In this edition of Weekend Reading, we’ve got stories on the YouTube and Foursquare apps for Windows Phone getting major updates, the release of the Nokia Lumia 928 for Verizon Wireless customers, Microsoft naming corporate vice president Amy Hood the company’s chief financial officer and more.
Microsoft names Corporate Vice President Amy Hood as new Microsoft chief financial officer. Microsoft announced on Wednesday that Amy Hood was named Microsoft chief financial officer, succeeding outgoing CFO Peter Klein who will remain at Microsoft through the end of June to ensure a smooth transition. Hood becomes CFO effective immediately. Hood, 41, joined Microsoft in December 2002 and currently serves as CFO of MBD, overseeing all financial strategy, management and reporting for the $24.1 billion business. For the rest of this story, head on over to the Microsoft News Center.
YouTube and Foursquare apps for Windows Phone get major updates. Freshly enhanced versions of both Foursquare and YouTube arrived in the Windows Phone Store on Tuesday, bringing additional Windows Phone 8 features to the two popular apps. The updated YouTube app lets you pin channels, playlists and results directly to your Start Screen, redesigns the playlist experience as a touch-friendly filmstrip and allows you to limit what videos little ones can watch by pinning the app to Kid’s Corner and configuring your YouTube Safety Settings. Location-based social app Foursquare now incorporates voice commands, so you can use your voice to find and check-in at points of interest, and also brings notifications to your lock screen and lets you pin your favorite people and places on your Start screen. Below are screenshots from the updated YouTube app.
Now in the Store: Hulu Plus for Windows Phone 8. If you’re a fan of shows like “Modern Family,” “Family Guy” or “Community,” you’ll be happy to know that the Hulu Plus for Windows Phone 8 app is now available in the Windows Phone Store. The app is free, but as Windows Phone Blog Editor Michael Stroh noted in his blog post on Monday, “a Hulu Plus subscription will run you $8 a month.” Head on over to the Windows Phone Blog to find out what some of those nice Windows Phone design touches are. Also, check out this post on the Windows Phone Blog about a great Windows Phone 8 feature that enables you to save full-resolution backup copies of your pictures and videos on SkyDrive, Microsoft’s cloud storage service.
More than 250 million people using SkyDrive. Since Windows 8 launched in October 2012, 50 million more people have started using SkyDrive, helping us reach an important milestone – more than 250 million people are now using SkyDrive as the new place to save their files. In just the past few months, we’ve made SkyDrive the default save location for the new Office, updated the SkyDrive app for iOS, and made substantial performance improvements to SkyDrive uploading. For the full story, head on over to the Inside SkyDrive Blog, which has a pretty cool infographic that captures SkyDrive’s major milestones.
Nokia Lumia 928 for Verizon Wireless launches May 16. Verizon Wireless customers, your wait is just about over. Next Thursday, the Nokia Lumia 928 (pictured below) goes on sale. It is the first Windows Phone 8 exclusive for Verizon Wireless from the Finnish phone maker. Available in black or white, the phone will cost $99.99 (with $50 mail-in rebate and two-year contract). Pick one up and for a limited time you’ll also get $25 to shop at the Windows Phone Store with 145,000 apps and games (read the fine print). The Windows Phone Blog has the full story. Also, see news from earlier this week about Huawei’s first Windows Phone 8 smartphone— the Huawei W1 — which is expected to go on sale at Walmart later this month.
Comment on and like stuff on Facebook directly from Bing. Following the introduction of the social sidebar last year, we’ve been exploring ways to make it even more useful. Now, you will see comments on a relevant Facebook post within sidebar, as well as the ability to add your own, all without having to leave Bing. You can also “Like” a post directly from Bing. Now you can see what your friends might know about what you’re searching for and engage with them directly without leaving the search page. To see how these new features work, read this post on the Bing Search Blog.
That’s it for this edition of Weekend Reading! Thanks for stopping by The Official Microsoft Blog!
Posted by Jeff Meisner
Editor, The Official Microsoft Blog