The top 3 YouTube apps for Windows 10 devices

"What !? Windows 10 doesn't have a official YouTube app?" This is something I have heard from my friends, specially in the case of Windows 10 Mobile. For the record, Windows (phone) never had a official YouTube app. Thank Google for that. But that doesn't mean that there is no way to access YouTube. You can do so using your web browser to access the mobile site for occasional browsing and watching videos. This won't suffice if you want save videos offline, get notification from your favorite channels and other advanced features which you can find in the official YouTube app in other platforms.

Fortunately, there are several beautiful third party apps that are equivalent to the official apps. Here is a list of such apps.

1) Tubecast

Multitasking : A video running in the bottom left corner while browsing other videos.

Tubecast is one of the finest and full featured YouTube client that you will ever find in Windows. The interface is clean and slick. You can log in using your Google account and bring your favorite channels at the finger tips. You can also comment in a video without leaving the screen and the app supports swipe gestures making navigation a breeze in touch enabled devices. Offline videos (Preload) are supported and you can choose between SQ,HQ or HD for saving that video. It has a live tile and supports push notifications to keep you updated.

Microsoft Edge will become my primary browser but WHY ?

If you have been following me for a long time, you probably know that Chrome has been my browser of choice since I started blogging but that is about to change for several *good* reasons. With the recent tests and improvements made to Edge, it is time to reconsider the options available in the market.

What's wrong with Chrome ?

Chrome once represented what a modern browser should be. Be it the extensions and themes support or the simplicity of it's UI combined with good performance kept me hooked to it for a long time in my desktop. It still has all these features with Sync using Google account being a very useful feature for Android users.

Microsoft launches Lumia 532 and Lumia 435

If you are looking for Windows Phone which are affordable then these days are working in favor of you. We've been seeing a lot of budget devices from Microsoft and other OEM's since the launch of Windows Phone 8.1 in April last year. Microsoft has made a great start this year with two new budget devices, Lumia 435, the first of 400 series and the other being the better version of Lumia 530, Lumia 532.

Interestingly these devices have decent specifications but given their price tag, they are impressive phones. Both the Lumias sport an 4" WVGA screen, 1 GB RAM,8GB ROM and 1560 mAH battery and you can expand the storage up to 128 GB with Micro-SD slot. Both run Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Denim, the latest firmware update for Lumia devices. As usual,both support 3G connectivity.But the difference comes in the camera department as the Lumia 435 sports a 2MP rear shooter and VGA front camera while the Lumia 532 houses a better 5MP rear fixed focus camera and a VGA selfie shooter. In the processing department also the Lumia 532 has a faster 1.2 GHz Snapdragon Quad-core processor whereas the little boy, Lumia 435 is powered by a dual-core snapdragon 200 processor clocked at same 1.2 GHz. Both the phones will be available in white,green,black and orange with swap-able shells available for purchase. 

Lumia 435

Lumia 435 is the first of it's series and it's main aim is to replace the old Asha series and it looks like it's going to do it with ease as is the specifications of this little budget beast as compared to it's older cousins, the asha series. More over the design of this device is derived from the Asha devices.

Lumia 532 

Lumia 532 aims to heal away the patches left by Lumia 530. Lumia 532 solves the all the problems found with 530 as it lacked a front camera and had only 4 GB internal storage and just 512 MB RAM. Moreover, this device has the right combination of features and hardware, the glance screen should be enough to make it stand out in the budget crowd filled with Android devices.For those who don't know about Glance Screen, it's a simple and easy way to check your notifications without unlocking your phone. It's pricing is also more or less equal to that of Lumia 530 and that sounds like a good offer. This is the perfect predecessor to the successful Lumia 535. 

Lumia 532 Glance screen in action

Both the devices look similar to Nokia asha and X series devices with square corners. Importantly it's good to see Microsoft learning from it's previous devices and improving the newer ones. People have always been disturbed by 4 GB storage and 512 MB RAM combination in android devices and they never wanted this to continue in Windows Phone environment. Microsoft got that point and have delivered the perfect budget kings with right price and features.These two devices will get Windows 10 when released later this year and they will run it pretty easily, thanks to their solid specifications .
They will be priced around 69( R.5000/$80) euros for Lumia 435 and 79 euros for Lumia 532(Rs.5600/$95).

