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Foursquare, Flipboard and more apps coming to Windows 8

by Mark Tyson on 28 June 2013, 12:15

Tags: Windows 8

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Microsoft has used the BUILD conference in San Francisco to reveal that several big name popular apps are on the way to the Windows Store. On day one of the conference we saw that an official Facebook and Flipboard app were in the pipeline for Windows 8. On day two a whole lot more were announced including Foursquare, OpenTable, Rhapsody and several Disney games.

Flipboard and Facebook

The Windows 8 native Facebook app has been a long time coming considering the close relationship between Microsoft and Facebook. Still, no one knows when the official Instagram (now owned by Facebook) app will ever appear on Microsoft’s new OS. The Facebook app won’t be built by a third party but in-house by Facebook themselves. No date has been put forward for the new Facebook app’s availability.

Flipboard is a popular and slick news magazine app which is popular on iOS and Android. This will be a welcome addition to the Start Screens of many Windows 8 prodders as it makes reading personalised news content very comfortable and natural on a touch enabled device.

Foursquare, OpenTable, Rhapsody and Disney

Two “top Disney titles” became available for Windows 8 and Windows Phone yesterday; Temple Run: Brave and Where’s My Mickey? Avengers Initiative, Monsters University, Temple Run: Oz and Wreck It Ralph are also on the way to both platforms. Toy Story Smash It! Was also announced but this won’t be coming to Windows Phone.

Foursquare is “exclusive, and uniquely designed” for Windows 8. The app should help Windows 8 users on the go beyond check-ins and help them to “discover new experiences”.

The OpenTable app is a convenient way to browse and make reservations for your favourite restaurants. The app includes map search and filters for restaurant types and those that are “hot” and everyone is taking about.

Rockmelt is another news browsing app which “makes it fun and easy to discover the best stories, pictures, and videos on the web”. It features an “endlessly” scrolling interface (but I haven’t tested that claim). This app, like OpenTable, is available right now.

Another announced and ready big name app for Windows 8 users is Rhapsody. This “visually stunning platform” can help you discover new music and re-discover old favourites. If you’ve enjoyed this app on other platforms you might also enjoy it on your Windows 8 device.

Windows Store overview

At this time there are around 80,000 Windows apps in the Windows Store and more and more of the big name apps are now available or announced for future availability. At BUILD Steve Ballmer said that he expects the store to zoom past the 100,000 apps milestone within a month.

HEXUS Forums :: 4 Comments

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Posted by RussiaForever - Sun 30 Jun 2013 18:55
I personally think there is no real reason to upgrade to Windows 8 on desktop pcs. If you have a touchscreen or maybe a laptop I would consider it as its UI is designed for that and does have some performance increases, but it changes the quintessential thing about Windows. Windows 7 is personally my favourite operating system and is perfectly capable of doing everything. Yes, Windows 8.1 gives back some old stuff like the start button, but why upgrade if you want the OS to be the same as the old one? I just hope the price stays low for the OS and Microsoft does not do anything to make Windows 8 a mandatory thing like making DirectX 12 only on Windows 8 or stop producing software supported for Win7.
Posted by hoggson - Mon 01 Jul 2013 06:15
RussiaForever
I personally think there is no real reason to upgrade to Windows 8 on desktop pcs. If you have a touchscreen or maybe a laptop I would consider it as its UI is designed for that and does have some performance increases, but it changes the quintessential thing about Windows. Windows 7 is personally my favourite operating system and is perfectly capable of doing everything. Yes, Windows 8.1 gives back some old stuff like the start button, but why upgrade if you want the OS to be the same as the old one? I just hope the price stays low for the OS and Microsoft does not do anything to make Windows 8 a mandatory thing like making DirectX 12 only on Windows 8 or stop producing software supported for Win7.
I though DX12 was XBox One and Windows 8? I may be wrong but I don't think Windows 7 is getting DX12 (I may be wrong here) but a lot of people on the net agree with this. People need to just face it… Microsoft have changed the start menu forever. This one change seems to make people ignore the MANY improvements in Win8. I was a sceptic, but then MS send me an offer of Windows 8 Pro & Media Center for £14.99… couldn't really say no to that! Now I have used it properly and taken a good look through it I would never go back. For games? Windows 8… I get a very slightly higher FPS than Windows 7. USB3 works out-the-box… the list goes on. I advise people to try something properly before advising others on what OS to use.
Posted by jnutt - Mon 01 Jul 2013 08:35
hoggson
RussiaForever
I personally think there is no real reason to upgrade to Windows 8 on desktop pcs. If you have a touchscreen or maybe a laptop I would consider it as its UI is designed for that and does have some performance increases, but it changes the quintessential thing about Windows. Windows 7 is personally my favourite operating system and is perfectly capable of doing everything. Yes, Windows 8.1 gives back some old stuff like the start button, but why upgrade if you want the OS to be the same as the old one? I just hope the price stays low for the OS and Microsoft does not do anything to make Windows 8 a mandatory thing like making DirectX 12 only on Windows 8 or stop producing software supported for Win7.
I though DX12 was XBox One and Windows 8? I may be wrong but I don't think Windows 7 is getting DX12 (I may be wrong here) but a lot of people on the net agree with this. People need to just face it… Microsoft have changed the start menu forever. This one change seems to make people ignore the MANY improvements in Win8. I was a sceptic, but then MS send me an offer of Windows 8 Pro & Media Center for £14.99… couldn't really say no to that! Now I have used it properly and taken a good look through it I would never go back. For games? Windows 8… I get a very slightly higher FPS than Windows 7. USB3 works out-the-box… the list goes on. I advise people to try something properly before advising others on what OS to use.

I can only agree. I was sceptical as well but I must say the PC really flies. As what might be considered a “silver surfer” I would also suggest people give it a go, remember all change is not bad :D
Posted by nacasatu - Mon 01 Jul 2013 12:01
If you already have windows 7, there is really no need to upgrade to windows 8. For all the hassle and stupidity of the metro interface, along with the cost (the €15 deal is gone btw a long time) it's just not worth it, especially for business users.
Be careful of shills telling you how great it is and how you must upgrade blah blah blah also, MS have them planted everywhere, they did it when Vista was failing miserably too.