Facebook Login now available for Windows Phone and Windows app developers

Everyone on the planet has a Facebook. Well, almost everyone. That means that basically all of us already have our name and personal information stored there in our account. Why not use that to quickly log in to things? Facebook Login does exactly that across the web and on Android and iOS. This week Microsoft announced it is coming to Windows Phone too.

How does it work?

You might be asking yourself “can’t I already log in to some apps with Facebook?” Yes, you can, but it usually sends you to the website and it’s a clunky mess. Facebook Login works with the official Facebook apps for Windows and Windows Phone. If you have those installed it’s just as simple as pressing a button and you’re logged in. One thing to note is that using Facebook Login will allow Facebook to share your activity in the app. Like the radio station you are listening to, for example.

It’s up to developers to integrate Facebook Login into their apps. iHeartRadio and Foursquare have already announced they will soon add this to their Windows Phone 8 apps, and Adobe will be adding it to their Windows 8.1 apps. if you’re a developer we have links to the guides to implement Facebook Login below.

Windows, Windows Phone

Do you even care if BBM comes to Windows Phone?

Last week BBM finally arrived for Android and iOS. After a long delay, many bugs, and even “fake” reviews, it was met with mixed emotions. BBM is not the popular service that is once was, but there are still many people throughout the world that use it. There have been rumors that BBM will eventually come to Windows Phone, but does anyone care?

The messaging app market is over crowded right now. There is Google Hangouts, iMessage, Whats App?, Kik, Facebook Messenger, and many more. The most difficult thing is picking one that all of your friends and family use. Blackberry phones are dropping in popularity like a rock. If your friends don’t use BBM why should you care about it?

If BBM does eventually come to Windows Phone will you even care? How many of your friends still have a Blackberry? Let us know below!

Report: Windows Phone is the fastest growing mobile OS in the world

We keep reporting that Windows Phone is growing, and earlier this week that was backed up by some hard numbers. Nokia’s Lumia sales doubled in North America and reached all time highs worldwide. Operation Rolling Thunder is working for Nokia, and as a result the entire Windows Phone ecosystem is growing. How fast? Maybe the fastest.

The latest report from Strategy Analytics suggests that sales for Windows Phone devices are up 275% since this time last year. That’s…a big number. By doubling its market share in one year Windows Phone has become the worlds fastest growing mobile operating system. The momentum we’ve been feeling for the last year is finally being backed up by numbers.

It’s more than a feeling

So now what? What does this all mean for you and your device? It means that more and more people are using Windows Phone devices, which means market share will grow and more developers will see them in the wild, which means more apps will come to the platform. It’s a chain reaction that has already begun bearing fruit. The future is bright.

Thanks everyone!

How to Connect Two Computers

1. 1
   Plug in an ethernet cable. To connect two computers that don't have access to a shared network, you can use an Ethernet cable to make a direct connection between the two computer's Ethernet ports.
   • Some computers require a special cable called "crossover cable." This is a specialized cable that is wired in reverse. Ethernet ports have both inputs and outputs, and the crossover cable is switched so that the output from one computer connects to the input of the other.
   • Many current computers do not need a crossover cable: they use Auto-Medium Dependent Interface Crossover (Auto-MDIX), and will automatically configure the Ethernet port.
   • Most Macintosh computers built recently do not need a crossover cable.
   • If you're not sure, check your documentation to see what your system needs. If that's not available, just use a crossover cable: an auto-sensing Ethernet port will work with a crossover cable just as well as with a standard cable.

EditMethod 2 of 5: Windows Vista, 7, or 8

1. 1
   Connect the two computers using a crossover cable. At least one of the computers being connected should be using Windows Vista, 7, or 8.
2. 2
   Open the Network and Sharing Center. If you're connecting a Windows 7 and Windows Vista computer together, use Windows 7 to perform these tasks.
   • Click the Start button, and then click Control Panel. In the search box, type "network," and then click on Network and Sharing Center.
3. 3
   Select your network. In the network map, shown at the top of the Network and Sharing Center, double click on the Unidentified network icon.
   • If you have more than a single network, the icon will be named Multiple networks.
4. 4
   Enable network discovery. If network discovery and file sharing are turned off, in Network, click the info bar containing this message: Network discovery and file sharing are turned off. Network computers and devices are not visible. Click to change...,and then click Turn on network discovery and file sharing. If you're asked for an admin password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation, as required.
   • Note: if one of the computers is running Windows XP, it may take a while for it to appear in the Network window. You may need to configure the XP computer as described below.

