Mike Ormond's Blog
Musings on mobile development and Windows Phone 7 in particular.
Fancy some help to port your Windows Phone app to Windows 8?
Over the weekend of 15/16th June we’ll be running an exclusive 2 day event designed to help you get...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 05/22/2012
Windows 8 Camp in a Box
If you’ve recently attended one of our Windows 8 Events or Windows 8 Camps (London, Edinburgh,...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 05/21/2012
What Metro style app packages are installed?
There comes a time when you’ll want to see a list of all the Metro style app packages installed on...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 05/15/2012
Act quickly to get your Windows Phone app showcased
The Appvertise campaign from Windows Phone and Nokia is a great opportunity to have your Windows...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 05/11/2012
Windows Phone–Skype Beta
Today we also announced the availability of a beta of the much anticipated Skype app for Windows...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 02/27/2012
New Phones, New Markets
Hot off the press from Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is the news that Windows Phone will be...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 02/27/2012
More Windows Phone Events (UK)
We have another couple of free Windows Phone events coming up – one in London and one in Bristol....
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 01/10/2012
Star Chart–A Definitive AR App for Windows Phone
I asked San Shepherd, co-founder of Escapist Games Ltd, a few questions about Star Chart, a high...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 12/07/2011
The AdControl Requires Certain Capabilities
In my post last week I talked about the Advertising SDK and using the AdControl in our applications...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 12/05/2011
You know the Microsoft Advertising SDK for Windows Phone works in the UK right?
If only I had a pound for every time I’ve been asked when Microsoft’s in-app advertising would be...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 12/02/2011
Windows Phone eBook 1st Edition Published
“It was with a sense of trepidation that I blogged a request for people who might like to help...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 09/22/2011
Plug for our Windows Phone Online Conference
Just a quick plug for our upcoming online conference (Wednesday 5th October) which is themed “Design...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 09/20/2011
Mango Jump Start Training Recordings Available
The Windows Phone “Mango” Jump Start Training with Rob Miles and Andy Wigley that took place on...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 09/09/2011
Free GUI Isolated Storage Explorer Tool
Those fabulous (and generous) guys over at Appa Mundi have created a free GUI version of the...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 09/01/2011
Ensure Your Apps are Published in All Markets
Unless there’s a good reason not to do so, you probably want to have your app available in as many...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 08/22/2011
Windows Phone “Mango” Jump Start Training 23rd/24th August
Building on the success of the original Windows Phone 7 Jump Start training, the dynamic duo* will...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 08/19/2011
Publishing a Mango Update to an Existing App
Assuming you’ve published Windows Phone applications to the Marketplace, you’re probably wondering...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 08/19/2011
Finding Your App Purchase History
I’d never given this any thought until I had to do a hard reset on my HTC Trophy just before we made...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/29/2011
Windows Phone Mango Feature Videos
[Cross posted from the MSDN UK Team Blog] Nice idea this one – ask the people who created specific...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/28/2011
Windows Phone “Mango” Is Done
Or, more correctly, it has been release to manufacturing (RTM’d) – ie the development team have...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/27/2011
Windows Phone App Hub Enhancements
[This post was cross-posted from the UK MSDN Team Blog] If you’re a Windows Phone developer, the...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/25/2011
Windows Phone App Submission and Languages
You’ll have noticed we’ve made some improvements to App Hub recently. And if, like me, you’ve tried...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/22/2011
Windows Phone Status Bar Symbols – What on Earth?
Having been berated on Twitter this morning for failing to be intimately familiar with the symbols...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/15/2011
Orange Selects, Free Apps and Mango
If you have a Windows Phone and you’re on Orange, you’ll hopefully have heard that they’re...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/14/2011
Tech.Days Live Video: From Zero to Hero - Getting your Apps on Marketplace
Oops – somehow this one slipped through the net. Brandon talks about Marketplace, recent and future...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/13/2011
Tech.Days Live Video: Expression Blend 4 – Design, Develop, Deliver
Brennon Williams takes a look at user-centred design, Expression Blend, inspiration, SketchFlow and...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/12/2011
Tech.Days Live Video: SQL Server Compact and User Data Access in Mango
In this session, Andy Wigley takes a look at the new local database features in Windows Phone Mango....
