ClintonFitch.com

So just in case you missed it somewhere down the line, I left Windows Phone about 3 years ago out of frustration and started another site, AlliOSNews.  Now I like iOS but it isn’t magical.  I like the iPhone 5s as well but again, it isn’t magical.  To me, the magic was in Windows Phone.  But there was a glaring hole in the platform and that would be the app store.  When I left a few years ago there were less than 25,000 apps in the app store.  That was at a time when Apple was pushing some 300,000.  Yeah, it puts it into perspective that the Windows Phone Store has just now hit the 300K marker.

As I wrote in my first post here a couple of weeks ago, there were two main reasons I came back to the Windows Phone community (besides missing all you peeps of course!).  One was the improvements that Microsoft had made in Windows Phone 8.0 and 8.1 and the second was the Windows Phone Store was finally getting the attention it need from big developers.

I have enjoyed getting back into the Windows Phone community and part of that enjoyment has come from listening to readers and colleagues in the community on all the devices that are out there today.  If there is a phone size with particular features or budget point, chances are there is a Windows Phone for you to fit the need.  I’ve been fortunate this week to not have just one but two Nokia Lumia phones in house to review.  The first is the Lumia 1320, the budget minded Phablet.  Make not mistake:  The 1320, like it’s big brother the 1520, is huge.  But it is also very feature rich, taking full advantage of that massive 6″ display and the battery life is unbelievable.

Having spent a few days with the Lumia 1320 I’ve got a good first impression of the device and while a full review will be coming next week, I wanted to give readers a preview and my overall impressions after a few days.

The Facebook for Windows Phone app has received a significant update today that brings an improved layout for the UI and a major boost in performance, particularly on slower Windows Phones.  The update, v5.3 for those keeping score, looks more native to Windows Phone than the previous version and Facebook Messenger is now supported in the app.  This is an interesting development given that Facebook is pushing iOS users to a standalone Messenger app (which is also available for Windows Phone).

The ability to screen capture in Windows Phone 8.1 is easy to do and is the same process for any Nokia Lumia Windows Phone.  For those of us who blog and write about the platform, taking a screen capture is important so we can convey whatever it is we are posting about.  If you read the site or see my posts over in the Microsoft Community pages, you will see a lot of screen captures from me.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words…

Even if you don’t write reviews however, you will find taking a screen capture in Windows Phone 8.1 something handy when you are showing friends something on your phone and sharing it via a social network or email.