EditMethod 3 of 5: Windows XP

1. 1
   Open the Control Panel. From the Start menu, select Control Panel or Settings, and then Control Panel.
2. 2
   Double-click System, and then select the Computer Name tab. Enter the name of each computer and the name of the workgroup
   • The name of each computer should be unique, but the workgroup name must be identical for both.
3. 3
   Set up the network connection. From the Control Panel, double-click Network Connections, and then connect the computer using the crossover cable.
   • If either machine's status is shown as "Disconnected", the cable is either not firmly seated or bad.
4. 4
   Enable file sharing. Right-click the icon for the network connection, and then select Properties. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Windows Firewall Settings.
   • In the Windows Firewall Settings window, click the Exceptions tab, and make sure that Printer and File Sharing is selected.
   • It may take some time for the computer to obtain IP addresses and appear in the Network Connections window.
   • Note: if you're connecting two Windows XP computers, you'll need to do the above steps for both computers.

EditMethod 4 of 5: Macintosh OS X

1. 1
   Hook them up. Connect an Ethernet cable from the Ethernet computer on one port to the Ethernet computer on the other.
   • If you don't have an Ethernet port, you can also use a USB-to-Ethernet adapter.
2. 2
   Set network preferences. On each computer, in the Network preferences panel, select Show Network Port Configurations and make sure Built-in Ethernet is checked.
   • If Ethernet is active, it will be shown in the Network Status pane of the Network System Preferences panel.
     
3. 
   3
   Enable Sharing. Open the Sharing preferences panel on one of the machines, and activate Personal File Sharing. Make note of the computer address, shown here as "afp://192.168.0.2" (afp stands for Apple File Protocol).
4. 4
   Set up the second computer.
   • Using a Finder window in OS X 10.3 or later, click the Network icon in the side bar.
   • When all have loaded, look for the name of the first computer you set up, and click on it.
   • You may be asked for your password.
   • Another dialog will appear with all the available volumes. Select one or all of them, and their icons will appear in your sidebar as partitions.

EditMethod 5 of 5: Using a Macintosh Computer as a Server

1. 1
   Share computers as servers. The advantage to this is that the drive icons of the other computer will show up on the Desktop as volumes.
2. 2
   Select "Connect to Server" from the Go menu.
   • A dialog will appear with a list of favorite servers. If your target machine's IP address does not appear in the list, click Browse or type the IP address of the target machine into the Server Address field.
3. 3
   Click Connect. A password dialog will appear. Enter that information as required.
   • A dialog will appear, showing the volume selections on the target Mac. Once the icons appear on your Desktop, treat them as you would any other drive.

EditTips

• To share your files, right click on any folder and choose Sharing to make them shared.
• If planning to connect 3 or more computers, hubs are less expensive, but waste bandwidth by repeating all signals out all ports. Switches allow more efficient use of bandwidth by sending packets only to the intended recipient.
• Straight Through -vs- Cross-Over: How to tell whether an ethernet cable is a straight-through or cross-over cable. Most standard ethernet cables are straight-through cables.
  • Straight through is a CAT-5, CAT-5e, or CAT-6 Ethernet Cable with the wires connected as follows:
    
    On both ends: Orange Stripe; Orange; Green Stripe; Blue; Blue Stripe; Green; Brown Stripe; Brown.
  • Cross-over is a CAT-5, CAT-5e, or CAT-6 Ethernet Cable with the wires connected as follows:
    