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/12/2011
Tech.Days Live Video: Liven up your WP7 Apps with sweet Mango sauce
Jaime Rodriguez explores some of the new features in Mango by taking an existing application and...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/12/2011
Tech.Days Live Video: What's New in Silverlight in Windows Phone Mango
Oren takes us on a tour of some of the upcoming Silverlight features in the Mango release of Windows...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/12/2011
Tech.Days Live Video: Lap Around Mango
Brandon Watson takes us on a tour of the upcoming release of Windows Phone “Mango” with a strong...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/11/2011
Tech.Days Live Video: Differentiating your Application - Integrating Platform Features and the Cloud
In this session Ian Blackburn talks about Love Clean Streets and its use of platform features and...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/08/2011
Tech.Days Live Video: Blending Delicious User Experiences for Windows Phone 7
The VerySoftware team share their experiences in building successful applications for Windows Phone...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/08/2011
Tech.Days Live Video: Building a Data Intensive Application
Rich Griffin and Ollie Riches explore the use of data in a real-world application and how libraries...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/08/2011
Tech.Days Live Video: Managing Data - Strategies for Mobile Applications
In this session, Andy Wigley looks at accessing, storing and manipulating data in mobile...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/08/2011
Tech.Days Live Video: Banishing the Slow and other cheesy cliches
In this session, Oren Nachman walks through some common performance pitfalls on Windows Phone (and...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/07/2011
Tech.Days Live Video: Creating a Beautiful Windows Phone 7 Application
In this session, Gergely Orosz talks about Cocktail Flow and some of the lessons they learned in...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/07/2011
Tech.Days Live Video: Windows Phone – State of the Union
It seems like an age since “Tech.Days Live” when we had two full days of Windows Phone sessions. All...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/07/2011
SketchFlow Templates for Windows Phone
Yes, you can now get SketchFlow templates for Windows Phone (or sketchy styles as they’re known) and...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/05/2011
All the latest Mango Goodness
I’m sure most of you reading this will already know we released Beta 2 of the developer tools for...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 07/04/2011
TaxiRoute – A Windows Phone Application
Some time ago, at a Windows Phone User Group meeting in Cardiff, I saw Trevor Daniel talk about his...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 06/06/2011
Mango Developer Tools
On the off chance you haven’t heard, we shipped the first beta of the next release of the Windows...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 06/01/2011
Revisiting Plans A, B & C (native VHD boot)
I’d been round in circles a few times and had eventually settled on a technique that involved a 2nd...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 05/19/2011
UK Tech.Days Windows Phone Agenda – What Lies Ahead
I posted the Day 1 agenda as there was some new information that hasn’t yet been published on the UK...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 05/18/2011
UK Tech.Days Windows Phone Agenda – State of the Nation
When you’re organising an event, things change rapidly. Sometimes it’s just not possible to keep the...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 05/18/2011
Windows Phone Sessions at MIX11
I’ve just spotted a great index of recordings of the Windows Phone sessions delivered at MIX11 on...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 05/18/2011
Windows Phone Emulator is doing a complete OS boot…
If this starts happening whenever you launch the Windows Phone emulator Can I suggest following the...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 05/12/2011
Disk2vhd and native boot – Or how to capture and use an OS snapshot
I keep returning to this issue and this time I think I might have cracked it. Here’s my problem: I...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 05/12/2011
Last Chance for Spring Cleaning – Get Your App Featured
If you’re building Windows Phone apps and you’ve not heard about “Spring Cleaning” then take a...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 05/11/2011
Bagging the MIX11 Videos You Want
If, like me, you weren’t lucky enough to be at MIX this year, chances are you’ve got a bit of...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 05/04/2011
Windows Phone 7 Help for iOS Developers
If you’re from an iPhone / iOS background and you’re looking at Windows Phone 7 for the first time,...
Author: MikeO [MSFT] Date: 05/04/2011