MobileViews Blog

Author: todd

  • Xbox Companion app for Windows Phone can be used as a limited controller

    The XBox Live app for iOS still doesn’t work on my devices. But, the Xbox Companion app for Windows Phone finally became available (after the iOS version) and does work.

    And, it does a lot more than the iOS version. The Xbox app for iOS deals with messages, shows achievements and manages the avatar. The Windows Phone version requires that the Xbox be on at the same time and can be used as a adjunct limited controller. You can, for example, navigate around the Xbox and launch a game. Once in the game (Fusion:Origins in my case), the controller function did not work or did not have enough buttons (no “Start” for example) to be useful. It can also provide details about games, music, TV shows and movies playing on the Xbox.

  • Xbox LIVE iOS app released. Oops! I already broke it 🙁

    Microsoft Director of Programming for the Microsoft Xbox Live Larry Hyrb (aka “Major Nelson”) announced just hours ago that:

    Introducing the official Xbox LIVE iOS App

    So, I downloaded and installed the free app on my iPad. But, oops it is already broken. When it gets working on my iPad, it is supposed to do the following:

    • Read and send messages to friends
    • Manage your friends list, invite new friends
    • Read and Edit your full LIVE profile (name, bio, motto)
    • Change your avatar features/items with the avatar closet
    • View and compare your achievement progress with friends

  • Google+ for Android 2.2 gains search (finally!) and more +1ing

    It seems like forever, but it took Google a couple of months to finally add search to the Google+ app for Android. The announcement appears, appropriately enough, in Punit Soni’s (Lead Product Manager, Google+ Games and Mobile) Google+ stream:

    AND a new version of the Android app 🙂 We made good on our promise eh?
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  • Are 10, 25 or 50 cent apps on their way to the Android Market?

    A friend of mine reminded me of the Google Android Market’s ten apps on sale for 10 cents to celebrate 10 billion app downloads (thanks, Jeff!).

    Until now, I assumed that the Android Market’s minimum app price was either free or around 99 cents. However, since the Android Market has a weird Euro/Dollar conversion factor with apps given prices like $3.32, why not have apps priced regularly at 10, 25 or 50 cents? It might not be what most developers want to use as a price. But, there might be apps for which ultra-low (sub-99 cents) prices make sense.

  • Flipboard for iPhone Released

    Flipboard is now a Universal app that runs on the iPhone as well as the iPad. I think people who started using it on the iPad will need a bit of relearning to do to get comfortable with it on the iPhone. But, that said, it is great to be able to quickly scan through interesting links provided by people I follow on Twitter and Facebook. Now, if only Flipboard could help me sort through my messy Google+ stream.

  • The long goodbye to an old gadget friend: Suuntu N3i Microsoft SPOT Watch

    Gadgets, for some, are replaced on a regular basis. A phone, for example, may serve for its two-year contract and then be replaced. While periodicity differs, the same goes for desktop computers and notebook computers.

    Some gadgets, however, have the longevity of a good friend. A good pen, for example, is something you can use forever (assuing ink refills are available). And, the same goes for a watch (for the few of us who still wear them). Two of my watches are in their final weeks of life as they were designed because Microsoft is turning off the MSN Direct service that provides their intelligence on January 1, 2012.
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