    On one end: Orange Stripe; Orange; Green Stripe; Blue; Blue Stripe; Green; Brown Stripe; Brown.
    On the other end: Green Stripe; Green; Orange Stripe; Blue; Blue Stripe; Orange; Brown Stripe; Brown.
  • The above conforms to TIA/EIA-568 standard. However, all that is important for a cross-over to work is for pins 1 & 2 (transmit) to switch places with pins 3 & 6 (receive) on the opposite end. For a straight through, pins should be the same on both ends.
  • Color sets (ex. Orange Strip & Orange) mark twisted pairs. Keeping pin sets on the same twisted pair (i.e. pins 1 & 2 on one color set, and pins 3 & 6 on another) allows best signal quality.
  • Note: TIA/EIA standard has not been established for CAT-7 or greater cabling.
  • For more information see: How to Make a Network Cable
• Many computers can determine if you are using a crossover or straight through cable. If you are not so lucky to have auto-sensing on at least one of the devices connected by a cable, you must use the correct type between them. Computer-to-switch/hub will require a straight through, computer-to-computer a crossover.
• Check to see if your computer has an Ethernet Adapter in the back of the computer. Most new computers have this. You can tell by the documentation from the computer or by looking at the back of the computer. It looks like a phone jack, but larger, with 8-pins. Do not confuse this with a "modem" jack for dial-up phone service. Phone/modem jacks will have 2, 4 or 6 pins.
• Notes on network and IP addresses. IPv4 (IP ver. 4) addresses are written like this: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (four number groups separated by three dots). This is the case for all RFC-1166 compliant countries. Each number ranges from 0 to 255. This is known as "Dotted Decimal Notation" or "Dot Notation" for short. The address is divided into two portions: the network portion and the host portion.
  
  
  • Classful networks. The network and host portions are as follows: "n" represents the network portion and "x" represents the host portion.
  • Class A networks. The first number is between 1 to 126. 127 is a loop back subnet used to refer back to your NIC card). Example: nnn.xxx.xxx.xxx (ex. 10.xxx.xxx.xxx)
  • Class B networks. When the first number is 128 to 191. Example:nnn.nnn.xxx.xxx (ex. 172.16.xxx.xxx)
  • Class C networks. When the first number is 192 to 223. Example: nnn.nnn.nnn.xxx (ex. 192.168.1.xxx)
• You can also do this with your printers to be able to print from one computer while the printer is connected to the other.

Official Vine for Windows Phone 8 app available now

It’s finally here! The official Vine app for Windows Phone is now available in the Store. Twitter promised that Vine would launch on Windows Phone, and Nokia even mentioned it during Nokia World. Today they are making good on that promise. Let’s take a look at the latest big name app to arrive on Windows Phone.

Our first impression is it looks a lot like the official Twitter app for Windows Phone. There is a black bar across the top with big icons for the four Vine tabs: home, notifications, explore, and me. The design of the app is flat and beautiful, and it works just like other official Vine apps. For Widows Phone they have added live tiles, the ability to open the app from the camera, and fast resume multitasking.

Vine is available now for free on Windows Phone 8 devices. Download it below and start creating Vines!

http://windowsphone.com/s?appId=f9e6f07e-e47e-47f5-806d-55d4f79f2b60

How does a GPS tracking system work?

Global Positioning System (GPS) is a worldwide radio-navigation system formed from the constellation of 24 satellites and their ground stations. The Global Positioning System is mainly funded and controlled by the U.S Department of Defense (DOD). The system was initially designed for the operation of U. S. military. But today, there are also many civil users of GPS across the whole world. The civil users are allowed to use the Standard Positioning Service without any kind of charge or restrictions.

Global Positioning System tracking is a method of working out exactly where something is. A GPS tracking system, for example, may be placed in a vehicle, on a cell phone, or on special GPS devices, which can either be a fixed or portable unit.  GPS works by providing information on exact location. It can also track the movement of a vehicle or person. So, for example, a GPS tracking system can be used by a company to monitor the route and progress of a delivery truck, and by parents to check on the location of their child, or even to monitor high-valued assets in transit.

A GPS tracking system uses the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) network. This network incorporates a range of satellites that use microwave signals that are transmitted to GPS devices to give information on location, vehicle speed, time and direction. So, a GPS tracking system can potentially give both real-time and historic navigation data on any kind of journey.

GPS provides special satellite signals, which are processed by a receiver. These GPS receivers not only track the exact location but can also compute velocity and time. The positions can even be computed in three-dimensional views with the help of four GPS satellite signals. The Space Segment of the Global Positioning System consists of 27 Earth-orbiting GPS satellites. There are 24 operational and 3 extra (in case one fails) satellites that move round the Earth each 12 hours and send radio signals from space that are received by the GPS receiver.

The control of the Positioning System consists of different tracking stations that are located across the globe. These monitoring stations help in tracking signals from the GPS satellites that are continuously orbiting the earth. Space vehicles transmit microwave carrier signals. The users of Global Positioning Systems have GPS receivers that convert these satellite signals so that one can estimate the actual position, velocity and time.

The operation of the system is based on a simple mathematical principle called trilateration. Trilateration falls into two categories: 2-D Trilateration and 3-D Trilateration. In order to make the simple mathematical calculation the GPS receiver must know two things. First it must know the location of the place is to be traced by at least three satellites above the place. Second, it must know the distance between the place and each of those Space Vehicles. Units that have multiple receivers that pick up signals from several GPS satellites at a same time. These radio waves are electromagnetic energy that travels at the speed of light.

Photos leak of the first 8-inch tablet running Windows 8

At this point it is quite obvious that Microsoft is making sure the next version of Windows 8 can run on 7-8 inch devices. They’ve all but confirmed it through the mouth of CFO Peter Klein, and with the changes we’ve been seeing in Windows 8.1 leaks. The only thing left to see is an actual 7 or 8-inch device.

Lucky for you that’s exactly what we have today. The image above is a leaked Acer tablet that appears to be around 8-inches. The screen size might make some people excited, but the supposed specs are nothing to get excited about. Early rumors point to a 1.8GHz Intel Atom processor, but that’s all we know so far. Since it’s Intel we know it will be running full Windows 8 Pro. It also appears to come with a keyboard dock that is significantly larger than the device. It looks a little silly, but your hands will appreciate the extra space.

What do you think of this device? We love the 7-8 inch form factor, but not if the specs are mid-range. Hopefully something doesn’t happen like what we’re seeing in the smartphone market: big=powerful, small=mid range. We will wait until more information is available for this device.

HP joins the Windows 8 tablet party with hybrid Envy x2

If you haven’t noticed, there have been a lot of hybrid devices announced this summer. Windows 8 is just perfect for a device that can be both a tablet and a laptop. At IFA we’re seeing even more hybrid devices from all the big OEMs. Now it’s HP’s turn.

The Envy x2 is a Windows 8 tablet with a detachable keyboard dock. it has an 11.6″ screen at 1366×768 resolution. The device is powered by an Intel Atom Clover trail processor. It will come in 32 and 64GB options, and has NFC, and support for stylus’. The only problem with the Envy x2 is it lacks differentiation from the dozens of other hybrid devices. No price or availability was announced.9

Report: Windows Phone is the fastest growing mobile OS in the world

We keep reporting that Windows Phone is growing, and earlier this week that was backed up by some hard numbers. Nokia’s Lumia sales doubled in North America and reached all time highs worldwide. Operation Rolling Thunder is working for Nokia, and as a result the entire Windows Phone ecosystem is growing. How fast? Maybe the fastest.

The latest report from Strategy Analytics suggests that sales for Windows Phone devices are up 275% since this time last year. That’s…a big number. By doubling its market share in one year Windows Phone has become the worlds fastest growing mobile operating system. The momentum we’ve been feeling for the last year is finally being backed up by numbers.

It’s more than a feeling

So now what? What does this all mean for you and your device? It means that more and more people are using Windows Phone devices, which means market share will grow and more developers will see them in the wild, which means more apps will come to the platform. It’s a chain reaction that has already begun bearing fruit. The future is bright.

Thanks everyone!