Manually Download & Install Windows Phone Apps Through SD Card

04:16 , 0 comments



It was a big deal when Microsoft announced that Windows Phone 8 will have SD card support, since WP user had been asking for this feature for a long time since the launch of Windows Phone 7. Although WP8 devices have been around for more than a month now, not a lot of people have gotten around to getting really familiar with everything their phone’s SD card can do. You might not know, for instance, that the card is not only for media files, but can also help you in installing large apps that you don’t want to download directly on your phone. This feature can come handy if you don’t have Wi-Fi or high speed data connection on your phone, and the app you want to install is really large. The process is quite easy, especially since WP8 assist you in every step along the way.

The method can be quite useful for sharing large apps with your friends, or deploying them on multiple devices in the same household or organization. Here’s how it works regarding paid and free app:
  • If the app is available for free on Windows Phone Store, you will be able to install it with no issue.
  • If the app is paid on Windows Phone Store and you have already purchased it in the past, you will be able to install it with no issue.
  • If the app is paid on Windows Phone Store and you don’t own it already, you will be able to install the free trial, or purchase it and install the full version.
  • If the app is not found on Windows Phone Store, you will not be allowed to install it, even if it is completely free.
As you can see, this method will not allow you to sideload third-party apps that haven’t been published on Windows Phone Store. Still, the app won’t be downloaded to the phone; Windows Phone Store will only be used to verify its authenticity due to Microsoft’s anti-piracy measures, and to make sure apps that haven’t been approved by Microsoft don’t make their way to Windows Phone devices to avoid the spread of malware.
That said, here’s how to install apps to Windows Phone devices using their XAP files.
Instructions
  1. Make sure you have an active Wi-Fi or cellular data connection on your phone, as it will be required for authentication purposes.
  2. From your computer, go to the Windows Phone Store by entering the following URL in the web browser:
    http://www.windowsphone.com/store
  3. Using the search bar provided in the top-right corner, look for the app you want to install.
  4. On the app’s dedicated page, scroll down and find the option marked ‘Download and install manually’. It is available in the column below the main installation button at the left of the screen.
  5. Click this option. Depending on your browser settings, it will ask you to save the XAP file, or automatically start downloading it.
  6. Connect your SD card to the computer using a card reader, and transfer the downloaded file to it. Alternatively, you can connect the card to the computer before downloading the file, and save the file directly to it by specifying the appropriate download location.
  7. Once the download is complete, remove the card and insert it into your WP8.
  8. Go to the WP Store hub (formerly Marketplace) on your phone and select the SD card option from its main page.
  9. The Store hub is smart enough to distinguish between media files and XAPs, and only display installable files when the card is accessed from it. Make sure your phone has an active data connection, and tap the correct XAP file.
Unlike in iTunes, you won’t be asked to sign in to any account when downloading the file on a computer, as all verification is done on-device.


Read More

Customize Windows 8 Installation & Create Unattended Setup ISO

04:05 0 comments


-->


Windows 8 is not just about its new and fluid Modern UI; the installation time and the amount of disk space consumed by the OS has also been greatly reduced compared to its predecessor. However, this fast installation does come at the cost of less customization options; in fact, there are hardly any. You cannot choose the components to be installed or leave out the ones not required. If you’ve been looking for a way to customize your Windows 8 installation, WinReducer 8 is what you need. This freeware lets you customize Windows 8 setup from scratch via creating an ISO file from an existing installation disk or ISO. Furthermore, it lets you create an unattended Windows 8 installation ISO, so you won’t have to sit in front of your computer during the whole setup process.
WinReducer 8 is a portable application, and its downloadable ZIP archive contains both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the tool. After extracting the files, simply execute the appropriate version for your computer.

