the pirate must have had some trouble updating to 8.1. i don't think he's been back since he started the update process.

cortana is strictly for US use at the moment. well, maybe England too. i believe that to be the case, anyway.

have you added the third column of tiles yet? or used the swipe keyboard?

You might have noticed the Xbox Music app was updated on Friday for users running the Developer preview after quite a few complaints about performance and other issues.

http://xboxmusic.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/354620-announcement-windows-phone-8-1-update-now-availa

As much as I like Windows Phone, the Music app is a weak point which also crosses over into Windows 8.  Something like this should be top-notch, but I really don't know why their whole music system is like this.

They seem to be addressing though with another update coming soon.

This update:

• Numerous stability fixes, including many of the reported black screens
• Full Cortana integration including playing Playlists by name
• UI Polish to improve animations and transitions between UI views
• Improved messaging for encountered errors, such as unplayable content in collections

What's coming:

• Continued focus on Stability and Performance improvements
• Background initial sync of local and cloud content (Note:  This had been targeted for the last store update, but we pushed it out one more release to do some additional testing)
• Fast Forward/Rewind by sliding progress bar in a song
• UX layouts on buttons and metadata in now playing to better utilize space and make for better interaction
• Support for large play queue(including playlist) greater than 100 songs
• Improved load times for long lists through better list virtualization
• Swipe Gesture to Advance on Now Playing
• Live Tile and Transparent Tile support
• Design & Layout improvements to get you to your content faster
• Kids Corner support
• UX improvements (Search result grouping, creating new Radio Stations, improved Network status messages, Blue UI language alignment, and more)

It would probably be available to me then, but I understand changing a phone's region is not as straight forward as changing the OS region of a PC.  The question was asked of my provider when someone wanted to get the Black update sooner than the official release here, and he was told that there may be connectivity issues should he proceed and was advised against it.

How correct that information is I don't know, but either way I am not in that much of a hurry to get Cortana.  I can wait until it is released here officially.

Thanks for this ID. I hadn't investigated this app before now, so had no idea what it is for or what it does.  Now I do and think it is going to be a very useful accessory indeed.  There are times when I'm unable to read an article in full, or there is a link within one that I do not have the time to read there and then while I'm waiting at the doctors, so Reading List will be fantastic when I want to relocate those items of interest.

In fact, because this thread has been fantastic for opening my eyes to new and/or useful apps... must haves, even, I propose it be made into a 'sticky' in the personal computing section so it is easier for everyone to find.  Yes, there is the subscribe to this post feature, and if someone has posted here before, but a sticky thread would enable old and new members alike to find it for the first time.  There probably are other Windows Phone users who would agree with this, so is it a good idea or what?

Not only that, it might help to upgrade to a decent unit and get off those confounded Android/Apple phones.

I did install Pocket File Manager a little while back and found it useful, but to have one built into the OS by default is a step forward, IMHO.

I still can't get over how many IOS/Android users are still whining about the "lack of apps".  True, those platforms may have more apps - many of them duplicated over and over by different devs - but the app list for WP8 is growing all the time, with some significant additions [of which some have been posted here] in recent weeks.

I have always been happy with my Lumia 820 and have always loved its ease of use, but things just keep getting better and better, particularly since the 'marriage' of MS and Nokia.  I don't care what the 'other' fanboys say, great things are coming with the Windows Phone platform.

If you are using the developer preview, be sure to check for updates because they released a new one to address some issues including the battery.

http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2014/05/14/update-to-windows-phone-8-1-preview-for-developers.aspx

   Thanks for the heads-up ID! 

Pinterest Beta is now available to download on Windows Phone.  I've been waiting for this one.

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/pinterest-beta/e94f00d8-ff2d-4844-9cae-de1e420dc337

The Facebook Beta got a big update today with a much improved user experience.

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/facebook-beta/93da5d29-daf0-4783-9ed5-a87b33247ec6

Yup, just got it from the store.  I have an earlier copy of Photoshop on my other phone, which I will have to update shortly.

I also put a 64gb memory card in my main phone to store my media files, thus leaving more room in the phone's memory for apps, etc.  Beats me why the Lumia 820 wasn't as popular as other models, why people didn't like it, because mine have served me well and are more expandable [memory-wise] than some models, above as well as below it.

And to think, just a couple of years ago I wouldn't have had a smart phone with all these luxuries and benefits above and beyond call making and texts, and now I'm right into it.  Nope, I didn't need all that extra 'rubbish', now I wouldn't be without it.

Video Tuner is a new app from Microsoft.  It lets you edit video right on your Window Phone.

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/video-tuner/30073493-c325-4b82-a395-7f596f000cb6