live tile

mobile
September 27, 2011
by

Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) first impressions

By on September 27, 2011 at 1:15 PM.

Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) first impressions

I have spent the past week or so playing with a Samsung Focus preloaded with the final build of Windows Phone 7.5, previously codenamed Mango. I have always appreciated what Windows Phone has to offer: a clean and intuitive user interface that works well, to put it simply. Windows Phone originally shipped lacking a few features, though. The NoDo update, for example, added copy and paste but the operating system still felt like it was lacking. Windows Phone 7.5 adopts Microsoft’s motto to “put people first,” and it does a fairly good job of that. There are hundreds of changes in Mango and in this hands-on look, I highlight a few changes that stood out to me during my time with the OS.

More →

88 Comments
mobile
July 20, 2011
by

Microsoft shows off Windows Phone Mango People Hub [video]

By on July 20, 2011 at 9:32 PM.

Microsoft shows off Windows Phone Mango People Hub [video]

Microsoft has released a new video that shows off several of the People Hub enhancements in Windows Phone Mango. The video walks viewers through a new notification Live Tile system for contacts that can be pinned to the homescreen. After a contact has been pinned, the Live Tile will quickly alert you of a new email, message, Twitter or Facebook status, missed calls, and more. If you tap into the card, Windows Phone Mango will show you an entire history of the conversations you’ve had with that person. We’re loving what we see so far and can’t wait for the release. A recent leak has suggested we can expect it, along with new devices, in September. Hit the jump for the video. More →

27 Comments
mobile
December 17, 2010
by

Beezz WP7 Twitter app has another major update in the works

By on December 17, 2010 at 9:57 AM.

Beezz WP7 Twitter app has another major update in the works

As with several desktop and mobile platforms, Twitter is being out-tweeted on Windows Phone 7. Subjectivity aside, third-party Twitter clients often provide a great deal of functionality omitted from Twitter’s official clients. Such is the case with an independently-developed app that is quickly becoming the go-to Twitter experience on Windows Phone 7 devices. Beezz already provides a host of great functionality left out of the official Windows Phone 7 Twitter app, and a major update will add nearly all of the core features the app is currently missing. New features in version 1.2 of the Beezz app include:

  • List support
  • Option to open app directly to main timeline
  • Favorites
  • Saved Searches
  • Old-style Retweet support
  • New live tile, which will include timeline, mentions and DMs
  • Picture Hub integration
  • Internet Explorer integration (tweet a URL from within IE — very handy since there is no copy/paste yet)
  • Bit.ly integration
  • Conversation view

DevMob, Beezz’s developer, hasn’t yet given a time frame for the new update, but we can asure you that the team is hard at work prepping the new release. Hit the jump for a quick teaser video highlighting a few upcoming features and in the meantime, version 1.1 of the Beezz app is currently available in the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace for free. More →

5 Comments
mobile
December 3, 2010
by

Beezz becomes first Window Phone 7 Twitter client with push notification support

By on December 3, 2010 at 10:24 AM.

Beezz becomes first Window Phone 7 Twitter client with push notification support

Beezz, an emerging Twitter client for the Windows Phone 7 OS, will soon become the first Twitter app to support push notifications on Microsoft’s new mobile platform. In a major update, Beezz will add two highly anticipated new features: Live Tile support — the app’s home screen icon will display information that updates automatically in the background like a widget — and support for toast notifications, which are visual and audio alerts much like push notifications on Apple’s iPhone (only they’re not intrusive or disruptive). Both features will support Mentions and Direct Messages from users’ Twitter feeds. The current version of Beezz can be downloaded immediately from the Windows Marketplace. The updated version, which has been approved by Microsoft, will become available later today or early tomorrow. More →

5 Comments