The application is currently in alpha, though everything it offers works as advertised. The main interface is minimal, and pffers ‘Open’ and ‘Change Mount Folder’ buttons. Note that if you are using an ISO file of Windows 8 setup, you’ll need to extract all the files from the ISO package into a separate folder before proceeding. You can use your favorite comressed files utility for the purpose; we recommend the free and excellent 7-zip.
Open to select the said directory, point to the disk drive with your Windows 8 installation disc or choose the folder where you extracted the ISO’s contents, select your Windows 8 edition and click Mount.


Sit back and let the application fetch all the information contained within the ISO or physical disc, after which it will let you customize the setup.


The tool will let you select any unwanted features that you want to exclude. Simply mark the the components that are not required such as Accessories, Drivers, Fonts, Languages, Themes, Services etc., under the Components Reducer tab.


The Customization tab helps you make further optimization and tweaking, for instance you can remove the Charms bar, hide desktop icons, remove files and settings from Windows Explorer, clean unneeded files and so on. Likewise, it allows you to select a default Lockscreen, Wallpaper, and custom theme.


The Unattended feature of the tool is a big time saver. It lets you specify your Windows 8 serial number, so you don’t have to enter it each time you performing the installation. In addition, you can select a custom background image for the setup program, provided the image dimensions don’t exceed 1024 x 786 pixels.


Once everything is in place, apply your changes and let the tool work its magic based on your selection.


Lastly, select ‘Save in WIM file and create a new ISO’. You may also change the destination folder, ISO name, and ISO label before hitting Save to create the ISO.


Testing of the tool was carried out on Windows 8, 64-bit edition.










Read More

Disable Windows 8 App Notifications Or Change Their Duration

04:02 , 0 comments



Microsoft’s decision to release the exact same interface for both the PC and tablet versions of Windows 8 has its pros and cons. On one hand, this means users won’t have to learn two different types of operating systems to use different devices, while on the other, it makes certain features seem redundant, depending on the device you are using. While Windows 8 offers default settings to enable or disable some of these features, there are a lot that cannot be toggled without the use of third party tools. One particular feature, Windows Store app notifications, however, is something that can be tweaked according to your liking using native options. You can either change the time that an app notification stays on the screen, or disable Lock Screen and app notifications altogether. In this post, we will explain how you can alter both settings.

Disable Lock Screen & App Notifications

App notifications can be easily disabled from the Notifications category in PC Settings. Open the Charms bat and choose Settings > Change PC Settings to access the PC settings app. From the left side, select the Notifications category to reveal all the related options. At the top, there are ‘Show app notifications’, ‘Show app notifications on the Lock Screen’ and ‘Play notification sounds’ toggles. In order to complete turn off all types of notifications for all apps, just turn off the Show app Notifications option.
Other than turning off notifications for all installed apps, you can do so selectively as well. The lower part of the Notifications settings screen allows you to turn off notifications for individual apps of your choice.

Change Visibility Duration Of Notifications

The duration that each notification stays on the screen can be changed using the settings available inside he Ease of Access Center. Open the Start Screen, type “ease of access center” and select Settings from the right side to see it in the search results.

Once on the Ease of Access Center window, scroll down and look for the ‘Make it easier to focus on tasks’ option.

Again, scroll down and look for ‘Adjust time limits and flashing visuals’ section.
Under ‘How long should Windows notification dialog boxes stay open’, open the drop down menu to choose a time of your liking. The available options include 5, 7, 15, and 30 seconds, as well as 1 and 5 minutes; 5 seconds is set by default. Click OK to save the changes.

This how-to applies to both Windows 8 and RT.






Read More

How to Easily Change Window Border Width & Padding In Windows 8

08:06 0 comments



Content before chrome – that’s one of the two principles of Microsoft’s ‘Metro’ design language. Yet when you look at the Desktop in Windows 8, there are still plenty of places where chrome can be further reduced for better looking content.  Heavily padded windows borders are a good example of that. We have previously discussed how you can change window border size in one of our earlier posts on thebest Windows 8 tweaks, hacks and tips but that method involves heading deep down into the dreaded Windows Registry and manually changing values stored in oddly-named variables – something certain people feel is a little too risky, even though it isn’t if you follow the instructions properly. If the idea of editing your computer’s registry makes you uncomfortable, fret not! We have found a useful little app called ‘Tiny Windows Borders’ that lets you change the dimensions of your windows borders with sliders. Now that sounds much safer, doesn’t it?
Tiny Windows Borders is a portable app that doesn’t require any installation. All you have to do is download it from the link provided at the end of this post, extract the contents of the zip file using your favorite tool, and launch the extracted TinyWindowsBorders.exe file. You will be presented with this interface:


