Author: Clinton

One of the most ‘in tune” people in my opinion with Microsoft, Windows and Windows Phone is Paul Thurrott.  If you aren’t familiar with who he is, check out his site, Super Site Windows or you can check him out with Mary-Jo Foley and Leo Laporte on Windows Weekly on TWiT.

Last year on his site Paul posted an article on what Microsoft needed to do to get Windows Phone right in 2011.  If you look at the list, Microsoft pretty much got it all done.  Now he has posted an article on what Microsoft needs to do in 2012 to fix Windows Phone and really establish it in the market.

He has a good list of things that need to be addressed by Microsoft in 2012 for the platform to be successful and I generally agree with most of them.  Give the article a read and see what you think.  Do you agree?  What do you see as Windows Phone’s biggest stumbling block to success in 2012?

For many of you, today is the first day since the Christmas holiday this weekend to get back online and do some post holiday shopping or searching for information on your latest gadget.  If you are the proud owner of a Windows Phone, congratulations and welcome to the community!

If you are moving from a feature phone or another smartphone (Android or iPhone), then this Windows Phone experience will be somewhat of a left turn for you.  It’s different.  A lot different.  You’ve probably already figured that out but just in case the whole Live Tile start screen thing didn’t tell you… this is a lot different! 🙂

Over the course of the past year I’ve put together a series of How To’s for Windows Phone.  Some of these are basic while others are more advanced but they are all designed to help you get a handle on the new experience that is Windows Phone.  The How To’s are generally Windows Phone focused and not device specific.  That said, there are some specific How To’s for HTC and Samsung phones but only one or two.

To get to all of the How To’s here on ClintonFitch.com, just navigate to the How To section in the left-hand side bar.  And of course you can always post a question on Twitter or here on the site.

In the flurry of new apps this week, another major release hit the Marketplace.  Newegg.com, the popular technology site, released their official shopping app for Windows Phone.  The app brings all of the things that I personally love about Newegg including great product descriptions and photos, reviews from buyers of that product (over 1.7 million reviews) and quick, in-app purchasing.  The app ties in with your Newegg.com account so purchasing is quick and easy – which is a good thing, right? 😀

For you RSS fans out there, one of the best (in my opinion the best) Google Reader enabled apps for Windows Phone has gotten a major update.  NextGen Reader from NextGSoft has bumped up to version 2.3 brining with it several new features and some bug fixes.  One of the new features is the ability to have full image caching for full offline reading, new swiping for articles and a fix for what was an annoying white flicker when you opened a new article.

For those of you who use the cloud-based service Box can now access your files and photos from your Windows Phone.  The company has released their BoxDrive app in the Marketplace, a free app that gives you full access to your Box.net files from your phone.

If you are looking for a new game for your Windows Phone, Microsoft may have just the ticket.  Breeze, a new Xbox Live enabled game, allows you to control the, erm, breeze and blow flowers to goals throughout 60 different challenging levels.

The game allows you to control the breeze in the game by tapping on your screen which moves the flower throughout the level.  While some of the levels are easy, the more advanced levels get more challenging.  There are obsticles that you have to avoid all while keeping an eye on the clock.  I wouldn’t call this a super tough game but it is no doubt hours of fun for all ages.