While the blogosphere remains preoccupied with iOS and Android - the two titans of the mobile device industry at this point in time, Windows Phone is looking more and more like it has the potential to be something of a dark horse. For those already won over by Microsoft's ecosystem, you'll no doubt be pleased to learn the official Facebook app has now been updated to version 2.5.
Nokia was once the untouchably dominant force within the mobile industry, but its Symbian OS was gradually eclipsed by iOS and Android, leaving the Finnish outfit with no choice but to hop on the back of Redmond-based Microsoft and its fledgling Windows Phone OS. In all fairness to Nokia, it has gone pretty gung-ho hitherto, putting much effort into the flagship Lumia series which has in turn yielded an army of fans – most notably Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak.
If you happen to be one of the few people who own a Windows Phone device, and are longing to be whisked back to 2010, then the release of the Talking Tom Cat app for Microsoft's mobile OS is probably just the news you have been waiting for. If however, you are familiar with the same app from iOS and Android, and quickly got bored of the loveably little kitty, then this will hardly be an earth shattering experience whatsoever.
Like the introduction of iPhone OS back in 2007, the early versions of Windows Phone are strangely bereft of folders. Although iOS 4 finally allowed iDevice users to file their apps away in an orderly fashion, there doesn't appear to be such implementation in sight from the Redmond-based software maker, leaving those WP users who can find enough apps to file away in the first place, without the capacity to keep things organized.
Having seen just how quickly an app like Instagram can become a billion dollar success story, it figures other developers would want to try their hand at building competitive image-sharing apps.
All of the big guns are looking to get in on the cloud computing act, and Microsoft is no exception with its SkyDrive service. As per the MSDN blog, much work has gone into improving SkyDrive over the course of the last couple of months, and now, a preview of the SkyDrive desktop client has been released, along with a plethora of improvements to existing services.
Dropbox, and similar services such as iCloud, offer users of mobile devices a great safety net through which to backup and restore, sync, share and access files from anywhere, and at any time.
The general consensus is that the Windows Phone 7.x operating system is a winner with the beautiful Metro styling, but that doesn't mean that it is going to keep everyone happy all of the time. One thing we know for sure is that mobile smartphone users have unique tastes, meaning that one mans trash is most definitely another mans treasure.
If you're the kind of person who likes to stream media around the home then the chances are you've come across Plex at least, even if you don't currently use it. If you want to stream it to your Windows Phone smartphone, too, then Plex is going to be something you'll want to check out again.
Deciding on which web browser is best is arguably one of the most contested disputes on the internet, with web surfers tending to opt for either Safari, Firefox or Google's Chrome offering. If you happen to be one of the many who prefer Google Chrome, and also happen to let Microsoft handle your smartphone requirements then the chances are that you could benefit from an app that allows easy, problem-free synchronization of data in between the two.
