Ian Moulster's blog

On a recent short holiday to Cornwall I used my Nokia Lumia 920 as my only camera. Two things impressed me about this: Cornwall is really beautiful The Nokia Lumia 920 has an amazing camera :-) Here’s a selection. What do you reckon?

Here’s a thought. Let’s say you find an app in the Windows Store that you like, but isn’t free. Take “ Hydro Thunder Hurricane ” as an example – it’s a really fun 3D game. Now, let’s say you decide to buy it. You may have a couple of questions: Does that...

Yesterday I posted a set of 10 questions to test your knowledge of Windows 8 (and Windows RT). I promised I’d post the answers so you could see how you’ve done, so here goes.   1. How do I get a list of all Windows 8 Store apps I have ever downloaded...

Are you one of those people who already knows Windows 8 (or Windows RT) pretty well? Do you like a bit of a challenge? Then try my 10 question quiz and see how you get on. There are no prizes other than a warm smug glow if you get them all right. And...

Remember when every computer you bought had a CD drive? Then a DVD drive, and maybe a DVD writer? And these days, a Blu-ray drive? Well as you know things are changing and many of the newer form factor PCs such as tablets, convertibles and ultrabooks...

I recently bought a vinyl skin for my Surface RT and wanted to share the experience. I admit I was in two minds about whether it was a good thing to do. I’ve had previous experience with this kind of thing before and have found them to be difficult to...

My eyes are getting worse. Not sure if it’s old age or spending half my life staring at computer screens but it does mean that, especially at the end of a long day, I can struggle to read things without digging out my glasses. Happily Windows Phone 8...

One of the really useful features in Windows Phone 8 is the ability to use maps offline. I recently had the opportunity to road-test this feature in a trip to Lisbon in Portugal. It works like this: Before leaving home I downloaded the map for Portugal...

The version of Internet Explorer 10 that runs on the Windows 8 start screen is fantastic, running full-screen and great for touch. And it's really easy to pin a tile for your favourite websites to your Windows 8 start screen - simply swipe from the top...

Do you want Windows 8 to pop up a “toast” message every time you receive an email? If so you’ll need to switch the option in the mail app, but it’s pretty simple to do. First open the mail app, then bring up the charms (swipe from the right of the screen...

As I have mentioned previously, Internet Explorer 10 has been built from the ground up to offer great support for touch while still retaining all of its advantages for keyboard and mouse. One simple but very effective feature is how you can simply "swipe"...

As you may be aware, Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 8 and Windows RT has been built from the ground up to have excellent support for touch. Internet Explorer 10 apps run full screen, giving every pixel to the website which helps to really let the content...

A while ago I wrote a blog post about an alternative to the Windows Phone Facebook app on Windows Phone. Although to be honest the Windows Phone Facebook app is now pretty good so I don't see much of a need for this, however the approach used is still...

Before I start I should be clear that nothing I’m about to say is an official Microsoft comment or Microsoft views. It’s just my musings. I’m taking off my Microsoft hat for the time being. It’s interesting to me to see the...

I can’t remember the last time I bought a camera. Like most smartphone-owning folks I have got used to using the built-in camera with all of its advantages. After all, my Nokia Lumia has an 8 megapixel camera and loads of photo apps – not least one I...

Plenty has been written about how to keep control of email. Or at least, to try to keep on top of the seemingly ever-increasing tidal-wave of email that hits us every day. There is certainly no shortage of advice of how to do so, and it wouldn’t...

I got asked recently about this situation: You receive an email in your Hotmail inbox that has an Office document (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) attached to it. To store it on SkyDrive, do you need to first save it to your hard drive then upload it to SkyDrive...

Way back in March last year I posted a blog entry listing apps that I was using at the time on my Windows Phone. I thought it might be time to update that list with some of the applications I currently have installed that are proving useful to me. Since...

I like the Facebook app on the Windows Phone but it’s fair to say that it has its detractors too. One school of thought says that it’s unnecessary anyway due to the way in which Facebook is integrated into the phone natively. But some people like to have...

Continuing my short series on the great new Hotmail features, I will be taking a look at how Hotmail handles flagging. Flags are a great way of highlighting emails that are important or require action. Flagging and un-flagging emails is really easy using...

Hotmail has a great new categorisation feature that really helps you to find information and emails more quickly and keep your inbox organised. It’s worth spending a little time reviewing the various ways in which this new feature works so I’ll delve...

Microsoft Research has announced the availability of a free scripting engine for Windows Phone 7, something that is great fun to play around with. It's a free download from the Zune Marketplace on your phone (search for "Touchstudio" in the apps section...

Site pinning is a great feature in Internet Explorer 9, and I use it all the time. I have a host of sites pinned to my taskbar such as Facebook and Hotmail, but also some internal apps we use in the office for things like internal product news. These...

As the number of apps in the Windows Phone 7 marketplace zooms past 10,000 I thought it worth a quick summary of the apps that I use most. Almost certainly there are loads of great apps that I’ve missed, so feel free to let me know if you are aware of...

It took me a while to realise that many people don't seem to "get" the Zune Pass (available on Windows Phone 7, Xbox 360, PC, and US Zune players). To explain the value as I see it, I’d like to back up a bit and look at the way the vast, vast...