Author: The enConnected Team

Microsoft has finally seen fit to answer two of the biggest questions users have had about it’s upcoming Windows Blue update for Windows 8: what’s the official name of the product and how much will it cost?

According to a post at the Blogging Windows, Windows Blue will be officially known as Windows 8.1 to consumers, and be available for free to all users to download from the Windows Store. While we suspect only tech enthusiasts were really hung up on the marketing name for the update at this point in the software’s life cycle, it’s still great to finally be able to put a name to the software, sort of.

That the update is free will also please many of the Windows 8 users who’d already either paid out of their pocket to update to Microsoft’s latest operating system last fall or who recently purchased a new PC with Windows 8, and thus might be a little upset if they were asked to shell out even more money.

Leaks of the update’s code to torrent sites point to an update that seems to build on the momentum started by it’s predecessor. New features include more customizations for Live Tiles and the Start Screen, built in support for cloud syncing using Microsoft’s SkyDrive service, support for smaller screen sizes and the moving of more settings from the control panel to Windows 8′s Settings area.

Microsoft will make a preview version of Windows 8.1 available to users on June 26th. It will ship in final form to Windows 8 users this fall.

Starting today, Xbox LIVE Gold users can pick up the latest in downloadable content for Battlefield 3 to play on their Xbox 360 as part of this week’s Xbox LIVE Deal of the Week.

Discounted DLC includes Battlefield 3: End Game, Battlefield 3: Aftermath, Battlefield 3: Armored Kill, Battlefield 3: Close Quarters and Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand all for 600 Microsoft Points or $7.50. Additionally users will be able to purchase Battlefield 3: Premium pack and get all of the games add-on content for 2,800 Microsoft Points or $35.

Now, we’re not saying you need to immediately run to the wallet nearest to you and immediately take advantage of these deals, after all they’ll last until May 21st.

We are saying discounts are discounts, and games are expensive.

 

Entertainment minded Windows Phone users rejoice, according to Microsoft, it’s next update to the Windows Phone 8 operating system -dubbed GDR2, will restore FM radio compatibility and include podcast support for Windows Phone 8 users across the world.

Microsoft’s Michael Stroh posted about the changes this morning in a post centered around the announcement of the Lumia 925 saying, that in addition to adding syncing for Google’s CalDav and CardDav syncing options, the GDR2 update would also include compatibility with the FM tuner that’s already built into most Windows Phone devices.

While every member of the company’s Zune media devices and Windows Phone 7 had FM radio support, the feature was dropped for some reason in Windows Phone 8, resulting in a nasty shock for users who relied on the feature to listen to music or stay informed.

GDR2 will finally bring podcast support to Windows Phone users outside of the United States as well. While podcast support was included in Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 8, users in other territories were not able to access the Zune Podcast Marketplace.

Just in case you didn’t think the company was trying hard enough, GDR2 will also make it easier for users to “select, download, and pink tunes in Xbox Music and improve the accuracy of song info and metadata”.

Finally, Microsoft will make Windows Phone 8′s Data Sense application available for other carriers besides Verizon to interface with, though it’s unclear if any new carriers will do so. Data Sense allows users to carefully manage the amount of mobile data they are consuming via an application on their device.

Microsoft says that it expects to begin making the update available to users “this summer” and that it will initially ship on Nokia’s Lumia 925 when it reaches American and international shores sometime “this summer”.

Entertainment minded Windows Phone users rejoice, according to Microsoft, it’s next update to the Windows Phone 8 operating system -dubbed GDR2, will restore FM radio compatibility and include podcast support for Windows Phone 8 users across the world.

Microsoft’s Michael Stroh posted about the changes this morning in a post centered around the announcement of the Lumia 925 saying, that in addition to adding syncing for Google’s CalDav and CardDav syncing options, the GDR2 update would also include compatibility with the FM tuner that’s already built into most Windows Phone devices.

While every member of the company’s Zune media devices and Windows Phone 7 had FM radio support, the feature was dropped for some reason in Windows Phone 8, resulting in a nasty shock for users who relied on the feature to listen to music or stay informed.

GDR2 will finally bring podcast support to Windows Phone users outside of the United States as well. While podcast support was included in Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 8, users in other territories were not able to access the Zune Podcast Marketplace.

Just in case you didn’t think the company was trying hard enough, GDR2 will also make it easier for users to “select, download, and pink tunes in Xbox Music and improve the accuracy of song info and metadata”.

Finally, Microsoft will make Windows Phone 8′s Data Sense application available for other carriers besides Verizon to interface with, though it’s unclear if any new carriers will do so. Data Sense allows users to carefully manage the amount of mobile data they are consuming via an application on their device.

Microsoft says that it expects to begin making the update available to users “this summer” and that it will initially ship on Nokia’s Lumia 925 when it reaches American and international shores sometime “this summer”.

