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KeepTheCash for Win8 or WinPhone Apps–until June 30

jhealy — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:28:24 GMT

The developers out there are publishing some really great Windows 8 and Windows Phone apps. I’m very lucky in that I get to see many of the great products that devs produce.

So what’s holding you back? Need some incentive?

Until the end of June we’ve got an incentive of $100 for each Windows 8 or Windows Phone app that you publish. Up to 10 for Win8, and 10 for Windows Phone before June 30th.

$100 per app makes for a nice incentive for pushing out those apps you’ve got 75% of the way through.

For rules and more, checkout the blog post at https://build.windowsstore.com/keepthecash .

Windows Phone Training Kit - April 2013 Update

jhealy — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:12:56 GMT

The updated Windows Phone 8 Training Kit is live!

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=38782

This kit contains 20 Hands-On Labs and a set of 6 presentations that can be used to drive code camps or for general training purposes.

HANDS ON LABS include:

Hello Windows Phone
Windows Phone Navigation and Controls
Windows Phone Screen Orientation
Persisting to Windows Phone Storage
Using Background Transfer Services in Your Application
Windows Phone Application LIfe Cycle-Tombstoning
Using Local Database in Windows Phone
Using Tiles and Notifications in Windows Phone
Live Tiles
Using Push Notifications in Windows Phone
Changing the Lockscreen Background in Windows Phone
Voice Commands
App-To-App Communication in Windows Phone
Choosers in Windows Phone
Launchers in Windows Phone
Access Azure Cloud Services from Windows Phone 8 Devices
Running Tracker Application
In-App Purchase and Trial Conversion for Windows Phone
Porting Windows 8 Applications to Windows Phone

Ready to go PRESENTATIONS include:

Fundamentals
Developing for WP8 and Windows 8
Developer Lap Around
More than an App
Sensors
Store and Monetization

All of these make a great complication to the AppBuilder site –> http://bit.ly/30tolaunch … Windows Phone is great, love to see ya’ll produce some great apps for it!

Windows Azure Developer Challenge

jhealy — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:43:19 GMT

CodeProject is running a Windows Azure Developer Challenge. From April 15 to June 24 there are five programming challenges that can earn you a spot for prizes and such. There are over $16k in prizes up for grabs, with 65 changes.

The two week sprint challengesa re

1. First Challenge: Getting Started. April 15 - April 28
2. Second Challenge: Build a website. April 29 - May 12
3. Third Challenge: Using SQL on Azure. May 13 - May 26
4. Fourth Challenge: Virtual Machines. May 27 - Jun 9
5. Fifth Challenge: Mobile access June 10 - June 24

Full rules, details and other goodies are on the website at http://bit.ly/codeprojectazurechallenge .

Keep us posted if you win something!

IDFLinkable 2013-04-13 : Views from the fish fry

jhealy — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:45:57 GMT

Links and apps and Florida flavor I’ve found interesting since the last time I posted this!

GENERAL

Construct2 GitHub Repository for C2 templates by Jim O'Neil - https://github.com/jimoneil/Construct-2

Functional Programming in Csharp - free ebook - by Oliver Storm - http://it-ebooks.info/book/1419/
Unity 4 ( for Windows Store Apps ) early access program - http://blogs.unity3d.com/2013/03/07/unity-4-early-access-for-windows-store-apps/
YoYo Games / Gamemaker blog - http://www.yoyogames.com/tech_blog
Gamemaker Networking - http://www.yoyogames.com/tech_blog/11
Gamemaker Upgrade to Master is only $199 - http://www.yoyogames.com/news/145
Kodu App Challenge for Students 11 to 18 - http://www.imaginecup.com/IC13/Competition/Kodu

WEB

http://www.modern.ie - Tester for Internet exporer - run your own site through it

WINDOWS 8

Dots - http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-US/app/dots/eaa5a9c1-45f2-49e6-af4c-e52936b05c41 - by Audrey S at FSU
Taylor Series Math - http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-US/app/taylor-series-math/5ffd7c5c-9f1c-47fa-a7f2-3dc38554c1eb - by PerAstra at University of Florida