All you need to do now is simply play around with the two sliders for Border Width and Border Padding until you find a setting for both that works for you, and then click ‘Apply’.
I personally reduced Border Padding all the way down to 1 unit. It looks perfect to me, but then it’s a personal choice.

Read More

Scroll Inside Inactive Windows With Mouse Wheel

07:48 0 comments



People with large monitors or a multi-monitor setup normally have a lot of windows open on their desktop. In order to view information from different sources, we need to switch between different windows and scroll up and down through the information visible on them. If you are a Mac user, you can scroll the inactive windows without first bringing them into focus. Windows on the other hand, does not have this feature. If you want to scroll up, down, left or right, you have to first select the window and bring it to the front. This causes your currently focused window to get out of focus, which you might not want. That’s where Mouse Hunter comes to the rescue. It is a third-party tool that simply allows you to scroll the content of even those windows that are not in focus. Instead of clicking a window to bring it to focus, you just have to move your mouse pointer over it and viola! Moreover, it lets you scroll the windows horizontally using the same scroll button. Keep reading to find out more about Mouse Hunter.
Once installed, the app runs quietly in the system tray. Upon first start, the Settings window pops up, allowing you to specify the default application behavior. The options are divided into two sections: Main and Smart Mouse Wheel. The Main section deals with options like choosing to Start Mouse Hunter with Windows, Show Information Balloon on Start, Start Mouse Hunter as Disabled, and Write Log File. The log file can help with debugging or reporting any issues and clicking the Open button in front of the Write log file option, you can view its contents without having to navigate to the application folder.
The Smart Mouse Wheel section contains options to set the button behavior. The ‘No scroll is middle button’ option can be confusing at first glance, but it basically means that once enabled, a window cannot be scrolled if the middle mouse button is pressed. The next two options allow you to easily enable horizontal scrolling by using the scroll wheel in combination with the SHIFT or CONTROL keys, while the last two options let you do the same using the left or right click buttons of your mouse in combination with the scroll wheel. Once you have configured the options the way you want, click OK to save the settings and you are good to go!
Mouse Hunter works on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.



Read More

Cinelab - A Simple Video Editor For Windows 8

07:41 , , 0 comments



Almost every major modern computer platform offers some kind of video editing feature. If you have been following us for a while,  you must have come across our coverage of dozens of video editing tools for iOS, Android, Windows and Mac OS X. Today, we are bringing you video editing application for Windows 8 called Cinelab. While not exceptionally feature-laden, the app allows you to edit and merge your video clips into a single seamless file. The output file is processed and converted to MP4 format, and then saved to the directory of your choice. The interface looks clean, simple and easy to use, and is fully optimized for Windows 8 PCs and Windows RT tablets.
To download Cinelab, open Store app from the Start Screen and highlight the Search Charm. Type ‘Cinelab’ in search and press enter. From the search results, select the app and then click or tap Install.
Upon launching Cinelab, you will be presented with its dark UI. At first, the app displays only a single tile with a small ‘Add Clip‘ button to its right. Clicking or tapping this button allows adding additional video clips in form of tiles. The interface also contains three more buttons at the bottom named Rewind, Play and Review. The Play button starts playback of the selected video as a Live tile, while the Rewind button starts the video from the beginning.
You can tweak some application-specific settings by clicking Settings in Charms Bar, followed by Export Options. You can make video and audio quality adjustments, specify average video bit rate in kbps, and toggle Audio Export.