What do you think about the budget devices launched by Microsoft in the recent days ? Will you buy any one of them.

Windows phone 8.1 release date Leaked : March for manufacturers and May for users !!

The wait is over, Microsoft is planning to release Windows phone 8.1 on May 2014 for users ! Nawzil, twitted a tweet with the info .

Microsoft has planned to deploy WP 8.1 in a smooth manner. First Release to Manufacture in March and for developers in April and finally releasing the most stable version for users.

Windows phone 8.1 is expected bring in lot of features such as Notification center, Cortana voice assistant, quick settings. Also a revamped Xbox games hub is getting ready.Xbox Music and Xbox Video will be separate apps, removed from the OS core to enable faster, more dynamic updates for users.Also the tech giant is working to enable installing apps to Micro-SD cards which is a great feature for devices with low storage capacity.Microsoft already said that every Windows phone 8 device will be getting this major update.

Image source : Windows Phone central

Windows phone 8.1 will bring the important features which will make the OS more easier and faster. It will include performance and security fixes which will make sure that you have a great WP experience in all your devices. WP has shown a lot of success since the launch of WP 8, the number of WP devices has dramatically increased, thanks to Nokia Lumia. Windows phone 8.1 is the most expected update for WP users as the rumored features are really great to have. Keep following for the latest news on WP 8.1 ! Exclusively in my blog .

GTA: San Andreas for Windows Phone 8 !

GTA's one of the most successful game, GTA San Andreas makes it's entry into the Windows Phone 8 Store. The game has the same story line of the PC counter part. The game has been optimized well to work with touch screen. It comes with a price tag of $6.99.

Of course not all the Windows Phone 8 devices can run this game. It runs on select phones for now,Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is only supported on the following devices: Nokia Lumia: 1520, 1320, 822, 820, 810, HTC: 8XT.

So if you are one the lucky users of the any of the devices listed above then you might check this game. The game is not 19 MB though as reported in the store, it downloads 2.5 GB of data. So make sure you have enough space and WiFi on ! Get GTA San Andreas for WP 8.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas features:  

• Remastered, high-resolution graphics built specifically for mobile including lighting enhancements, an enriched color palette and improved character models. 

• Dual analog stick controls for full camera and movement control.

• Three different control schemes and customizable controls with contextual options to display buttons only when you need them.

• Tailor your visual experience with adjustable graphic settings 

Nokia's Android phones will come with Windows Phone like UI

The latest images of Nokia's android devices named as normandy show that the phones will sport a Windows phone like UI. The UI appears to be very similar to Windows Phone. with a number of tiles that provide access to apps like Skype, Twitter, Vine, Facebook, and BBM. Some of the tiles are identical to the same color scheme and iconography used in the equivalent Nokia Windows Phone apps. There’s also what appears to be a notification / app center that displays missed calls, notifications, and recent apps / activity. A status bar indicates that the phone has dual-SIM capabilities. Although the phone is targeted at the low-end, the striking similarities with Windows Phone in hardware and software show that Nokia continues to blur the lines across its range of devices.

Nokia Lumia black update out to Lumia 1020 !

Nokia has started distributing its Lumia Black update to AT&T Lumia 1020 owners . The update includes all the improvements in Windows Phone 8 Update 3 and the latest Nokia Glance Screen software with support for notifications. Microsoft’s Update 3 includes rotation lock, custom tones for messages, emails, and reminders, and a new Driving Mode feature that’s designed to limit notifications while you’re driving. Multitasking improvements, including the ability to close apps, are also included.

While Microsoft has improved the core OS, Nokia is also adding Bluetooth 4.0 support and improvements to its Nokia Camera app with the Lumia Black update. In early 2014 Nokia will also add a new steps feature that measures the number of steps you’re taking with your phone and displays them on the Glance screen. Windows Phone 8 Update 3 may have been available to developers for just over two months, but today’s Lumia Black roll out for the Lumia 1020 also brings RAW camera support to Nokia’s 41-megapixel smartphone. The update is available immediately from the phone update section in Windows Phone settings.So if you are one of the Lumia 1020 users then this update is highly recommended as it improves to overall performance of the phone.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS !!! :)