How to create a WinRT WRL C++ Component from scratch that can be consumed by .NET components - http://blogs.interknowlogy.com/2012/04/11/how-to-create-a-winrt-wrl-c-component-from-scratch-that-can-be-consumed-by-net-components/

Windows 8 Game Walkthrough using Construct2 - http://blogs.msdn.com/b/maria_naggaga/archive/2013/03/21/an-app-time-story-build-an-app-before-you-go-to-bed-and-earn-100-by-the-morning.aspx

WINDOWS PHONE

FastestWays -WP8 - Route info using "waze" server for traffic info and such - source code available - via Justin Angel - https://fastestways.codeplex.com/

Pray the Rosary - http://www.windowsphone.com/s?appid=9ace4806-1569-49d8-aaa4-756736c99850 - David Lafontant of FSU - to match his Win8 app

Portable HttpClient for .NET Framework and Windows Phone - .NET Fw 4.0, WP75 and higher, Portable class libraries - http://blogs.msdn.com/b/bclteam/archive/2013/02/18/portable-httpclient-for-net-framework-and-windows-phone.asPx

Style Application in Visual Studio 2012 - http://www.billreiss.com/applying-styles-to-windows-phone-text-in-visual-studio-2012/ - @billreiss

FLORIDA FLAVOR

Broward County Sex Offender - Conrad Salazar - http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/app/bso-sex-offender-locator/64d6554f-9aed-49e5-922f-c5958c2741f3
Dzone Windows Phone App - Shayne Boyer of Orlando - http://www.windowsphone.com/s?appid=a6e847da-f52a-48b3-b030-eb775b4d90d2
FilmWave by Neuralnet - http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/app/filmwave/dd1466d4-c656-4912-85a4-035649f91e50
Miami Train Tracker - Win8 - Conrad Salazar - http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-US/app/miami-train-tracker/d09e6ce8-7ce3-465a-bb32-f23d14b629b1
Sharks Attack by Litte Ozzie - http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/app/sharks-attack/0879ccb0-a9bc-46ad-8fc7-f75fea0181e6 - BSA Tampa
Missing Alert by Lane Williams of Fort Myers - Win8 - http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-US/app/missing-alert/ed3460a2-1577-44ee-881b-edf9aede35a4
Pirate Plunder 2 by Glow Puff - LINK HERE
Pray the Rosary - David Lafontant of FSU - http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-US/app/pray-the-rosary/015b959f-f061-4e46-92c3-30aa381c332b
Unit Circle for Win8 by Tier0 Productions - http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-US/app/unit-circle/00435dd3-ac5c-458a-8559-15c13279662d

Superscript / subscript in XAML

jhealy — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 21:49:00 GMT

If it takes more than 5 minutes to write up and wasn’t easy to “bing” then its something that should be blogged for SEO purposes later in my life, as my memory fades, and I need to find things again!

Recently I was asked how to super and subscript in XAML using TextBlocks.

My personal route is to use a StackPanel that wraps individual TextBlocks. You can then adjust the margins on the TextBlock’s to reflect whether you want them normal, superscripted or subscripted.

Yes we could do it nicer with some style resources, but this is just to illustrate the basic principles .

The code to do this is below, the rendered output is on the right. Enjoy…

        <StackPanel Orientation="Vertical">
            <TextBlock Text="H2O3" FontSize="40" Margin="0,10"/>
            <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
                <TextBlock Text="H" FontSize="40" />
                <TextBlock Text="2" FontSize="40" Margin="0,-20,0,0"/>
                <TextBlock Text="O" FontSize="40"/>
                <TextBlock Text="3" FontSize="40" Margin="0,10,0,-10"/>
            </StackPanel>
        </StackPanel>

Game Dev Conf 2013 Announcements for Windows Phone

jhealy — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:35:32 GMT

Lots of goodness at GDC last week. Here’s a couple high level links to get you going….

Remember, if you’re got writing #windowsphone apps, you can get $100 per via Keep the Cash - http://dfwiki.devfish.net/dotneterati.Contests.ashx?HL=contests

Also, sign up for http://www.dvlup.com and get some NOKIA incentives too! Microsoft employees are eligible so use your phone dev skils to get some points and goodies.

Mailing list for FLORIDA ONLY Windows Phone Devs is at http://fla-wimo-dev.groups.live.com . If it won’t let you request membership, email me and I’ll wire you up.

