Instagram Finally Released On Windows Phone

Is it worth the wait? After all, it has been a long time coming but Instagram has finally released a native app for Windows Phone. The long suffering of you out there that use Windows phones (sorry I’m an iPhone man myself), will finally be able to share pictures in new and interesting ways, just like the rest of us.  Well, kind of anyway.

 

The new Instagram app has most of the great features that iOS and Android users have come to appreciate. All the photo filters are there and you are able to see your feed, complete with all of your friend’s snaps and “heart” and comments too.  However, all is not rosey in the Instagram world as a few things are peculiarly absent.  The most important of which is the fact that the Windows app cannot take photos or upload video from within the app?

Windows users can still upload photos from their camera roll and Instagram for Windows Phone will launch the native camera app to take new photos.  Currently, there is no option for video, but apparently it is all in the pipeline. As Instagram has finally made the leap over to Windows Phone, we should all be grateful, even if the app is still ironing out the flaws.

For more information regarding the release, please check out the following release notes:

Over 150 million users love Instagram! It’s a simple way to capture and share the world’s moments on your Windows Phone.  Customize your photos with one of several gorgeous and custom built filter effects. Transform everyday moments into works of art you’ll want to share with friends and family.Share your photos in a simple photo stream with friends to see – and follow your friends’ photos with the click of a single button. Every day you open up Instagram, you’ll see new photos from your closest friends, and creative people from around the world.

Main Features Include:

100% free custom designed filters: XPro-II, Earlybird, Rise, Amaro, Hudson, Lo-fi, Sutro, Toaster, Brannan, Inkwell, Walden, Hefe, Nashville, 1977, and others.
Video recording with breathtaking cinematic stabilization
Linear and Radial Tilt-Shift blur effects for extra depth of field.
Instant sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr and Foursquare
Unlimited uploads
Interact with friends through giving & receiving likes and comments
Full front & back camera support
And much much more…

You can get Instagram for Windows Phone at the Windows Phone Store.

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

Spotify Connect Available For Android

Recently, online music service Spotify, introduced Spotify Connect for iOS devices.  The company has now provided the service to their Android app, this now ticks all the boxes and makes it a multi-platform feature from Spotify.

Spotify Connect allows you to stream music over WiFi to select speakers. Unfortunately the system only works with streaming content and not localised MP3s. In addition to this, it will need a premium account for it to work. Right now it only allows you to send music to a single device, but that could change in the not too distant future.

Spotify Connect is not really a lot different from what you can already do with nearly all Bluetooth-enabled speakers. What it does do, however, is it eliminates the need for you to pair the devices together. Which can become tedious, if you use the same Bluetooth speaker on many different devices?

The better features of the product are that because Spotify Connect uses WiFi, it has much further range than what Bluetooth can provide.  The upshot of this is that your friends can share their own music, as long as they have the Spotify app and your wireless password to connect.

This is very similar to the streaming functionality of Apple’s AirPlay system. But it appears to be easier to initialize as once you have pressed the Spotify Connect button on your Android device, you’ll be free to do complete whatever you want to do on your phone.  This is unlike Apple‘s AirPlay system, where once you start, you are locked in?

Spotify Connect is available on Android through the Google Play Store.  As always, your comments regarding the Spotify Connect app are appreciated in the comments section below.

[Image via amobil]

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

“Hats Off To Facebook” For Its Wind-Powered Data Center

In a recent blog post, Amazon Web Services VP and distinguished engineer James Hamilton praised Facebook’s decision to work with a utility in Iowa on a new data center that is powered solely by a nearby wind farm.

Hamilton thinks that Facebook’s model is setting a good example because it doesn’t need the data center operator to build its own clean power but rather leaves the power development in the capable hands of the utility. He also thinks it a good idea that the data center be located in an area where wind power is more economical.

So how does this stack up against other companies’ clean power facilities? Well, take for example Apple’s facilities in Maiden, North Carolina. Although a very impressive display, the facility has consumed a huge amount of land, with 171 acres being cleared of all trees in order to provide green power; ironic wouldn’t you say! And despite the fact that solar power is a good source for major data centers, it is less practical for the majority of smaller facilities, especially if they are located in a densley populated urban area.

Another popular “green” approach is the use of fuel cells to power data centers but the challenge here is that not all are powered by biogas and instead rely on non-renewable energy, leading them to receive criticism over a lack of efficiency and cost effectiveness.

Hamilton gave four reasons why he feels that Facebook have the right solution:

1. No clear cutting was required to prepare the land for generation and the land remains multi-use
2.  It’s not fossil fuel powered
3. The facility will be run by a major power generation operator rather than as a sideline by the datacenter operator
4. Far more clean power is being produced than will be actually used by the datacenter so they are actually adding more clean power to the grid than they are consuming by a fairly significant margin.

He finished by saying: “Hats off to Facebook for doing it clean data center energy right.”

[Image via data center knowledge]

Source: http://perspectives.mvdirona.com/

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy