The best Windows Store apps for Windows 8/8.1

We're actually getting nearer to the Windows 10 launch. We are so near, Microsoft is holding an event on January 21 for the announcement. So now this may look weird. But I hope this will help you and a lot others who are using Windows 8 and 8.1 OS right now. So let's get in and talk about some good Windows Store apps that are worth downloading. We'll be seeing both free and paid apps.

Windows Store apps: Do you use them?

So here is a question for you. Do you use the Windows Store apps? Are they any good or are they helping you? If your answer to any of this is "Yes", then just get to the next section, this article is for you. If you are a "no" guy, not interested in the store apps, you either continue reading or leave. After knowing about (at least) these apps, you might start using them. I think they have implemented quite good features in these apps with a sporty design. In my opinion, they are good.

Ok now we are starting the list. Read down below for all the apps that we recommend for your Windows 8 or 8.1 laptop, tablet or a hybrid (In some cases, WP too).

Here is the desktop link to the Microsoft Windows Store. But, stay on the app that is provided on your Start menu.

Adobe Photoshop Express : Best Image editor

This is really a touchscreen application for a Windows tablet. Works on others but we would need a touchscreen for getting the most out of it. It is normally a image editor that one might have used. It's not the advanced, professional Adobe Photoshop CS4 or CC. Seriously. Don't get it wrong. It's a cool image editor, one of the best for tuning up some images of yours. Well the best that we found!

Our verdict: It is nice overall. Initially, you have to choose an image from either your device storage or the camera. There's an option called "Adobe revel" which I believe is Adobe's online image upload service. Then it shows the effects/filters that you can apply to the image or there is the basic "correct" tools and crop tools. The free version has some limited functionality. You have to buy things if you want to use them.

Hyper for YouTube : Best Video app

You a YouTube watcher? Then this is just for you.. A YouTube app cannot be more good than this. We really like it. Viewing the videos and the platform in Metro UI sweet. And it even has the ability to download videos (not every video). Don't know about the permissions and the downloading things. But the video viewer is just perfect!

Our verdict: We pretty much said that above. The app is perfect, yes. It has Best on YouTube, Categories and Watch History sections on the side. There is the search tool (sure it should). Download section tracks downloaded and downloading videos.

StumbleUpon : Best Social sites app

For stumblers, here is their app. It made it to our list coz we love it's interface and you will too! We simply thank the devs who made this app. It is so lively. Download this!

Our verdict: This just won! We like the UI, the functionality and it's offerings. You can literally find anything of your interest. yes, its StumbleUpon. Do we need to explain more?

Xbox Games : Best Games app

The Xbox Games app is a must have for every Xbox gamer. You doesn't only get access to Xbox Windows titles but also get stats and friends from your Live account. Send and receive messages and all.

Our verdict:  This app is sufficient for most tasks that you'd need. It's main purpose though is to offer a collection of game titles for Windows. Good one to have if you play games on the touchscreen.

Opener : Best Tools app

Opener is just an file compressing and decompressing app. The decompression seems to their scope as they mentioned it as a key feature.

Our verdict: The layout and operation is very simple, easy to use and good looking. The app's features are just few but that's all you'll need there while using it on your tablet.

Conclusion

So that's what we can provide now. We will hopefully talk about more best Windows Store apps in coming articles. Hyper is our little favorite in this and we liked StumbleUpon too. Thanks for spending your time on this and our site. Share your comments below in the comment section. Tell us what you liked and share your own favorites too.

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4 websites for good causes that you should visit

There are millions of websites in the world's digital network, the Internet. We all visit a lot of them every day for information, business, time-spending, for some fun and for a lot of purposes. Around 140,000 websites are being launched every day. All kinds of them. It is really sad when we see that most of those are real of no use which came off just to make money without even doing any good to the users. That is not we are going to look at. Today we are going to see 4 great websites with really good causes and purposes. They have really good reasons for their websites and I felt like I could share them here.

Websites for good causes

When you visit these websites, you will feel what we have. We kindly ask you to bookmark them and visit them whenever you can. Here, l us say that we are not in anyway related to the websites that we are about to list. They are just good things that we came across which we wanted you to see. So here they are listed below, in no particular order.

1. Goodnet.org

Goodnet.org can be simply titled as the greatest website of the class that it's on. We really love it for what it offers. Just go look at it, spend some time and read something, you will get really relaxed and it is not just it. Goodnet even has a directory named Good Directory with a list of websites/organizations in which you can find lots of websites which do good things. "The best apps and services for doing good" is what they list there. You will get really inspired and feel impulsive to participate in any good doing things.

 Goodnet.org

Apart from that, there is a Good TV which has many inspirational videos, Good Gallery where you can find few nice quotes. Let us say this and end here, this is not any other regular website offering quotes, motivational videos/images and all. At least for us. So consider spending some of your good time on this.

2. Change.org

Change.org

Some of you may know this. The Change.org is a online petition signing service/platform which acts as a powerful tool for those who need their voice to reach the higher authorities/anyone who need to act in order to make a change that the one with thousands of others asked. Change.org has all kinds of petitions. With 70 million users from 196 countries, the platform helps in changing one's community into a better one. Why don't you just hit it and sign some petitions that you like, helping others? This one's just free and the more signature means more for the petitioner.

3. Crowdrise.com

Crowdrise.com

This time it is for you, you can do good things for a cause with this. Crowdrise is a crowdfunder website that provides its users to get funds for a cause. In short and easy words as the website is, one can create fundraisers and ask for donations here by posting their need. You can either visit to donate them or ask for something yourself (if you have a good reason). 

