Microsoft has launched a new Bing homepage to celebrate the Halloween festive season. Taking full advantage of the real estate, the company has produced an interactive scene inside a haunted house. Visitors are exposed to freakish sound affects that create a spooky atmosphere as you search the Internet. 

Microsoft is taking its Kinect technology to a whole new level. We've already looked at how the company is attempting to integrate its product into retail, but Microsoft Research is also tapping into sign language. Numerous videos have been released showing off how the Kinect Sign Language Translator is able to interpret sign language and translate it.

Believe it or not, the NBA has had a Windows Phone app since 2011. They first launched Game Time back in time for the 2011 playoffs allowing players to catch the latest news from the NBA. A year later, the app was updated with the ability to watch live video of the playoffs if you were an NBA League Pass holder. Today, we're looking at a new update for NBA fans that will let you catch the entire season. Details below.

A diamond may be forever, but Nokia phones come pretty dang close to matching diamonds in toughness. Case in point, a Swedish man who dropped his phone in a lake three and a half months ago. He recently found his Lumia 800 and the results are pretty typical of Nokia devices that go to hell and back.

Battle Monkeys is a new Windows Phone 8 game that has had it's fair share of success over on iOS and Android. It's a 3D combat game that can be played in single player fashion or an online, multiplayer mode.

With Battle Monkeys already being established on other platforms, you shouldn't have any problem finding opponents to battle.

Battle Monkeys has challenging game play, nice graphics and whether you're battling others or the computer it comes across as an entertaining game for our Windows Phone 8 devices.

Finnish manufacturer Nokia has scored a victory against HTC today with a British court ruling in its favour over mobile telecoms technology. The judge concluded that HTC had infringed on a European patent held by Nokia - "Modulator structure for a transmitter and a mobile station." Nokia has been in a dispute against HTC in the past, as well as Apple and other tech giants.

Fandango is admittedly a very useful service for U.S. movie goers. By allowing people to purchase tickets from their home, via a PC and more recently, through their phones, it saves people time and frustration from shows being sold out. Tickets are rendered as QR codes on their smartphone for quick scanning at theaters, and movie goers feel like they're in the year 2013.

The Windows Phone app has been around since day one, coming out in late 2010 with the release of Microsoft's new mobile platform. Fandango even boasted about how easy it was to make their Windows Phone 7 app. Since then, it has had a minuscule four updates in three years.

If that sounds like a neglected app, you would be correct.

Microsoft unleashed the Windows Phone App Studio Beta back in August, accumulating a whopping 30,000 projects in just 48 hours. Now an article over on the Windows Phone Develop Blog details some developer driven changes that have been implemented into the app. Perfect for the 160,000 developers who have created more than 150,000 projects, leading to 65,000 apps in just two months.

Another gripe about Windows Phone has been resolved with Update 3 on the HTC 8X

Most pundits and tech enthusiasts tend to agree that Windows Phone 8 is a really good operating system. What it is missing are lots of little things that can annoy some users and keep it from being perfect. The GDR revisions, like the recent Update 3, go a long way in filling in those gaps to deliver an improved user experience.

One of the grievances that people have about Windows Phone is the inability to charge the device and to have it powered-off at the same time. Windows Phone is unique here, since most phones allow you to power down the device and then to plug it in to charge. It's a great method to max out your recharging power (since you're not operating the radio), and it's also a way to get some quiet time, while being useful.

When it comes to RSS feeds, Windows Phone users have numerous choices for an excellent experience and superb design. One of the more established creations is Nextgen Reader, which goes way back to January 2011 on Windows Phone. How's that for dedication? The app now uses Feedly for RSS management and it's a joy to use.

Version 5.31 is now live in the Store and we're teaming up with Nextgen Reader to make it free for 24 hours. You heard that right. The app usually runs for $1.99 but if you grab the app in the next day, you'll have a free, perpetual license on this excellent RSS reader forever. That means if you buy a new Windows Phone, this app will still be free for you.

Why? Because you folks deserve your news.

The Lumia 1020 from Nokia is the high-end Windows Phone you'll want to own if you enjoy photography. Sporting a 41MP shooter with an advanced software suite to boot, it's definitely a niche choice for those who wish to have something a little extra. Three Ireland is now stocking the smartphone.

Nokia not only announced new products and accessories at Nokia World 2013, the company also unveiled some new software features - one being Nokia Refocus. The app enables you to capture an image, much like you would with the Nokia Camera app, with the ability to alter which elements of the photo are in focus afterwards.

It's a really cool idea that Nokia is now discussing on their Conversations blog.

If you are looking to take advantage of two Xbox games that have received a price drop you'll want to check out TinyPlanes and Dream Track Nation. We've reviewed both in the past and to be honest they didn't get the best reviews - which may have put you off purchasing them at the time. Originally Nokia exclusives, the games can be downloaded to any device. 

Rotation Lock is a handy little shortcut for those who require convenient access to the rotation lock setting in Windows Phone. The app acts as a tile shortcut, removing the tedious menu navigation through the settings menu. We looked at the app earlier this month and already the developer has released an update to the store. So, what's new?

Back in September, it was confirmed that Microsoft was purchasing a part of Nokia for the sum of EURO5.44 billion ($7.49 billion). The deal will see Microsoft absorb the Devices and Services division for future development, leaving the likes of NSN (Nokia Solutions and Networks) and HERE. Redmond is now seeking approval from EU antitrust regulators for the deal to go through. 

InNote is a new Windows Phone 8 app that was announced during Nokia World 2013. It's a feature rich handwriting note taker for your Windows Phone.  InNote comes in handy when you need to jot down spur of the moment ideas, work on a shopping list, sketch a drawing, or craft a to do list.

Notes created in InNote can be shared in .PDF format or image format as well as organized into notebooks. InNote makes a nice impression and if you're in the need for a handwriting note taker, it's well worth a try.