia 525, Lumia 620 and Lumia 720 devices. Find the firmware version below.

Product	Description	Release	OS version	Firmware version
Lumia 520	Country variant	Denim	8.10.14219.341	3058.50000.1425.0001
Lumia 525	Country variant	Denim	8.10.14219.341	3058.50000.1425.0003
Lumia 535 Dual SIM	Country variant	Denim	8.10.14226.359	02055.00000.14511.22002
Lumia 620	Country variant	Denim	8.10.14219.341	3058.50000.1425.0001
Lumia 720	Country variant	Denim	8.10.14219.341	3058.50000.1425.0002

Windows Denim Features..

• Cortana – The most personal digital assistant on the market will now be available in the UK and China as a Beta. India, Canada and Australia will have access to Cortana as a public Alpha. For US residents, Cortana now includes an improved natural language, car kit integration via Bluetooth for contacts, snooze reminders and calendar improvements.
• Live folders – If you prefer to keep your apps or games organised, you can now put them into folders. Simply press, hold and drag an app over another to create a new folder on the Start screen. Each folder can be renamed by tapping on the text field above the open folder.
• Apps Corner – Create a customised Start screen, where only specific apps or games are accessible. This could be particularly useful in the workplace if you’re issuing Windows Phones to employees.
• SMS merge and forwarding – Select individual text messages to either delete them out of a messaging thread, or to copy and past them into a new message in order to forward them.
• Snooze Times – It’s now possible to customise the snooze time within the Alarm app.
• Consumer VPN – Maintain privacy and security when using data while connected to public Wi-Fi hotspots or even with your home Wi-Fi.
• Mobile Web Site improvements in IE – Connect and browse even faster with improved downloading speeds on mobile websites.
• Store Live Tile (US only) – The Store Live Tile displays featured apps and games that are the most popular in the Store, or most relevant for you.

Unique Lumia experiences

• Lumia Camera – Replacing Nokia Camera, Lumia Camera is faster and more intuitive than before to make the best camera experience, even better.
• Speed – Pocket to capture speeds are superfast, and it only takes milliseconds going from shot to shot.
• Moment Capture – A long press of the camera button starts 4K-quality* video recording at 24 FPS. With each frame at 8.3 megapixels, you can save individual frames as high quality still images.
• Rich Capture – Auto HDR and Dynamic Flash are now welcomed into the already-impressive feature set. Shoot first and adjust the camera settings later for that perfect photo.
• Improved image processing algorithms – Updated to give you clearer photos, even in lowlight.
• “Hey Cortana” Voice Activation** – Gone are the days of pressing the microphone button to wake-up Cortana. Simply say “Hey Cortana” while the phone is idle and Cortana will activate. This is possible thanks to the SensorCoretechnology.
• Glance Screen – Compatible Lumia devices can now show more at a glance with Bing Weather, or Bing Health & Fitness data, in addition to time and date, notifications and application data.

Source: Microsoft

Qualcomm announced the new Snapdragon 600 and 400 tier processors aimed at enhancing user experience and connectivity for high-performance and high-volume mid-range mobile devices. Microsoft’s mid-range devices like Lumia 730, Lumia 830 and Lumia 1320 were powered by Snapdragon 400 processors.

The new Snapdragon 425 and Snapdragon 415 processors both feature octa-core CPUs, a first for the 400 tier. The Snapdragon 425 doubles LTE download and upload speeds with the X8 LTE modem, another first in the 400 tier, as well as advanced camera features with dual ISPs that support up to 21MP camera  and high-fidelity audio, while the Snapdragon 415 processor integrates X5 LTE, supporting download speeds of up to 150 Mbps. The Snapdragon 415 chipset is sampling now and expected to be in commercial devices in first half of 2015. Microsoft might be using these CPUs in their next gen Lumia mid-range devices.

Read the full press release below.

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., has introduced four new Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ processors aimed at enhancing user experience and connectivity for high-performance and high-volume mobile devices. The new Snapdragon 620 and Snapdragon 618 processors are redefining the 600 tier with significantly higher levels of performance with integrated 64-bit ARM Cortex A-72 CPUs and the new X8 LTE modem. The new Snapdragon 425 and Snapdragon 415 processors both feature octa-core CPUs, a first for the 400 tier. The Snapdragon 425 doubles LTE download and upload speeds with the X8 LTE modem, another first in the 400 tier, as well as advanced camera features with dual ISPs and high-fidelity audio, while the Snapdragon 415 processor integrates X5 LTE, supporting download speeds of up to 150 Mbps. The Snapdragon 415 chipset is sampling now and expected to be in commercial devices in first half of 2015. The Snapdragon 620, 618 and 425 processors are expected to be in commercial devices in the second half of 2015.

As part of this announcement, Qualcomm Technologies also has extended its flagship brand, Snapdragon, to its discrete modem chipsets, and introduced LTE modem classes (including X8 and X5) across its latest system-on-chip and discrete modem products for mobile devices. The new X8 LTE modem, which supports both downlink and uplink Carrier Aggregation, supporting peak download speeds of up to 300 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 100 Mbps. X8 LTE connectivity supports wideband (up to 40 MHz) downlink and uplink carrier aggregation for the first time in the 600 and 400 tiers. X5 LTE, found in the Snapdragon 415, features integrated 4G LTE Cat 4.

The Snapdragon 620 and 618 processors also include features previously only available in the Snapdragon 800 tier, including dual ISP camera, 4K video capture and playback, HEVC hardware encoding, richer gaming with next-generation Qualcomm® Adreno™ graphics and advanced Wi-Fi connectivity. All of the new processors are designed to enhance the consumer user experience and are available with the latest camera features, amazing download speeds and fast-charging with Qualcomm® QuickCharge™ 2.0 technology.

“It has always been Qualcomm Technologies’ strategy to introduce industry-leading features first at the premium Snapdragon 800 tier design point, and then scale these features into our Snapdragon 600, 400 and 200 products, so that we can help our customers deliver great user experiences to cost-conscious consumers,” said Alex Katouzian, senior vice president of product management, Qualcomm Technologies. “We are excited to announce the Snapdragon 620 and 618 processors with next-generation graphics, camera, 4K video capture and connectivity, all premium tier features previously only found in our Snapdragon 800 class products. The Snapdragon 620 and 618 also both come with X8 LTE, as does the Snapdragon 425, marking the first time we’ve supported this amazingly fast speed at the 400 tier.”

The new Snapdragon 620 and 618 processors integrate superior user experiences for high-tier mobile devices, while maintaining superior battery performance, including:

• X8 LTE connectivity: Seamless, always-on connectivity with LTE Cat 7 modem supporting 2×20 MHz Carrier Aggregation for data speeds of up to 300 and 100 Mbps, in the download and upload, respectively. Single SKU global multimode LTE design capable of LTE Broadcast, LTE dual SIM, and VoLTE
• Superior performance: Fast responsiveness, application loading, web browsing and file access are made possible with high-end 64-bit Cortex-A72 CPUs. Snapdragon 620 combines 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A72 CPUs and Cortex-A53 cores; Snapdragon 618 is configured with two ARM Cortex-A72 cores paired with quad Cortex-A53 CPUs.  Dual channel LPDDR3 memory increases the memory bandwidth to seamlessly run intensive applications such as 4K video.
• Realistic graphics: The next-generation Qualcomm® Adreno™ GPU is designed so users can experience even more realistic scenes and graphics for a greatly enhanced mobile gaming experience at lower power.
• Exceptional camera: High quality camera with dual Image Signal Processors (ISP) supporting twin 13MP cameras, gyro image stabilization, enhanced autofocus and local tone mapping to improve image quality beyond HDR.
• Advanced multimedia: 4K video capture and playback with HEVC (H.265) for the first time in the 600 tier, along with support for Quad HD (2K) displays and wireless streaming full HD.
• Continual, low power sensors: Dedicated Qualcomm® Hexagon™ DSP sensor engine supports real-time, always-on use cases for motion, location, health and environmental sensing, and minimizes the need for an external sensor hub, supporting high performance at much lower power.
• Exceptional Audio Experience: Qualcomm Immersive Audio allows consumers to enjoy movies and music with theater-like sound, first-person games with unprecedented realism and fully immersive audio experience without the need for headphones. Also supports High-Fidelity 192kHz/24bit music playback for the most demanding audiophiles and music aficionados.

Qualcomm Technologies also introduced the Snapdragon 425 with enhanced X8 LTE connectivity and premium camera, audio and multimedia features. Featuring integrated 4G LTE Cat 7 with downlink speeds of up to 300 Mbps and uplink speeds of up to 100 Mbps, Snapdragon 425 is designed to support greater network speeds, stability and coverage in the high-volume segment. Together with the Qualcomm RF360™ Front End Solution, the chipset supports all major modes and frequency bands across the globe, including 5-mode, as well as up-and-coming requirements such as dual SIM, LTE Broadcast and VoLTE support. With the Adreno 405 GPU, eight 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 CPUs and a superior video engine with support for Full HD 1080p playback and hardware HEVC decode, as well as premium multimedia features such as dual-ISP camera and high-fidelity audio, the Snapdragon 425 is positioned to be a leader in the high-volume segment.

As 4G LTE networks ramp up speed and coverage across regions and price points, the Snapdragon 415 processor with integrated X5 LTE helps price-conscious consumers have access to LTE speeds and dependability. Designed for high-volume smartphones and tablets, the Snapdragon 415 chipset supports full HD 1080p capture and playback, eight 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 CPU cores and Adreno 405 GPU for high quality graphics.

Qualcomm Technologies anticipates releasing the Qualcomm Reference Design (QRD) versions of the Snapdragon 620, 618, 425 and 415 processors, with support for Qualcomm RF360 Front End Solution. The QRD program offers Qualcomm Technologies’ leading technical innovation, easy customization options, the Qualcomm® Global Pass which features regional software packages, modem configurations, testing and acceptance readiness for regional operator requirements, and access to a broad ecosystem of hardware component vendors and software application developers. Under the QRD program, customers can rapidly deliver differentiated smartphones to value-conscious consumers. There have been more than 1,080 public QRD-based product launches in 21 countries.

Qualcomm Technologies continues to deliver advanced, high-speed connectivity solutions, through its discrete modem product line, for a wide range of applications, from smartphones and embedded computing devices to mobile routers and automotive telematics. Its most advanced modem chipset, formerly known as Gobi 9×45, has transitioned to the Snapdragon modem brand, and features the ultimate in mobile connectivity – X12 LTE – with up to 450 and 100 Mbps download/upload speeds respectively.