GDR2 Update for Windows Phone 8 will Restore FM Radio, Include International Podcast Support

Looking to watch some live video footage of one man’s epic battle against forces both man-made and unnatural in order to save the heart of a city created with his two hands and a mouse on your Xbox? First, you should be, I can play a mean game of SimCity. Second, now you can with the use of Twitch on Xbox LIVE.

According to today’s announcement on MajorNelson, starting today, users will be able to watch live streams of other’s gaming sessions straight from the Xbox Dashboard. Additionally Xbox LIVE users will be able to login into the Twitch on Xbox LIVE app at 3 p.m. EST following next week’s Xbox Revealed event for a special post-show moderated by Larry Herb, Xbox LIVE”s Major Nelson.

Unfortunately the application is only for those users in the United States who have an Xbox LIVE Gold Subscription. It should also be noted that the application will only offer 300 most popular streams on to the service so the majority of the service’s video game streams will not be available to console viewers straight away.

Looking to watch some live video footage of one man’s epic battle against forces both man-made and unnatural in order to save the heart of a city created with his two hands and a mouse on your Xbox? First, you should be, I can play a mean game of SimCity. Second, now you can with the use of Twitch on Xbox LIVE.

According to today’s announcement on MajorNelson, starting today, users will be able to watch live streams of other’s gaming sessions straight from the Xbox Dashboard. Additionally Xbox LIVE users will be able to login into the Twitch on Xbox LIVE app at 3 p.m. EST following next week’s Xbox Revealed event for a special post-show moderated by Larry Herb, Xbox LIVE”s Major Nelson.

Unfortunately the application is only for those users in the United States who have an Xbox LIVE Gold Subscription. It should also be noted that the application will only offer 300 most popular streams on to the service so the majority of the service’s video game streams will not be available to console viewers straight away.

Twitch Comes to Xbox LIVE

enConnected Social member Mark Richey is in the market for a new Windows Phone to follow his believed HTC Titan.

Since he’s looking to make a decision on which Windows Phone device maker he’ll move to next, he’s first interested in learning about the reasons everyone chooses their device, and why they trust the device maker that they do.

 

 

enConnected Social member Mark Richey is in the market for a new Windows Phone to follow his believed HTC Titan.

Since he’s looking to make a decision on which Windows Phone device maker he’ll move to next, he’s first interested in learning about the reasons everyone chooses their device, and why they trust the device maker that they do.

 

 

From The Social: Which Windows Phone Vendor Do You Trust?

At an event this morning in London, Nokia finally announced one of the worst kept secrets in smartphone history this year, the all metal, Nokia Lumia 925.

The Lumia 925 will feature a 4.5 inch Clear Black AMOLED display and a dual-core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Completing this package will be an 8.7 megapixel rear-facing camera with Optical Image Stabilization and an LED Flash. There’s also a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera. The device will only include 16GBs of storage, and users will not be able to add more storage space via an SD Card slot.

The company also detailed a few new applications designed to complete the device’s camera experience like, Nokia Smart Cam -an application dedicated to enhancing all of the options and settings of the device’s built in camera, and Hipstermatic -a social network/application that will allow users to edit and create photos directly from their device. Nokia will bring Smart Cam to users of other Lumia devices in the form of an update, it’s calling Nokia Amber.

Unfortunately, this device doesn’t feature the Xenon Flash that Nokia recently announced would be included of the Nokia Lumia 928.

Most notably, the Lumia 925 will not come with wireless charging out of the box. Instead, users will need to purchase wireless charging backs to snap onto the back of their device. While the Nokia Lumia 920′s polycarbonate design allowed for wireless charging to be built in, the Lumia 925′s all Aluminum casing wouldn’t have been optimized for it alone.

According to the company, the Nokia Lumia 925 will begin rolling out this June and be available on many of it’s carriers, however in the U.S. it will launch the device in partnership with T-Mobile.

Correction @ 7:38 am · Wording in our original text mistakenly alluded to Hipstermatic being able to post images to Instagram itself. That is not the case as far as we can tell.

Nokia has just announced it’s most advanced Windows Phone to date, the Lumia 928, and it’s only available to American users on Verizon.

According to Nokia, the Lumia 928 will feature a 4.5 inch AMOLED display that’s sure to impress. Processing will be done by way of a 1.5 dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor and 1GB of RAM. The photography minded of you will be able to capture as many photos and videos as the 32GB of onboard storage (there’s no MicroSD card slot) can handle using a 8.7 megapixel rear-facing camera with Xenon flash and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera for video calls and self portraits.

Like the Lumia 920, this device will also allow for wireless charging, and employ Nokia’s PureView imaging technology. Unlike that device, this flagship won’t ship in any colors other then black and white.

The Nokia Lumia 928 will available for purchase on Verizon’s network beginning May 16th, for $99 with a two year service agreement.