India's largest online retailer Flipkart has finally launched its official app for Windows Phone users, which has been specifically designed for the platform incorporating Microsoft's Metro UI theme.

The app finally makes its way to Windows Phone years after it was made available to Android and iOS users. The app for Windows Phone isn't a direct port from the other two platforms either, but features a UI reminiscent of Metro with its panes for viewing products.

Despite India being one of the major markets for Windows Phones, the e-commerce giant had pretty much neglected the platform for all these years. It seems as though the recent hullabaloo caused due the announcements by Microsoft has brought Flipkart to acknowledge its existence.


For now the company seems to be promoting feedback from users of its Windows Phone app "Our Windows App is here! Give it a twirl and give us feedback. Rs. 100 OFF on purchases of Rs. 1500 & above as well!," tweeted the company.

The Flipkart app is compatible with all devices running Windows Phone 8 or higher, and is available for free on the Windows Phone store. As more developers begin taking Microsoft's mobile platform more seriously, it won't be long before apps launch simultaneously across Windows, Android and iOS.

The Lava Iris 406Q has been put up for pre-order on Flipkart. Priced at Rs 6,999, the Iris 406Q is also listed on the company’s site and as the Q in the name indicates, it boasts a quad-core CPU. According to the listing, the estimated release date of the phone is the third week of April, or next week.

The quad-core CPU within the 406Q is unspecified, but we know it’s been clocked at 1.2GHz. It’s very likely the MediaTek MT6589 chipset, coupled with 1GB of RAM. The Iris 406Q sports a rather low-res 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash; on the front is a 0.3-megapixel front-camera. It features a 4-inch display with WVGA (480×800 pixels) resolution, which is again standard for this price point.

The Iris 406Q runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box. The Flipkart listing says that the phone will see a Android 4.4 KitKat update, though there’s no indication from Lava about OTA support. Just like many of its low-cost smartphone brethren, it offers dual SIM slots with dual standby support.

The 406Q has 4GB of internal storage, and a micro SD card slot. It supports Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS/ A-GPS, GPRS/ EDGE and 3G connectivity options. The battery is a measly 1700mAh unit, though the low-res display won’t likely tax it too much. We can’t say the same about the quad-core CPU, so you might need to carry around a powerbank.

Facebook has reached yet another milestone by crossing 100 million mark in India. The social network now aims for 1 billion users, and has ensured that the new achievement doesn’t go unnoticed. To celebrate 100 million users in India, it has shared two ‘Facebook Stories’ that highlights how the social network helps people. Users can click here to submit their own story.

The first story highlights the drought conditions in Maharashtra and how a group of volunteers decided to create the “Drought Help Group” on Facebook to help farmers. The founding member Jaydeep Pathare said, “Usually we have our rainy season from June to September, but last year, there was very short rainfall and conditions became dire. There were reports of deaths and it was very difficult for a large number of people to find drinking water in drought-affected areas. Cattle deaths were reported. There was a rise in farmer suicides.”

The Drought Help Facebook group then decided to connect drought-affected people to other citizens who wanted to either donate money or help some other way. The group would appoint village coordinators who could report what help was needed in the village so that urban donors could provide it. The group isn’t registered with any government or private institution, and doesn’t accept any money from them or pay volunteers. It managed to raise around $120,000 in funds. Through the efforts of the Drought Help Group, nearly 1 million people from seven districts of Maharashtra got ample water till the next rainy season, and a large number of cattle and wild animals were saved.

The second story is about two girls – Nikitha and Nivedha – who started making hair accessories while they studied at India’s National Institute of Fashion Technology. Soon, friends and family started loving their work, and the girls started with a small business of their own with a brand called Pigtails and Pony. They started selling the accessories at flea markets.

“We decided to keep going to flea markets to sell our work, and more and more people started asking us how they could get in touch with us or where we would be selling next,” said the author of the story, Nivedha Charles. Soon they created a Facebook Page as a way to update people about their new items and where they would be setting up stalls to sell them. People soon started placing orders through Facebook.

Talking about this milestone and its significance for India, Kevin D’Ssouza, Head of Growth & Mobile Partnerships, Facebook India, said, “Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share, and to make the world more open and connected. We recently announced internet.org, a global partnership with the goal of connecting the next 5 billion people around the world, to make the same access and opportunity available to everyone. It is with this in mind that we look towards like-minded partners who want to innovate, and share the same vision as us, to understand better how internet access can be increased to reach millions more people across India.”