Editing a clip is fairly easy. The selected clip shows a mini slider using which you can crop your desired video section. You can drag a video clip left or right in order to adjust the sequence of the final clip. You can also right-click anywhere on the screen to bring up additional navigation controls at the bottom. This includes Clone (to duplicate the selected tile), Select All, Clear Selection, Remove, Undo, Make Movie, New, Load and Save. The Save button enables you to store your project, so you may pick up the editing from where you left off. Clicking ‘Make Movie’ begins the conversion process.

Cinelab is available for free at Windows Store. However, the free version only allows merging up to 7 clips. To add more clips, you need to purchase an in-app Pro license. Testing was carried out on Windows 8 Pro, 64-bit.

Download Cinelab-Download

Read More

How to Bring Back Windows 7 Explorer Toolbar In Windows 8

07:33 , 0 comments



The latest installment of Windows from Microsoft comes with a lot of new features. The user opinion is divided, with some welcoming the new direction Windows is heading towards, while others complaining about deviating this much from what they have been using. To learn about the changes in the OS, check out our detailed review of all the new features introduced in Windows 8. Ever since the Consumer Preview of Windows 8 came out, people started getting an idea of the magnitude of changes they will have to face, such as the replacement of Start Menu with the Start Screen, and Explorer toolbar with the Ribbon UI. Developers are still coming up with tools that let users get back the feel of the previous versions by reintroducing the Windows 7 UI elements that are no longer present in Windows 8. Previously, we have covered several tools that bring back the Start Menu, and today we have a tool called Ribbon Disabler that disables the Ribbon UI and brings back the old Explorer toolbar.
Even though, the Ribbon UI contains a lot more options than the Explorer toolbar, the simplicity of the latter makes it a preferred choice for some users. When using the Ribbon UI, all file and folder-related options are divided into different tabs. Selecting a file, folder, drive or any other element brings up its relevant options in the top bar. However, the sheer amount of available options can sometimes prove to be confusing.
That’s where Ribbon Disabler comes in by allowing you to disable the Ribbon UI and replace it with the Explorer toolbar, all in just a single click. To do this, simply launch the tool. click the Disable Ribbon Explorer button, log off and log back on.
When you log back in, you will see the Ribbon UI replaced by the Explorer toolbar, complete with all the options found in the default Explorer toolbar from Windows 7.

Read More

Get Around 200 GB Storage Space on the Cloud For Free

05:58 , , 2 comments



Here are some of the top cloud space providers:

Drop Box:

It provides 2 GB of cloud space to the free users but the users can get extra space of 16 GB by referring it to others. Referring to 32 users can extend your space from 2 GB to 18 GB. You and the referred one will get 500 MB space for every referral. So you can get a total of 18 GB cloud space.

Google Drive:

Just released Google product gives every user a 5GB cloud space on the cloud to store their files. The user interface is very good in Google Drive. Just yesterday I got my account there and I love it.

Sky Drive:

It is from Windows Live and they provide 7GB to free users to sore data. But Skydrive is now integrated with Windows 8 and so company offered 25GB cloud space to everyone. But you will get that only when you exceed the 7GB mark.

ADrive:

It provides 50GB of Online Cloud Space for free; so that you can store big files under 2GB. But it is very good as it gives 50 GB, more than any other.

Box:

It provides 5GB of online cloud space to free users and you can share files through links like that of Dropbox.

Sugar Sync:

It provides 5GB cloud space to free users.With Sugar Sync you get online back up, file sharing and access from any device.


Read More

New Features of iPad Mini

04:49 0 comments



There is a speculation that Apple is going to launch their new iPad mini in October. 
As Apple is renowned for its innovation, people are excepting something new from their new iPad mini also.
According to recent reports, Apple’s new iPad mini may not have all the features of its high priced iPad. Though Apple has not confirmed any details about their latest release, speculation is going all round and some of them are reliable sources.

