Danal opens up mobile operator billing for Windows Phone Store

Microsoft has now added another name to the list of partners helping roll out operating billing for theWindows Phone Store. Danal announced today that it is now processing mobile operator billing for Microsoft with the service being made available on multiple mobile operators using Danal's BilltoMobile payment platform.

"Danal's bespoke solution for Windows Phone provides the app store with our intuitive Carrier Billing payment option," said Jim Greenwell, President and CEO of Danal Inc. "We're extremely excited to bring that platform to the growing user base in the Windows Phone Store."

"Working with Danal to implement another secure payment solution for Windows Phone will enable even more customers to enjoy our expansive catalog of apps and games through one convenient billing system," said Todd Brix, general manager, Windows Store & Apps, Microsoft Corp. "Mobile Operator billing connections also benefit app developers by significantly increasing total app revenue in markets where operator billing is available," Brix continued.

In order to process all of the transactions, Danal had to create a custom interface to Microsoft's billing specifications. With the addition of the Danal's BilltoMobile payment platform, the Windows Phone Store now supports 59 Mobile Operator billing connections in 36 countries.

Verizon drops Lumia Icon's price to $99.99

It's been a while since Nokia released the Lumia Icon in the US. The handset is exclusively available from Verizon, and came with a $199.99 price tag. There's a piece of good news for those who are thinking about getting the Lumia Icon. Verizon has slashed the price of the handset to $99.99 with a two-year contract, a savings of $100 compared to the original price.

The Nokia Lumia Icon comes with a 5-inch display sporting a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, and is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 800 SoC with 2GB of RAM. On the storage side, it comes with a 32GB internal storage. Unfortunately, there's no microSD card slot for those who want to expand on that. Other features include a 20MP camera with Carl Zeiss Optics and PureVIew, 1.2MP front-facing camera, 2,420 mAh battery and it runs Windows Phone 8 as its operating system. 

This reduction in the price is a part of the Mothers Day promotion Verizon is running on the latest smartphones so you need to act fast, the promotion will end on May 12th

For those of you who are having trouble deciding, you can check out our review of the Lumia Icon. I'm sure it's enough to help you make up your mind. So, who's getting a Lumia Icon? Sound off in the comments below.

Thanks Mark for the tip..

Surface 2s to be handed out to 5,800 Canadian career college students

Students attending Canadian career training institute CDI College are in line to receive a Surface 2s to help with their studies. The college has 26 campuses, and each of the 5,800 students will receive one of Microsoft's tablets by the end of summer this year.

Vice president at the college Dr. Bohdan Bilan said "We need to provide students with the tools they will use when they graduate and the skills that will translate in the future as technology continues to evolve, so the Surface 2 and Microsoft software was perfect for us".

CDI College started off with a pilot program at the Ajax, Ontario campus which then spread to the campus at Surrey, British Columbia. Now the entire student body will be able to take advantage of Surface 2s using tools such as Office 2013, Skype, and OneDrive to assist with their education.

"The experience students receive with the enterprise-quality technology of the Surface devices and Microsoft productivity tools help us achieve our goal of preparing them with the skills and experiences they need to succeed in their career now and 20 years from now," said Dr. Bilan.

Internet Explorer 11 jumps to 16.61% market share, while Internet Explorer 8 remains at the top

New data from Net Applications for the month of April 2014 has been released, showcasing just how well Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser has performed in terms of market share. According to the data, the company's latest browser, Internet Explorer 11, has seen an increase in market share bringing it to 16.61% for the month of April. This is up from the previous share of 15.71% for the month of March. However, Internet Explorer 8 remains at the top of the charts.

Internet Explorer 11 now holds a 16.61% share, compared to the previous month's 15.71%. Internet Explorer 8 remains at the top with a 20.85% share, compared to the previous month's 21.14%. Clearly, Internet Explorer 11 is on track to overtake Internet Explorer 8 and become the top browser, as the gap between the two narrows.

While Internet Explorer remains the top browser, Mozilla's Firefox 28 comes in second place with a 12.28% share. Google's Chrome comes in third place with a 8.64% share.

Remote Desktop Preview app now available for Windows Phone 8.1

If you currently have Windows Phone 8.1 installed on your device as part of the Windows Phone Preview for Developers, you can now try out the Remote Desktop Preview app which is now available in the Windows Phone Store to download.
                        

The Remote Desktop Preview app uses RDP 8.1 and RemoteFX that enables you to have a rich multi-touch experience that supports Windows gestures when you connect to Windows 8 devices for example. For a complete drill-down into all the capabilities of the Remote Desktop Preview app, head on over to the Remote Desktop Services Blog and read this blog post from David Bélanger who is a Program Manager on the Remote Desktop Team.

Nokia Lumia 930 to land in Italy in June with a €599.90 price tag(rumor)

Earlier this month, Nokia unveiled three new Windows Phone 8.1 powered handsets: Nokia Lumia 630, 635 and 930. The first two are budget devices, and is expected to launch in various parts of the globe in May, while the high-end Lumia 930 will hit retail in June. The Lumia 630/635 will hit retail in some European countries for €149.90, but there's no word about the exact launch date nor pricing of the Lumia 930. Recently, the folks at Plaffo are reporting, citing a source who has been reliable in the past, that the Nokia Lumia 930 will hit Italian shores in June for €599.90/649.90.

The Nokia Lumia 930 brings high-end specifications to the table -- it's basically the Nokia Lumia Icon for international markets. For those of you who can't recall, Lumia 930 rocks a 5-inch 1080p display, and comes with a quad-core Snapdragon 800 SoC clocked at 2.2GHz with 2GB of RAM on board. Other features include 32GB internal storage with an additional 7GB SkyDrive storage, 20MP camera with PureView technology and Carl Zeiss Optics, a 2,420 mAh battery and runs the latest Windows Phone 8.1 OS out of the box.

It's not confirmed at the moment so a grain of salt is advised. It won't be a surprise if the price turns out to be around €600, as flagship devices from other OEMs are also running for a similar price tag in Europe.  We'll update you as soon as it becomes official.

Movie Moments now available for Windows Phone 8.1

Many of us shoot videos with our smartphones. I have friends and family that take a ton of videos of their kids doing various activities – from taking their first steps to playing baseball. I’m constantly taking videos of my puppy Kilo doing funny things like snoring really loudly. We all want an easy way to share these videos. With Windows 8.1, we introduced an app called Movie Moments that lets you take videos you’ve taken and edit them down into a shareable 60-second clip that captures a memorable moment with captions and music. Today, we’re bringing Movie Moments to Windows Phone 8.1! If you are trying out Windows Phone 8.1 as part of the Windows Phone Preview for Developers, download Movie Moments from the Windows Phone Store and give it a try.

                

With Movie Moments on Windows Phone 8.1, you can shoot a video and in 4 steps edit that video down to a clip that captures a specific moment that can easily be shared out to Facebook or to OneDrive.

 It’s super easy. Give it a try!