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Without a doubt one of my favorite games in my twenties was Age of Empires.  I spent hours playing this game and in fact at one point, my entire startup company on Friday’s would have an AoE tournament.  When Microsoft announced that Age of Empire Castle Siege was coming to Windows and Windows Phone earlier this year, I was ecstatic but also had my concerns about it living up to my memories.  I can say now after a few weeks of playing, it lives up to expectations.

The game play in Age of Empires Castle Siege is outstanding with great graphics, smooth scrolling and a truly universal app for both Windows and Windows Phone.  Having played the game for a few weeks now I can say that you won’t be disappointed, especially if you are an old AoE player.

Age of Empires: Castle Siege – Universal App – Free – Download Now

This weekend the Windows world was teased with some great headlines that Microsoft will be launching a Smartwatch or fitness device within the coming weeks.  The source of the report is Forbes which has been a reasonably reliable resource when it comes to rumors and leaks around Microsoft.  The article, which you can read here, goes into a little detail about what is expected and rightfully so points to a mixed bag when it comes to Microsoft’s track record when it comes to launching new devices into the market.

Zune?  Anyone?  Anyone?

But this same article points out what could very well be two key features of this rumored device that will set it apart from the current Android lineup of Smartwatches and from the AppleWatch set to debut next year:  Cross-platform support and greater than one day of battery life.

The Lumia Storyteller App for Windows Phone has received a nice update, bringing some new controls and features to the timeline based app for your photos.  If you are not familiar with it, Lumia Storyteller creates a timeline of your photos and videos on your Windows Phone where photos lumped together in a storyboard like fashion.  It is a great alternative to Photos on Windows Phone.

In your timeline you can browse your stories and modify them, then view them as slideshows or share them with friends. You can also sort your photos and videos by location, add captions and create a list of favorites, and when you’re looking at a photo you can zoom out to see where you took it on a map.

Lumia Storyteller for Windows Phone – Free – Download Now

Microsoft has released a small update to the Extras+Info app for Windows Phone that has caused a bit of a stir today in the community.  It was released a few hours ago but almost immediately rumors began floating that this was Lumia Denim, the next firmware update expected this year for Windows Phone.  Folks, this is not Lumia Denim.  It is simply an app update.

Now, what exactly was updated in Extras+Info is pretty vague in that the description highlights stability improvements.  So nothing terribly exciting.

Lumia Denim, which will bring a whole set of new features to Windows Phone, will be released later this year.