WP Dev Blog Announcements - http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/wpdev/archive/2013/03/27/new-middleware-makes-porting-games-to-windows-phone-easy.aspx

Cocos2d Updated - http://www.cocos2d-x.org/projects/cocos2d-x/news

Unity

go live license
open beta for wp8
games: drift mania 2, fling theory, orcs must survive from echoboom
Announce - http://blogs.unity3d.com/2012/10/30/unity-windows-phone-8-demonstrated-at-microsoft-build-conference
Introducing Unity for WP8 - http://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/Inside+Windows+Phone/IWP50-Introducing-Unity-for-Windows-Phone-Devleopment

Marmalade

Go live license
Two ios/android ports
6th planet (monokube) and propel man ( spiel studio )
Announce - http://www.madewithmarmalade.com/windows-phone-8

Havok - showing off new graphics engine - go live license coming soon - http://www.havok.com/solutions/mobile-game-developers

New Games for WP - http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2013/03/27/a-raft-of-games-arrive-for-windows-phone-8-including-chaos-rings-and-gravity-guy-2-a-platform-exclusive.aspx

PowerA

MOGA controller
Bluetooth
Phone hooks into top of controller
Coming soon with Windows Phone SDK - http://www.mogaanywhere.com/
I hit them on twitter for an ETA but we’ll see.

Useful link of the day - Windows phone dev center customer support - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=256412

IDFLinkable 18 March 2013

jhealy — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:29:59 GMT

EVENTS

Legal Hackathon Miami - May 10-11 - http://mobileappjdmia.eventbrite.com/# - Native code (aka Win8 or Winphone ) counts as "other"

WEB

ASP.NET and Web 2012.2 Update - from da gu - http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2013/02/18/announcing-release-of-asp-net-and-web-tools-2012-2-update.aspx

Web Essentials - cool addins for VS2012 - http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/07d54d12-7133-4e15-becb-6f451ea3bea6

WINDOWS 8

Construct2 Windows Azure Plugin - http://azureforc2.codeplex.com/

Marrionnette meets kinect meets 130% increase in sales - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qMdk2wpeTsA

Multi-language toolkit for Windows 8 - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/hh848309.aspx

Zero260's "Making Games for Windows 8 Using Construct2" - http://zero260orchard.azurewebsites.net/events

Student guide to registering for Windows 8 Store Access - http://blogs.msdn.com/b/edvangelist/archive/2013/03/14/series-get-your-app-or-game-in-the-windows-store-part-1-generation-app-and-dreamspark-account-creation.aspx

WINDOWS PHONE

Construct2 Windows Azure Plugin - http://azureforc2.codeplex.com/

Music Apps for Windows Phone - http://wpnow.net/2013/03/05/7-windows-phone-apps-for-musicians-and-songwriters

Porting from 7.x to 8.x - Gary Davis - http://blogs.webguild.com/archive/2013/01/10/how-i-ported-a-windows-phone-7-app-to-wp8.aspx

Power Tools for Windows Phone - http://wptools.codeplex.com/ - oh my!

Tips for publishing both 7.x and 8.x Apps - http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/wpdev/archive/2013/01/15/app-submission-tips-for-windows-phone-7-and-windows-phone-8.aspx

Voice Mail - How to play unsupported voicemail wav files on wp8 - http://www.mobilityminded.com/21623/how-to-play-unsupported-voicemail-wav-files-on-windows-phone-8

Windows Phone devices - breadth picture - http://www.designingwindows8.com/index.php/editorials/variety-of-windows-phone-devices

FLORIDA FLAVOR

Cameron S. 's first app - high school student in Tampa - http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/app/conmy-center/d60a4f4b-9609-4ae5-a377-d7906272ea5b - Sickles High School!

