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Daniel Gary, the developer of Itsdagram, the 3rd party Instagram client for Windows Phone, has just posted that the app has passed 50,000 downloads.  The app has only generally available for about the week, making it a pretty rapid ramp up.

The app has been the best selling paid app in the Windows Phone store since the 20th, and remains so, despite a free version now being available.

The app shows that a motivated developer can profit from filling a large missing app gap in the Windows Phone Store.  We have recently heard of a developer looking at creating a Vine app.  Are there any other apps in particular our readers want Windows Phone developers to tackle? Let us know below.

Nokia recently spoke about their new collaboration with FourSquare to offer special features to their Lumia users.

The upgrade adds an Augmented Reality view to FourSquare’s usual map, allowing users to easily see venues around them.

To access the feature Lumia owners can now download the FourSquare upgrade app, whose sole purpose appears to be to patch the Foursquare app to add these features.

Users need to download the app, run it and then tap on “Install the new FourSquare app” and are then able to delete the Upgrade app.

The app can be found in the Windows Phone Store here.

Via WIndowsPhoneItaly.com

Kill some time with this simple real-time strategy space shooter.

Overall Score: 3/5

Tiny Space is worth downloading since it’s free, but the lasting value is unfortunately extremely lacking.

Gameplay: 4/5

In Tiny Space, you control a fleet of spaceships in an attempt to overwhelm and destroy the enemy bases while protecting your own. You simply tell your ships where to go and they move there and attack. It’s simple, but actually really fun! The upgrade system also helps keep it interesting.

Presentation: 4/5

The visuals look great, even though they are relatively simple. It’s colorful and vivid! The sound effects fit well with the game.

Lasting Value: 1/5

Unfortunately there’s basically no lasting value to this game. There’s only one level, and it’s always the same. There are three difficulty settings, but once you beat hard there’s no reason to keep on playing. There isn’t even a high score system. But it’s free, so download it and play it and then uninstall when done!

Title: Tiny Space
Price: FREE
Publisher: Redware

Evernote for Windows Phone app got updated to v3.1.72.0 with few features and improvements.  You can now pin tool tiles to Start screen, there is new snipped view, etc,.

New in v3.1:

- New Snippet View displays notes in a horizontal list
- Pin tool tiles to your phone’s homescreen
- Numerous bug fixes and improvements

Download it here from Windows Phone Store for free.

"Nokia has filed further cases in the United States alleging that HTC products infringe additional Nokia patents,” a Nokia spokesperson said.

"Nokia’s new actions include a second complaint to the US International Trade Commission and a complaint to the US District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego, US. These cases cover nine Nokia patents new to the dispute, bringing the total Nokia patents asserted against HTC in one or more of our actions around the world to 50."

The patents in question relate to  hardware features such as enhanced speech and data transmission, efficient component layout in compact unibody designs and worldwide roaming capability, application data sharing between phones, permissions management in applications, video encoding and decoding, and expanding a device’s capabilities with new applications.

It seems Nokia is still sore about HTC using their HAAC microphones in the HTC One.  A court has recently said HTC con continue to use the microphones they already purchased, supposedly in good faith, from ST Microelectronics, but needed to find a new supplier from then on.

"HTC has shown no intention to end its practices, instead it has tried to shift responsibility to its suppliers,” the spokesperson said. “We have therefore taken these further steps to hold HTC accountable for its actions.”

HTC can ill afford to be distracted or have the HTC One disrupted at present, with rumours of the company being in disarray, with numerous top level executives leaving and its finances threatening to dip into loss-making territory.

One wonders if Nokia is intent in killing off its only real Windows Phone competition, and owning 100% of that small pond. 

What do our readers think? Let us know below.

Nokia Lumia 920 price has been slashed by Nokia India. The flagship Windows Phone 8 device is now available for Rs.32639 from the official online store. It comes with free Nokia DT-900 Wireless Charging Plate as well. However, online retailers like Flipkart is selling the the device for just Rs.31999 with free Nokia DT-900 Wireless Charging Plate with Zero Processing Fee on EMIs. They have noted that the Zero Processing Fee offer is valid till 31st May 2013.

