Windows 8 Apps That Should be On Your End of Year List

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The holidays are here, and that means one thing: you are not going to be doing much work. We hope.

But it is a time of the year when you plan on how you are you going to tackle the new year. For some of you that means more fun. For others, that means more work, or more efficient work.  We have produced a list of some of the Windows 8 apps that have recently been published in the Windows Store. Some of these apps are made by Microsoft BizSpark members. Download them and check them out.

 

Flight Unlimited: Las Vegas

The leading iPhone & iPad Flight Simulator is now available on Windows.  Flight Unlimited: Las Vegas has great graphics and allows you to not only fly different planes but it also provides a series of missions for a Las Vegas mob boss. The partner is dedicated to creating game updates and will in the future provide street traffic.

 Features

  • Enjoy flying over the city of Las Vegas in one of 9 unique aircraft.
  • Explore the city or embark on a campaign of missions for the Las Vegas Mob Boss.
  • The famous Las Vegas strip includes over 50 hotels that are modeled with photo realism. Fly past the Luxor, buzz the New York New York, or attempt a landing on top of the Bellagio.
  • Over 130 sq miles of the city of Las Vegas are modeled in incredible detail.
  • This level of detail hasn't been seen in any flight simulator on any platform.
  • This is without a doubt, the most graphically advanced flight simulator in the app store. Weeks after flying you'll notice meticulous graphical details for the first time. Tires smoke as the plane hits the ground, aircraft metal deforms in a crash, the Bellagio fountains spring to life, sun glare blinds your view, and more.

 

FLOQQ

 

Using your tablet to learn a new language or other skills has never been easier.  FLOQQ is a BizSpark startup and their application provides access to over 4000 courses.

Floqq is a free service that offers the highest number of online video courses in English in order for you to learn whatever you wish, guided by experts in the field. Speak a different language, get a promotion, change your profession, create a company, play a musical instrument, learn a new sport, or impress your friends with an exotic meal:

- Each course is taught by an expert in the field of study

- Learn at your own rhythm, with courses ranging in levels of difficulty

- All the videos are always available on the website and mobile apps

 

Hotel Guru

Looking for hotel on your tablet? World Winger Travel was featured as a BizSpark Startup of the Day in 2013. They are the same folks who brought you the Cruise alert app we spoke of fondly.

Hotel Guru" is a unique and user friendly app that epitomizes customer satisfaction by providing you the best deals in quality hotels to make your stay pleasant.

Start by entering the travel destination and the travel date. All the available accommodations in and around your destination will be displayed. You also have the ability to modify your search by applying various filters. Trip advisor as well as hotel star rating will guarantee that you get the value for your money.

Hotel Guru is a free app available in the app store here.

  

iFixit: Repair Manual

Thousands of free how-to guides make it easy to repair your stuff. Fix your own things with step-by-step repair instructions. With step-by-step instructions, you can repair anything! Explore inside thousands of devices—before you take yours apart. Need more detail on a step? Zoom into high resolution images to see all the fine details! Completely free—no in-app purchases. Parts Store: buy parts and tools right in the app!

 

The most popular repair manual in the world comes to your tablet.  The reviews have been great.

"The robots of the future will see this and murder us all. Thanks iFixit. Thanks a lot."

— Engadget

"Illustrated repair guides that take you step by step through the process."

— Dallas Morning News

 

 

iStoryTime

Looking for an application that has narrated children's story books? iStoryTime has been decorated with PTPA Media’s Parent Tested Parent Approved Seal of Approval and the Children's Technology Review's Editor's Choice Award, iStoryTime books have been highlighted in the New York Times, LA Times, CBS Early Show, theiPhoneMom.com, CNET, Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch and many more.

App includes four FREE full length Read Aloud storybooks - The Giant Smurf, Madagascar, Ice Age and Robin Hood!Reviewers love it: Teachers with Apps, Smart Apps for Kids, The iMums, Kidscreen, AppAble, BSCKids, TUAW and more!

Large library of additional stories to choose from as in-app purchases, with new books being added every week.

In-app purchases only available in the parent’s section. Kids can freely pick and choose from already purchased stories in their library, without being tempted by un-purchased books. We’re parents too and we’re tired of being harassed to make in-app purchases by our kids. Bye-Bye “can we get this pleeeezeee?!”

The iStoryTime library app includes a wide selection of narrated children’s storybooks from your kids favorite films, TV shows and classic stories.  

 

izik Search

 

izik (pronounced EYE-zik) Search is a powerful and functional search engine app that is optimized just for tablets. Get your web results in an image-rich layout organized by categories. Stay informed with the latest news, find out what’s hot on Twitter, and watch trending searches. Izik has been featured in TechCrunch. 

You can download it from the Windows Store here.

Features 

  • Search results are organized into categories.
  • Swipe horizontally to view more results.
  • Swipe vertically to see more categories.
  • Quick answer boxes help you find what you need right away.
  • Safesearch removes inapproriate search results.

 

Jamendo

Jamendo is the number one platform for free music in the Windows Store. The Jamendo catalog is published under Creative Commons licenses that allow artists to publish their music and to preserve their rights, while providing users the freedom to download and share it.

The goal of Jamendo is to give all music lovers the best experience possible with free music. The site offers a catalog of more than 400,000 tracks by 30,000 independent artists that anybody can stream, download and share freely and legally. The Windows 8 app brings you the smoothest browsing experience of Jamendo to date: discover our news and artist features, play our Top Charts playlists and sign into your Jamendo account to retrieve all your favorites.

 

McDroidGame

Looking for a surreal action tower defense game for you tablet? Of course you are! This game includes boss fights as well as resource management. A brand new and original Strategy Action, love child of RTYPE and DUNE2 where Little robot McDROID builds bases to protect its Shuttle while healing its home planet.

 

 

Motion Math

Another BizSpark startup wants to educate and help the world with math. We think this is a good thing. Trying to teach your kids fractions? This application makes it easy and fun.

Bounce your way to fractions mastery! For ages 5 and up, Motion Math helps learners estimate four forms of fractions: numerator over denominator (1/2), percents (50%), decimals (.5), and pie charts. Perceiving fractions quickly and accurately is needed for advanced math success.

 

PROVEN LEARNING IMPACT

In a controlled study, kids who played Motion Math: Fractions! for 20 minutes for 5 days:

• Improved 15% on fractions test scores.

• Improved attitudes and confidence towards fractions an average of 10%.

 

Dragons Adventure

 

This is a a great third person adventure game, and it's perfect for the Nokia Lumia devices upon which it exclusively runs. DreamWorks Dragons Quest transforms the family drive into an interactive gaming experience. Inspired by the award-winning 3D animated film ‘How to Train Your Dragon,’ the game transforms actual landmarks along a drive into the fictional Isle of Berk. Roadways, lakes, real-life traffic and weather conditions and even select buildings are mirrored into the game, personalizing it and transforming the drive into an epic adventure.

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