Code on the Beach Conference – August 16-18 – Jacksonville, FL – call for speakers and sponsors is OPEN - http://www.codeonthebeach.com/

Currency Converter - http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/wpacurrencyconvert/785adbd6-395c-49bb-938e-5ffe6b4d4436 - from Lilly in Tampa

Dine Tonight - http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/dine-tonight/dec7c749-84f4-4732-9392-f849d25dc4de - Mir Majeed of Fort Lauderdale
EcoFinder - http://www.netsquared.org/project/ecofinder#.USlOsMYo7IU - Bobby Harrell in Tallahassee

National Parks Photo Search -
http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-US/app/national-parks-photo-search/8596b9f1-b944-4954-9dd2-c0c3f911b40e - by William LaMartin of Tampa

Newspapers of the Wolrd - http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-US/app/news-of-the-world/0f1979af-dffb-4bf6-818e-48785fd64e22 - William LaMartin of Tampa
Pelican Harbor by Mike Stark of Tampa - http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-US/app/pelican-harbor/bb8f43bb-5c42-4c92-8373-5625830d6bc0

Physician Finder - http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/physician-finder/ec0550e4-da8c-40b9-85f9-1572b9334f30 - Mir Majeed of Fort Lauderdale
Pinellas County Transport Bus App - posted to the Pinellas county site - http://www.psta.net/developers/apps.php - John Balerson - St Petersburg, FL

Target Goals for Win8 - http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/app/on-target-goals/74b6692b-c227-4913-b1ed-5d34aa0a1430 - Bryan Soltis of Bitwizards in Fort Walton Beach, FL

ValPak of Tampa - Sweet coupon app - http://www.valpak.com/media/press-releases/2013/valpak-integrates-mobile-wallet.jsp -- http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/valpak-launches-new-windows-phone-8-app-integrates-coupons-in-windows-phone-wallet-193305741.html -- http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2013/02/28/new-valpak-app-syncs-with-windows.html?ana=e_du_pub&s=article_du&ed=2013-02-28&u=wBqD6by3DIP7qfl+D4SQ5uNzLKM

MISC

Another good "list" blog - http://blogs.msdn.com/b/robcaron/ - Top 10 Developer Links for a Particular Day
Jason Haley - Interesting finds - http://jasonhaley.com/blog/category/Interesting-Finds.aspx

ATL March 2013 Windows Phone Jumpstart Followups

jhealy — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 16:08:27 GMT

As promised here’s the various notes and questions from the Atlanta Windows Phone Jumpstart on Friday, March 8. I really appreciate everyone being there and asking such great questions. Since 80% of ya’ll were Android and iOS devs, it really made for some great dialogs.

SLIDES -https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=6CBDE5464FD99E70!24130&authkey=!AL6M_WxjN_I05uc

INCENTIVES

Keep the Cash Contest - $100 per app - up to 10 - http://build.windowsstore.com/keepthecash/#fbid=6VlhhEw_nMx
Student Apps - $100 per app - 16 and up - http://blogs.msdn.com/b/devfish/archive/2013/02/20/student-windows-8-app-madness-bounty-program.aspx

KEY LINKS

Sign up for appbuilder - formerly known as genapp - http://bit.ly/30tolaunch
Devfish's "Link hoarders" wiki - http://dfwiki.devfish.net - search wp7 and wp8
Open source phone controls from Microsoft - http://phone.codeplex.com
Awesome phone developer incentive program from Nokia - http://dvlup.com
The guy who can get you access to the awesome phone developer program from Nokia - Lance McCarthy - Nokia Evangelist - http://nokiawpdev.wordpress.com/about/
Windows Phone resource for Android devs - Android to Windows Phone Resources - http://windowsphone.interoperabilitybridges.com/porting
Windows Phone resources for ios Devs - http://windowsphone.interoperabilitybridges.com/porting

GETTING STARTED WP8 RESOURCES - summarized at -

http://dfwiki.devfish.net/technology.Windows-Phone-8-Getting-Started.ashx?HL=wp8

WP 7.X DEV RESOURCES - for those who can't get the 8.x tools going - http://dfwiki.devfish.net/technology.Windows-Phone-Getting-Started-for-Developers.ashx?HL=wp7 or search http://dfwiki.devfish.net for "wp7"

LOCAL ATLANTA RESOURCES

Georgia Microsoft Developer Evangelist Tara Walker - http://blogs.msdn.com/tarawalker - http://ohours.org/taraew - Twitter: @taraw Email: tara.walker@microsoft.com
Atlanta Windows Apps Meetup - http://www.meetup.com/Atlanta-Windows-Apps/ - Joe Brown - jbrown9100@hotmail.com
Life Lens App - http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/lifelens-info/e8946c51-f65c-e011-854c-00237de2db9e - Imagine Cup winner that was mentioned - Malaria detection