4. Gamingforgood.net

Gamingforgood.net

Last but not the least, really! I really like this one. And if you are interested in games and if you want to do some good like donating to charity, THIS IS IT! Gamingforgood.net is a brilliant idea of a gamer (not just a gamer anymore) Athene Wins which is a platform where game developers donate their games for a charity. Then gamers comes here and buys them for an amount which also goes to the same charity. He had already made several million U.S. dollars and donated it to charities like Save the Children and is still doing it. Please watch this video from him, for us!

 The idea of this is both side, the game makers and the players donate their money for someone in need. At last, they have made a result proving that gaming is not totally a waste of time. And its also important to say that, the guy behind this doesn't take any money from the program for him, neither the developers.

How do you feel?

That's all we have. We hope you like this and we feel very happy as we did an article that is truly of great use. We feel like we accomplished something great because you know these websites now which are trying to make some good things to happen. We hope you'll tell about these websites to your friends an familes, just let them know. Let us know how you feel and your thoughts about this with your comments. We'll come with another good one soon. 

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Meet Vivo X5 Max - the world's slimmest smartphone at 4.75mm

It was just sometime ago, Oppo launched their R5 which made the slimmest smartphone in the world record. But now, a fellow Chinese manufacturer Vivo just dethroned the Oppo's child by announcing their latest Vivo X5 Max which is exactly .10mm thinner than the previous record holder. With a 4.75mm thick body, this phone bears a 5.5mm Full HD display and acceptable features and the manufacturer says that the mainboard inside the smartphone is just 1.7mm thick!

A 4.75mm thick smartphone. We don't know if you really need one this thin. A year before, we had 7-8mm thick smartphones from Apple and many others which we thought to be thin. But after Gionee's 5.5mm offering and a lot others, now here we have a really thin phone at just 4.75mm. We don't know how long this phone is going to hold this title. Maybe in few months, a counter product could come out being marginally thinner than Vivo X5 Max, stealing the crown. But its up to you to whether choose these super thin smartphones or not. Still the fancier phone got good features too to make itself a close competitor to current flagships and mini-flagships.

The 5.5 inch 1080p display is IPS, OGS and also what they call "Full Lamination Technology". The SoC inside is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 615 which is a quad-core variant (Oppo's R5 offered an octa-core model) and it is coupled with 2GB of RAM. 13MP rear facing camera is there which is Sony-made with a regular LED flash and there is a 5MP front facer too. Vivo brilliantly managed to added a microSD slot for expandable storage while Oppo and many other slim phone manufacturers failed to add one. There is 16GB internal storage too. There is still a 3.5mm audio jack holding on to the 4.75mm chassis of the phone and the loudspeaker features some Yamaha’s YSS-205X DSP chip for improved audio. Dual SIM compatibility is there and then we have all regular features like BT, Wi-Fi and GPS. The phone is oth 3G and 4G supported.

Vivo X5 Max above iPhone 6

For a slim smartphone, battery always is a threat and we don't know how the Vivo X5 Max is going to do there. It has 2000 mAh battery alright. But will it be enough to power all those things inside? We'll know soon when it comes out.

Vivo X5 Max

Specifications at a glance:

5.5-inch, 1080p Full HD IPS OGS display

1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 615 CPU; Adreno 405 GPU

2GB RAM; 16GB internal storage; expandable upto 128GB

Android 4.4 KitKat OS with Funtouch 2.0 OS

5MP front-facing and 13MP rear-facing cameras

Wi-Fi, BT, 3G & 4G

2000 mAh battery pack

Dimensions: 153.9 x 78 x 4.75mm

Weight: 146gms

Price: INR. 32,990 ($529 approx.)

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Oppo R5 launched in India with 4G and so slim at 4.85mm

Oppo, the Chinese smartphone brand known for their N1 with the unique rotating camera design and other smartphones launched their new 4G capable smartphone in India. The Oppo R5 is currently the second thinnest smartphone in the world after the Vivo X5 Max. The phone is so slim with just a 4.85mm body while the title holder of the slimmest smartphone in the world has a 4.75mm.

Getting to the R5, it is basically a 5.2 inch smartphone running Android KitKat with their new proprietary ColorOS 2.0. The display is a 1080p Full HD one and the smartphone is runs on a Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor. We have 2GB RAM and 13MP plus 5MP rear and front facing cameras. 16GB storage that cannot be expanded as there is no card slot. It features all other regular features like 3.5mm audio jack, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc. In addition it has 4G functionality that you could make use of if the service is available for you.

The main catch is the thickness. at just 4.85mm and weighing 155 grams, this smartphone is not just very thin but also reasonably light. The phone costs Rs. 29,990.

Also Read: Meet Vivo X5 Max - the world's slimmest smartphone at 4.75mm

Oppo R5: Specs at a glance

5.2-inch, 1080p full HD display
1.5GHz octa-core Snapdragon 615 SoC

2GB RAM; 16GB internal storage
Android 4.4 KitKat OS with Color OS 2.0
5MP front-facing and 13MP rear-facing cameras
Wi-Fi, BT, 3G & 4G
Dimensions: 148.9mm x 74.5mm x 4.85mm
Weight: 155 grams

Priced at: Rs. 29,990 ($479 approx.)

This phone is just so thin and well featured at a quite expensive price tag. There are phones equally powerful below this price. But this one is very thin which could be a thing. Yes, it really is a thing to consider. So do you consider this in your list when buying a smartphone at 30k ? Share your thoughts.

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