Some of the features that have chances to make their way into the iPad mini are described below:

Dual cameras 
Apple has already announced that they will incorporate Face Time to improve video communication facility in all of their latest device. So, there is every chances that new iPad mini will come up with dual camera facility. A user can easily take amazing photos with the rear camera. And front camera can be used for video chatting.
Display
From all reliable sources it is confirmed that Apple’s iPad mini will have 7.85 inch display. Though the size is pretty smaller in compare to latest iPad which has 9.7 inch display, it is a comfortable size for iPad mini.
Operating Software
Apple iOS 6 has already been launched in the market. So, it is now confirmed that iPad mini will ship with iOS 6 operating system because Apple always use latest software in their upcoming products.
No Retina display
As Apple has targeted to lower the price substantially in their latest iPad mini, they have to leave some of the exclusive features out of their latest release. And there is every possibility that retina display will not find its place in the device.
Design
There is some latest news on the Web about iPad mini. The news is that it has an exceptionally slim design which will set it apart from all other tablets available in the market. It will have a structure much thinner than the latest iPads.
Price
As Apple has designed their iPad mini for low budget users, it will definitely have a price in much lower than other Apple devices. There is an expectation that price will be more or less similar to its chief competitors like Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire.





Read More

Top 10 Windows 8 Apps To Kill Your Boring Moments

04:41 , , 1 comment



Many a times we want to pass our time by doing some exciting things but we don’t get the right ideas at that moment. Now you may be alone at home or waiting for the flight, both the situations are equally boring. So here is where these apps will try to kill your boredom and will make your moments enjoyable.

If you’ve Windows 8 installed in your laptop then you can easily get access to these Windows 8 apps through the Windows Store.

I like these Windows 8 apps to kill my boring time. They just help me to convert those sucking moments into enjoyable moments.

So here goes the list of some awesome  Windows 8 apps:

1. PVR Cinemas is a cool windows 8 app to kill boredom. I generally switch to it to watch new movie trailers and to get reviews of the new movies. Using this app you can even check which movies are opening this weekend, which movies are running in theaters and which movies are doing superb in the box office.
2. Physamajig is an app where you can draw and create objects. The objects become real as soon as you complete it. And you can even throw the objects or make them bounce. It’s pretty cool.
3. Fresh Paint is a drawing app for fun. In this app you will get many painting tools that can help you to create cool paintings.
4. Doodle God Free is an exciting game. In this addictive puzzle game, mix and match different combinations of fire, earth, wind and air to create an entire civilization.
5. Daily Motion has over 20 million videos that you can enjoy when you’re bore. The videos are high definition in quality. They are new and fresh. There are videos on many topics like news, sports, music, movies, video games etc… You can also share the videos with your friends using the social networking options.
6. Cut the Rope is a cool game to play. The game presents some toffees that you need to feed the Froggy. The toffees are hanged with the help of ropes and many times they keep swinging. So you need to cut the rope in order to make it enter the frog’s mouth. It’s is my favorite game in Windows 8 which is very exciting and has many levels for fun.
7. Piano Time is a cool piano app for the piano lovers. You can easily play the music of your favorite songs if you know the piano keys.
8. Jet-pack Joyride is a game that has many objectives and levels to clear. I’s really an amazing gave to play when you feel bore.. It’s a space fighter game. You need to earn points, save yourself and buy better weapons to cross levels.
9. Air Soccer is a football game which is not like other football games. I mean to say that it don’t have football players, instead it has 3 big balls in each side and the main ball in the middle and you’ve to make goals with the help of those 3 big balls. Those 3 balls are the players in this game. Nice game with both single player and 2 player feature.
10. Tune-In Radio is a radio app to listen to your favorite channels. It has channels of every genre. You can listen to sports news, music channels, daily news etc…
It’s great to kill your boring moments with these type of windows 8 apps.
Windows Store has many more such exciting apps like Ninja, Mahjong, Solitaire, Pinball to keep away your boring moments. So you can just go and check all the Windows 8 Apps. Do comment about your favorite Windows 8 Apps.


Read More