WP8 <-> WIN8 Resource - http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Building-Apps-for-Windows-Phone-8-Jump-Start-19-Windows-Phone-8-and-Windows-8-Cross-Platform-Develop

Azure Mobile Services for Authentication and Storage - http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/mobile/

Orlando Microsoft Store–Developer Nights and Office Hours

jhealy — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 21:11:00 GMT

I’m lining up a series of events at the Orlando Windows Store [ http://www.meetup.com/MicrosoftStore-Orlando ] as both time and scheduling allow me and the store to come together. I’m going to partner up with the Orlando Windows Phone Dev Group [ http://www.meetup.com/Orlando-Windows-Phone-Window-8-User-Group/ ] lead Shayne Boyer [ http://blog.tattoocoder.com/ ] on the store developer nights. Hopefully we’ll see both new and familiar faces out there!

I’m also going to run Office Hours before and after each lecture I attend. During Office Hours you can work with me on Windows Phone or Windows 8 application issues, architecture, or whatever. No promises but I’ll do my best. Just like in college where the professor offered up office hours for you to get help. Note I also offer Office Hours online and in various locations as I travel. For a complete list of Office Hours be sure to check out http://ohours.org/jhealy .

The store schedule with topics is as follows:

March 7 – 6:30 to 8:30 – Windows Phone AND Windows 8 : Portable Class Libraries – Shayne Boyer presenting – NO OFFICE HOURS

March 21 – 6:30 to 8:30 – CANCELLED

April 11 – 6:30 to 8:30 – Windows Phone 8: The Basics of XAML and CSharp Development – Office Hours at 5:30PM and 8:30 PM

May 9 - 6:30 to 8:30 – Windows Phone 8 : More Than An App - Live Tiles, Lock Screens, Sensors and Lenses – Office Hours at 5:30PM and 8:30 PM

May 16 - CANCELLED

May 30 - 6:30 to 8:30 – GameMaker for Windows 8 GameBuilding – Office Hours at 5:30PM and 8:30 PM

June 13 - 6:30 to 8:30 – Windows 8: The Basics of XAML and CSharp Development – Office Hours at 5:30PM and 8:30 PM

Watch the Orlando Windows Store Meetup page for signup information. Course, you can always just show up, I promise I won’t kick you out. Looking forward to seeing everyone in Orlando.

STORE EVENTS – Sign up at http://www.meetup.com/MicrosoftStore-Orlando/ . It will help us get an idea of what to pull for snacks and such. Devs need cookies….

OFFICE HOURS – If you are going to attend Office Hours, sign up at http://ohours.org/jhealy . The slot s are limited. If you can’t get the slot you want, email me and we’ll work something out.

SetMode loses Pan and Zoom on Bing Maps Control for WP7

jhealy — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 02:58:30 GMT

When working with the Maps control for Windows Phone OS 7.1, calling “SetMode()” on the map will result in a loss of the pan and zoom functionality. If you want to try it yourself, I’ll put code snippets at the end of this post.

A summary of the scenario. It turns out instead of using SetMode(), just use a direct assignment to the .Mode property of the map and Pan and Zoom will stay alive, aka myMaps = mode.

No, I’m not sure what the difference is but I’ve got some feelers out. Basically SetMode() hangs Pan/Zoom, and using .Mode keeps it alive.

Code blocks, the lines commented do not work….

private void Button_Road_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    Microsoft.Phone.Controls.Maps.Core.MapMode mode = new Microsoft.Phone.Controls.Maps.RoadMode();
    //myMap.SetMode(mode, true); // this will hang Pan/Zoom
    myMap.Mode = mode;
}

private void Button_Aerial_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    Microsoft.Phone.Controls.Maps.Core.MapMode mode = new Microsoft.Phone.Controls.Maps.AerialMode();
    //myMap.SetMode(mode, true); // this will hang Pan/Zoom
    myMap.Mode = mode;
}

XAML for the Bing Map control, nothing special.

For the same of SEO, enjoy…. Hope this saves someone else a headache or two! Write mo’ apps!