Microsoft updates Photos app for Windows 10 Preview with requested changes

Microsoft has quietly pushed out an update for their new Photos app on Windows 10 Technical Preview. The update actually went out on Friday, meaning most of you likely already have it installed. The difference is now the app's improvements have been detailed via the Insider Hub app, which keeps users updated on OS happenings.

Version 15.130.1615.0 of Photos should either be already on your system or the update ready in the Store (beta). As to what's new, Microsoft has given some detail.

Photos Version 15.130.1615.0

• One of the top 3 suggestions for us was improving AutoEnhance, with specific comments around some photos turning out a little grainy.  We've fine tuned the noise removal algorithm and it is ready for you to try!  (your collection will automatically get the new version of AutoEnhancements, to see the noise reduction you should zoom in on a photo). 
• We've been working hard on perf, specifically around drawing thumbnails in list view.  Most people should see significant improvements in how fast their page of thumbnails is drawn. 
• And we've collected some data that some customers were experiencing crashes, we've been through those reports and have fixes that should greatly improve stability for the customers that hit them. 

Although these are not earth shattering changes, it is a larger demonstration of how quickly Microsoft can react – and fix – core OS apps like Photos through backend app updates. This ability to update various aspects of the OS should make Windows 10 a much more dynamic operating system going forward.

To see if you have the latest version, open up Photos and select Settings and scroll down until you see 'About this app'. There you should see 15.130.1615.0 as the version number.

Image & News Courtesy Windows Central

Microsoft and Samsung reach settlement over royalties dispute

Microsoft has announced that it has settled a contract dispute it has been having Samsung, which could signal an eventual arrival of new Windows Phone handsets from the Korean manufacturer in the future.

From Microsoft:

"Samsung and Microsoft are pleased to announce that they have ended their contract dispute in U.S. court as well as the ICC arbitration. Terms of the agreement are confidential."

For some background, last year, Microsoft filed legal action against Samsung after it refused to pay royalties it owed to the tech giant over patent licensing fees for its Android devices. Under the terms of their contract, Samsung would be required to share sensitive data with Microsoft, something the Korean manufacturer argued could violate U.S. antitrust laws after Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia.

As far as future Windows Phone handsets from Samsung are concerned, the company stated in early January of this year that it would consider building more of the devices if it could reach a settlement with Microsoft over the aforementioned licensing scuffle. Since the two companies appear to have agreed on settlement terms, the door is now open to more Windows Phone handsets from Samsung — something that could be pretty big since we haven't seen anything new from Samsung since the ATIV SE which was based on its Galaxy S4 Android handset.

Image & News Courtesy Windows Central

Facebook's Internet.org lets Indian residents access basic internet services for free

At a media event in Mumbai, Facebook announced that it is teaming up with Indian carrier Reliance in launching the Internet.org initiative in the country. The project, which aims to provide free access to basic internet services on mobile, will be available exclusively to Reliance subscribers in six Indian states, with more being added at a later stage.

The service is now available in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, with Facebook stating that the launch of Internet.org in India ties in with the social network's efforts to "connect everyone to the internet, and to help people share their ideas and creativity with the entire world." You need to be a Reliance subscriber in the aforementioned states to access the website, and have mobile data enabled, although access to the service itself will not count toward your data plan.

Currently, Internet.org allows residents in the country to access over three dozen services for free, ranging from news publications like BBC News, maternal health, travel, local jobs, sports via ESPN Cricinfo, communication, and local government information. Facebook and Facebook Messenger access is also included. For a full list of available services, head here. The services are available in English as well as local languages including Gujarati, Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu.

While there's a dedicated app for Internet.org on Android, you can access the website itself from your Windows Phone to avail the services on offer.

Image & News Courtesy Windows Central

DirectX 12 for Windows 10 dominates in Star Swarm benchmark videos

New videos have been posted showing how a gaming benchmark demo, Star Swarm, uses Microsoft'supcoming DirectX 12 graphics API to allow for thousands of RTS units to appear on screen at a high frame rate. DirectX 12 will be released as part of Windows 10 later this year.

The Star Swarm benchmarking demo, developed by Oxide Games using their in-house Nitrous Engine, was launched first in 2014 as a way to show off AMD's Mantle graphics API. Anandtech received a special version of Star Swarm, currently unavailable to the public, that was developed by Oxide Games and Microsoft to use DirectX 11 and 12. The demo itself shows a space battle between two AI fleets with thousands of ships, along with tons of laser blasts and explosions.

Star Swarm was tested with DirectX 11 and 12 on several graphics cards, including NVIDIA's GTX 980, GTX 750 Ti, and GTX 680, along with AMD's R9 290X, R9 285, and R9 260X. The final results, which the site has posted in a series of videos, show that frame rates under DirectX 12 were far higher on all the cards running the benchmark when compared to DirectX 11. The numbers were close to the ones while using Mantle on the AMD cards. Keep in mind that Microsoft, NVIDIA and AMD are still developing their drivers for DirectX 12, which means we will likely see even more performance increases when the final software is ready.Microsoft will reveal even more information about DirectX 12 in early March as part of the Game Developers Conference. Windows Central will be there to cover that event on the ground, so stay tuned.

FreePrints Windows Phone app removed from store and will shut down March 1

The FreePrints Windows Phone app, which allowed users to order and ship prints of images from their phone and other online sources, is no longer available to download from the Windows Phone Store. The app will shut down for anyone that still has it installed on their device on March 1.

We've received a number of tips about this development, as the company behind the app, Photo Affections, sent out emails to customers today informing them of this change. Here's their statement, which confirms that the Windows desktop app will also be discontinued:

"Dear FreePrints Customer,"

"We regret to inform you that FreePrints for Windows Phone and Windows desktop will be discontinued on March 1st. As of this date, you will no longer be able to order prints using the apps for either Windows Phone or Windows desktop."

"You can still continue using FreePrints online at www.photoaffections.com/freeprints. Additionally, FreePrints mobile apps for iOS and Android will continue to be available."

"To learn more about FreePrints online, FreePrints for iOS and FreePrints for Android, please visitwww.freeprintsapp.com."

This is just the latest popular Windows Phone app to receive its shutdown orders. The Chase Mobile banking app has already been removed from the store and existing copies will stop working in March. TheBank of America app will also end in March.

Folks who are looking for photo printing alternatives for Windows Phone can check out Printicular if they live near a Walgreens store, or SnapCam, which is a Windows Phone exclusive

Image & News Courtesy Windows Central

Office Work Assistant with Cortana integration revealed in newer batch of images

Office Work Assistant is part of Microsoft's plan to overhaul the mobile Office experience for Windows Phone users. One aspect of that refresh coming with Windows 10 is Work Assistant, a Cortana powered metadata search engine to help users find documents, spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations on their phone, OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, and SharePoint using "natural phrases and language".

The Verge reported existence of the app on Friday, and Earlier this morning, WindowsBlogItalia posted a handful of images from the app, which is currently in internal beta testing at Microsoft. Now, Windows Central has even more images from the app in action, revealing a little more about the layout and capabilities.

Even more Windows 10 phone screenshots get posted showing off Cortana and more

The still unreleased version of Windows 10 running on smartphones is popping up all over the Internet, with new screenshot leaks. This follows some images of the mobile version of Windows 10 being leaked on Wednesday and again earlier today.