Raising the Dead

Nokia City Lens

City Lens,which released last week,is Nokia’s maps application that uses augmented reality. The app uses your camera to locate destinations in any city. Instead of lines and dots,you will see buildings labelled,according to type,such as theatres,restaurants or shops. So being in a new city need not be such a challenge,after all.

Five years ago,if you were told that Microsoft’s market position was in danger,you’d laugh. After all,in most computers,the operating system was Windows. Even Apple users would use Microsoft Office. Then came the iPhone. It spearheaded an era of smartphones,where personal computers could fit into coat pockets. People no longer needed laptops for basic tasks such as checking email. Then Apple’s iPad happened,and Windows was on its way out. For the first time,work got done without Microsoft Office.

The company saw the warning signs and looked beyond the PC. Windows Phone,an operating system for mobile phones,showed the world that the company was not napping. Microsoft may not be a dominant player in the market,but it has given users a good alternative to the iPhone and Android phones.

The next step was revamping two of Microsoft’s most popular services: Hotmail and SkyDrive. Last month,Microsoft renamed Hotmail as Outlook.com and integrated it with its cloud storage SkyDrive. This is just ahead of the release of Windows 8. The new SkyDrive comes with HTML 5 features as well as an app for Android devices. Users now have a platform where they get everything in one place.

Outlook.com

No other email service has been able to compete with Google’s Gmail. Outlook.com has entered as a serious competitor. The first change that users will notice is the sleek and modern look of the new service. There are few colours and you can choose your favourites. Inbox items are well-spaced and they do not look cluttered even if there are a lot of messages. It lacks customisation options,but that should not bother most users.

Another new addition to Outlook.com is good social network integration. You can link your Twitter,Facebook and LinkedIn accounts and access them from your inbox. You can also chat with your Facebook and Outlook.com friends. For those who email photos often,the photo-sharing feature will be useful. You can also view attached photos as a slideshow. One place where Outlook.com has a major advantage is attachments. You can attach files up to 300MB in a single email,which is much more than what the competition offers.

SkyDrive

After redesigning its email service,Microsoft released an updated version of SkyDrive. Microsoft’s cloud storage service,SkyDrive,has been around for five years. Now,it has become integral to Microsoft’s future. All users get 7GB for free. Loyal SkyDrive account holders get 25GB. While,you can access your apps on any platform,Microsoft’s decision to make an Android app will allow more users to use this service on their phones. This means that the company has not tied SkyDrive to a Windows Phone alone. Meanwhile,Windows 8 comes with a built-in SkyDrive app and it can be accessed via a web browser too.

Just like Gmail that has tabs on top,which link to other Google services,you can access Microsoft’s Calendar,People (contacts),SkyDrive and Outlook from any of these services. When you click on the down arrow next to SkyDrive’s logo,a menu drops down smoothly,allowing you to choose between these four services. Navigation is smooth too. Microsoft has put in quite an effort to make the service work smoothly and it has paid off in terms of usability.

This service is just as good as Dropbox and costs the same (Rs 2,600/year for 100GB). It should be a good choice for people who want all their data on Microsoft’s platforms.