Samsung Electronics has unveiled its latest mid-range tablets, the Galaxy Tab4 series.

The Tab series is available in 10.1, 8.0, and 7.0-inches, and in black and white, and seems a lot like Tab3.

According to Greenbot, all three sizes have a 1280x800 display and sport the usual Samsung software features: Group Play, Samsung Link and WatchON.

Each one sports a 3 megapixel front-facing and 1.3 megapixel rear camera, same as on the Tab 3. Moreover, the dual-core processors of the Tab 3 have been replaced with quad-core processors.

The price of the product has yet not been announced

Microsoft is following through on a promise to update its Windows 8 operating system on a regular basis to respond to consumers' complaints and other feedback.

Just months after the release of Windows 8.1, Microsoft is preparing changes to make it easier for people to use Windows with traditional keyboard and mouse controls.

Among other things, Microsoft will add search, power and settings buttons to the Start page, so people don't have to figure out how to pull those functions from the right side of their screens. The update also promises easier ways to close apps.

Microsoft Corp outlined some of the new features at a February conference in Barcelona, Spain, and will likely provide more details Wednesday as the company opens its annual Build software developers conference in San Francisco.

The new, yet-unnamed update is expected soon. It follows the October debut of Windows 8.1, which came just a year after the release of Windows 8. The pattern contrasts with Microsoft's past habit of waiting years to release major updates.

Microsoft is also updating its Windows Phone system to work better in corporate environments. The company will add VPN support, for instance, to allow phones to connect with corporate networks securely. There will also be features that consumers in fast-growing emerging markets desire, including the ability for phones to have two SIM cards so people can switch carrier plans easily for the best deals.

The company hasn't announced pricing or specific availability for either update, but both are likely to be free downloads, based on past practice.

They could be available as early as this month and will be among the first major software releases since Satya Nadella became Microsoft's CEO in February. It follows Nadella's unveiling last week of Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps for Apple's iPad.

Microsoft may also use the Build conference to update software developers on the company's plans to integrate the Windows Phone 8 system for smartphones, the Windows 8.1 system for tablets, laptops and desktops and the Xbox system for its game console. The company has said it is working to have its various systems share more of the underlying code, while retaining separate interfaces adapted to the specific devices. The integration will make it easier for developers to adapt apps for the various devices.

Microsoft saw lackluster demand when Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 came out in October 2012.

Windows 8 was supposed to be Microsoft's answer to the growing popularity of touch-screen devices such as smartphones and tablets. Instead, research firm IDC blamed Windows 8 for accelerating a decline in global PC shipments, which fell 14 per cent in the first three months of 2013, the first full quarter with Windows 8.

Designed as a single system to unify tablets, laptops and desktop PCs, Windows 8 emphasizes touch-screen controls and sports a full-page home screen that is more common on mobile gadgets than traditional computers. Many consumers, however, hate that approach on laptops and desktops.

Last October, Microsoft issued a free update to address some of the gripes. Now, people can run more than two apps side by side. The built-in browser lets people open more than 10 tabs without automatically closing older ones. Windows 8.1 also introduced new features, including a universal search function to help users find files stored on their computers along with Web content on the Internet.

At the time of the release, Microsoft promised to issue new features regularly.

The latest update will do just that. Microsoft has said the company is standing by its decision to embrace touch controls, while acknowledging that many of the remaining Windows gripes have come from people who use non-touch devices.

Meanwhile, Windows Phone 8 came out with a thud some 17 months ago. One of its biggest drawbacks has been a lack of apps available for the system, compared with Apple's iOS and Google's Android. Microsoft is starting to catch up on that front. It has also updated Windows Phone 8 three times since its release to add features. The upcoming update is poised to be the biggest of them all and might get a new name, Windows Phone 8.1.

The release comes as Microsoft prepares to buy Nokia's phone business and patent rights in a 5.4 billion euro ($7.4 billion) deal. The transaction should be completed in the next few weeks, pending regulatory approval in Asia. The deal already has approval in the US and Europe.

(Associated Press)