I think Nokia did the right move by reducing the price of the device as other competing flagships such as the new Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One are now available at its previous pricing of around Rs.35,000 to Rs.40,000.

Source: Nokia, Flipkart

A recent report by UK analyst company Canalys complained that “Top iOS and Android apps largely absent on Windows Phone”.

They note that Windows Phone only had 22 of the top 50 fee applications on the Google Play store.

This number struck me as somewhat odd, and a closer investigation shows that it is rather far from the truth.

Ignoring games, which many over the age of 25 probably do, the top 50 actual applications in the UK Google Play Store are rather well represented in the Windows Phone Store.

Of the top 50 applications, 27 had Windows Phone versions created directly by the developers, and 5 had functional equivalents (e.g Itsdagram and Instagram).  3 of the top 50 apps were pure junk e.g. the Lie Detector Polygraph app, and only about 15 out of the 50 apps were not present at all, and would in some way be missed by Windows Phone users, a far cry from the 28 claimed Canalys.

Those apps were:

I think the absence of streaming TV apps by BBC, Sky, ITV and 4OD will be most acutely felt, and is obviously a category problem Microsoft needs to work on, and are the majority of the list.  Other apps like Snapchat are obviously high profile holes in the Windows Phone line-up. Otherwise I don’t think there is much else of note.

One thing I think which is important to realize is that removing the volatility of the ever changing list of popular games means that the list of actual utility apps which are absent on Windows Phone will become increasingly shorter very quickly. Once the streaming TV services capitulate to the increasing market share of Windows Phone in the UK for example that issue will be solved permanently, and the list of ever popular missing apps will be much shorter.

See the list of original, equivalent and junk apps after the break.

Rank	Google Play apps with  WP versions
1	Facebook
2	WhatsApp Messenger
3	Skype – free IM & video calls
4	Official eBay Android App
7	BBC iPlayer
10	Twitter
11	Viber : Free Messages & Calls
14	TVCatchup
17	Adobe Reader
18	Antivirus Security – FREE
19	Amazon Mobile for Android
20	TuneIn Radio
23	Kindle
24	Met Office Weather Application
26	Shazam
27	PayPal
28	Kik Messenger
31	Spotify
33	Calorie Counter – MyFitnessPal
37	Tesco Mobile
38	Tango Text, Voice, and Video
41	Netflix
42	Sky News
46	µTorrent®  Beta – Torrent App
47	IMDb Movies & TV
49	Speedtest.net
50	Groupon

Looking at the lists, do our readers think the app gap issue is overblown? Let us know below.

ZBand is a pretty niche product – designed to wake users up gently by vibration on their wrist rather than the harsh sound of a normal alarm clock.  This makes it ideal for users who have to wake a lot earlier than their partners or those who do not want to wake small children or babies who sleep in close proximity.

In the very simple product the alarms are set in a rather sophisticated way – over Bluetooth from a smartphone. The good news is that the accessory explicitly supports Windows Phone, with an app a Windows Phone 8 app in the store.

The band is also relatively cheap at 39.99 Euro and is shipping now to more than 30 countries.

The main weakness of the product is likely its 10 day battery life – for something as critical as an alarm I suspect a backup may be required for when one forgets to charge the bracelet, which is done via microUSB.

The device does not support iOS yes, with the developer saying:

“At the moment we are focused on Windows Phone and Android. Apple run a closed system when it comes to hardware and we’d need to access their Bluetooth systems for compatibility and so that will take time.

Read more about the Zband at their site here.

Via Siliconrepublic.com

Daily Steals are offering Nokia’s Qi wireless charger, the DT-900, for only $25.  They claim this is a quarter of the normal $99 price, but I think it is more like half of the usual $50 price, but still a great deal if you finally want to get that charger for the bedside or office.

The charger is available in Black and White.

The deal only has another 21 hours to run, and unfortunately Daily Steals does not ship outside of US.

If you qualify however grab the accessory at Daily Steals here.

Thanks Yusuf for the tip.