Microsoft’s Windows 8 Phone
Microsoft recently debuted its Windows Phone 8, and it’s a far cry from the flopped original Windows Phone that came out a couple years ago. As Windows 8 for your PC is based on dynamic live tiles, so is the Windows Phone 8.
Instead of seeing the standard app icons as you would on other platforms, you’ll see these live tiles. You can change the size and color of these tiles, and they can display weather, sports scores, recent Tweets (with live updates), Groupon deal of the day, news headlines and more.
Xbox, Bing, Internet Explorer 10 and Skype are the top items that can be easily accessed with your new Windows Phone.
Additionally, any documents you have stored in the cloud with Office 365 or Microsoft’s SkyDrive are readily accessible. The new Rooms feature allows you to create private groups of people among other Windows Phone 8 users. Here you can do private chats (versus your whole social network), and share notes, photos and calendars.
Parents will love the new Kids Corner feature. This allows you to share your phone with your keiki so they can play their favorite games without accidentally sending a random text message to your boss or deleting your pictures. You, as the parent, get to choose the movies, games and other content. You also can add in a PIN so your keiki cannot make any inapp purchases, phone calls or browse the Web.
This new operating system is a breath of fresh air, but there are a very limited number of apps available compared to what you can find with an iOS or Android device. If you’re truly opposed to iPhones and Androids, this is a viable alternative.
The Windows 8 Phone comes in a variety of hardware choices and carriers. Verizon Wireless offers the Windows Phone 8X by HTC for $199.99, and the Nokia Lumia 822 (exclusive to Verizon) for $99.99, both with a two-year contract. AT&T offers the Nokia Lumia 920 ($99.99), the Lumia 820 ($49.99) and the Windows Phone 8X by HTC ($199.99), all with a two-year contract. T-Mobile carries the Windows Phone 8X by HTC ($149.99) and the Nokia Lumia 810 ($99.99).
If you cannot make it to your favorite carrier’s store, visit microsoftstore.com for more information and/or to purchase your Windows 8 Phone.
Click Chick’s Mobile App of the Week: Butterball Cookbook Plus
Many of you will be eating turkey if not cooking one this holiday season. Cooking for the holidays can be stressful, but Butterball’s Cookbook Plus app (iOS only) makes it easy. Yes, this app costs $5, but it’s worth it!
It gives you recipes for your favorite side dishes, how-to videos and the important instructions you need to cook that turkey. It also features voice commands – tap play to start, then once your hands are covered in stuffing or pie filling, all you do is speak to proceed to the next step so you don’t get food all over your iPhone/iPad. It also includes conversion charts, multiple timers and substitution lists.
