Microsoft expands Cortana support, features in new Windows 10 'Redstone' build

Cortana's language support is expanding with this test build to include Spanish (Mexico), Portuguese (Brazil) and French Canadian. Cortana also is now able to save new reminder information, such as the name of a book and to-do items without specific due dates (like "remind me to wash the car").
Today's new Redstone 14279 test build also provides a merged logon experience, combining the lock screen background and the logon screen background into just one background. For those with custom lock screen backgrounds, the lock screen will now be used for both the lock screen and logon screen.

Build 14279 also includes fixes and known issues, as do all Insider builds. Among the fixes are remedies to the situation that caused the Edge browser and Cortana to crash for users with roaming profiles. Cortana also will no longer show reminders that have been completed. Microsoft also fixed issues causing certain drivers from Windows Update to cause some PCs to bluescreen, according to today's blog post.

In the known issues area, Microsoft is looking into an issue I've heard several users report: Their Surface Pro 3, Pro 4 and Surface Book devices can freeze or hang and prevent inputs including typing and touch from registering. Right now, the workaround is to hold the power button to force a hard reboot.

Users who have Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Internet Security or the Kaspersky Total Security Suite installed may also experience problems, which Microsoft and Kaspersky are working to fix.

Microsoft released a number of additional Windows 10 updates earlier this week for PC users, Windows 10 Mobile Insider testers and for Windows 10 IoT testers.

Source: http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-expands-cortana-support-features-in-new-windows-10-redstone-build/

It's now possible to run Android apps on Windows 10 Mobile

For many months, we had been reporting that Microsoft was considering bringing Android apps to the Windows Phone ecosystem. And today, you can finally experience Android Apps on Windows 10 Mobile but be warned, it's not an easy process and can force you to re-flash your device, so move ahead cautiously.

In the image at the top of this post, one user has Periscope up and running on his Lumia 920.

For starters, not all devices are supported at this time and make sure you are running the latest version of Windows 10 Mobile. Knowing you could damage your device, if you want to try out Android apps, read below.

Here is the list of supported devices:

• Nokia Lumia 920
• Nokia Lumia 925
• Nokia Lumia 929 / Verizon Icon
• Nokia Lumia 830
• Nokia Lumia 930
• Nokia Lumia 1520
• Nokia Lumia 635 (1GB RAM variant)
• Nokia Lumia 730
• Nokia Lumia 820
• Nokia Lumia 435
• Nokia Lumia 928

If you have one of the above devices, here’s how to install the apps:

• Download Android SDK’s ADB and wconnect tool from here.
• Extract the files in the folder and Open the folder wconnect,then installIpOverUsbInstaller.msi and vcredist_x86.exe
• Open the Windows 10 Mobile’s Settings page ->Update & Security > For Developers and enable Developers Mode, as well as Device Discovery
• Open the extracted wconnect folder, open an elevated command prompt (Shift+right click > Open command window here)
• Then you’ll need to connect to the phone — (USB method is recommended):
• To Connect using USB, type wconnect.exe usb and hit enter
• Then it’ll ask for the pairing code, enter the code and hit enter
• Then navigate to the extracted adb folder and open an elevated command prompt
• To make sure that your device is connected, type adb devices and hit enter to show the list of devices that are connected
• Lastly, place the APK file that you want to install on the same directory (adb folder) and type in adb install APKNAME.apk (replace APKNAME with the APK file’s name)
• That's it, then you can install the APKs.

Couple of things to keep in mind, obtaining APKs may not be legal in your area, so keep that in mind, also, this is highly experimental at this time and many users are reporting that this is causing their devices to be frozen and forcing a complete re-flash of the device. Do not try this on anything other than a development device.

But what this will allow you to run some Android apps on your phone but at this time, if they depend on a Google service, not surprisingly, they will not be functional on a Windows 10 Mobile device. But, seeing as users are already getting some apps up and running, shows that for Android developers, bringing their apps over to Windows 10 Mobile is going to be a trivial task.

While this move may sound like Microsoft is giving up on native app development for Windows 10 Mobile, it does solve the bigger issue of not having enough high quality apps on its mobile devices.

For many months, we had been reporting that Microsoft was considering bringing Android apps to the Windows Phone ecosystem. And today, you can finally experience Android Apps on Windows 10 Mobile but be warned, it's not an easy process and can force you to re-flash your device, so move ahead cautiously.

In the image at the top of this post, one user has Periscope up and running on his Lumia 920.

For starters, not all devices are supported at this time and make sure you are running the latest version of Windows 10 Mobile. Knowing you could damage your device, if you want to try out Android apps, read below.

Here is the list of supported devices:

• Nokia Lumia 920
• Nokia Lumia 925
• Nokia Lumia 929 / Verizon Icon
• Nokia Lumia 830
• Nokia Lumia 930
• Nokia Lumia 1520
• Nokia Lumia 635 (1GB RAM variant)
• Nokia Lumia 730
• Nokia Lumia 820
• Nokia Lumia 435
• Nokia Lumia 928

If you have one of the above devices, here’s how to install the apps:

• Download Android SDK’s ADB and wconnect tool from here.
• Extract the files in the folder and Open the folder wconnect,then install IpOverUsbInstaller.msiand vcredist_x86.exe
• Open the Windows 10 Mobile’s Settings page ->Update & Security > For Developers and enable Developers Mode, as well as Device Discovery
• Open the extracted wconnect folder, open an elevated command prompt (Shift+right click > Open command window here)
• Then you’ll need to connect to the phone — (USB method is recommended):
• To Connect using USB, type wconnect.exe usb and hit enter
• Then it’ll ask for the pairing code, enter the code and hit enter
• Then navigate to the extracted adb folder and open an elevated command prompt
• To make sure that your device is connected, type adb devices and hit enter to show the list of devices that are connected
• Lastly, place the APK file that you want to install on the same directory (adb folder) and type in adb install APKNAME.apk (replace APKNAME with the APK file’s name)
• That's it, then you can install the APKs.

Couple of things to keep in mind, obtaining APKs may not be legal in your area, so keep that in mind, also, this is highly experimental at this time and many users are reporting that this is causing their devices to be frozen and forcing a complete re-flash of the device. Do not try this on anything other than a development device.

But what this will allow you to run some Android apps on your phone but at this time, if they depend on a Google service, not surprisingly, they will not be functional on a Windows 10 Mobile device. But, seeing as users are already getting some apps up and running, shows that for Android developers, bringing their apps over to Windows 10 Mobile is going to be a trivial task.

While this move may sound like Microsoft is giving up on native app development for Windows 10 Mobile, it does solve the bigger issue of not having enough high quality apps on its mobile devices.
Source: http://www.neowin.net/news/it039s-now-possible-to-run-android-apps-on-windows-10-mobile