.net

.NET Developers: Wake Up and Smell the WP7!!

November 10, 2010 | By Travis.Lowdermilk

Developers, Developers, Developers for Windows Phone 7

I attended the annual DevConnections conference last week and I was, generally, dismayed with the lack of interest in the latest Windows Phone platform. Now, please understand, I’m not suggesting that there was NO interest and that Microsoft is doomed. However, I found it a bit perplexing that I discovered so many Apple enthusiasts and Android die-hards.

Here’s an example: Standing at the Windows Phone booth, I encountered a fellow Microsoft developer.

Developer: (Handling the Samsung Focus, navigating away from an application, then back to it)> “Hmmm…How come it didn’t save my state right there?”

Me: “Well, WP7 doesn’t support ‘mult-tasking’. It does support ‘tombstoning’, but the developer has to take advantage of that. Apparently, this application didn’t do that.”

Developer: “That’s lame.” (Sets Samsung down and pulls out his Android. Walks away.)

Now, this particular developer isn’t representative of the ENTIRE community, but it does show an inherent problem. Does Microsoft have to win over these developers? Or do .NET developers need to get with the program?

And belive me, Microsoft IS trying to win us over.

I attended a free developer launch event in the Los Angeles area. I was treated with meals and given free T-shirts and books. All the while, envangelists stroked our egos and made sure we realized how important we were to the success of the phone platform.

However, may I suggest?: The platform is far more important to us.

Remember folks. We are .NET developers. We use (in my opinion) the BEST tools on the planet to write code. Microsoft’s Visual Studio and Expression Blend completely blow away the competition in their abilty to offer powerful, agile, and robust development. And may I just say, that using these tools (which are free for WP7 development) are just plain fun to use?

Listen. I get it. Version 1 of WP7 isn’t perfect. But it’s up to us to make it perfect. We have to participate in the discussion. Microsoft is HEAVILY interested in our feedback. We have to give it to them.

We have to eat our own dog food. We have to own these phones and put up with some of the bugs (cough)features(cough). We have to evangelize the phones and admit where they fall short.

But sitting back with our Version 4 iPhones or Version 2.2. Androids is plain silly. And, frankly, lazy. We are signing our own death warrant.

The mobile platform is integral to the success of .NET over the long-term.

If Windows Phone fails will .NET be over? Of course not.

However, I would much rather see the platform flourish and have more opportunities as a .NET developer.

Microsoft has always loved it’s developers. They use words like “partner” and “create”, while Apple has continually had an air of “privilege” towards it’s developer community. A quality that suggest that one must “prove” themselves “worthy” of Apple’s marketplace.

Microsoft has a long road to prove that the Windows Phone platform can work.

I suggest that the .NET community gets behind them and help push.

Original Article Link

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.NET code obfuscator now supports Windows Phone 7

July 14, 2010 | By Surur

Code being obfuscated One reason some have been complaining about the lack of native code in Windows phone 7 is due to the ease of reverse engineering .Net code, meaning proprietary program code and protocols can easily be stolen by competitors.

PreEmptive Systems have announced at WPC 10 that their Dotfuscator Professional product with will obfuscate code and prevent easy reverse engineering will support Windows Phone 7 before devices running the OS reach market at the end of the year.

The software now also includes an analytics model, which uses a RESTful service layer to integrate application data with back-end business information, allowing developers to see how their applications are being used.

The software offers to:

Obfuscate Silverlight assemblies to protect Intellectual Property and prevent tampering;

Process XAP files and automatically re-sign assemblies to automate and streamline the build process.

Compress and link Silverlight assemblies to optimize load time and performance;

and Inject analytics into Silverlight assemblies with no programming or access to source code to help developers and architects improve software quality and user experience;

Integrate web analytics through Expression Blend and the Silverlight Analytics Framework to help designers fine tune web application design and value.

“Silverlight’s power stems in large part from its ability to span devices and deployment models,” said Gabriel Torok, President of PreEmptive Solutions. “Our Runtime Intelligence offers developers and IT leadership the unique ability to monitor and measure application impact across these diverse scenarios while Dotfuscator ensures that their development investments are secure and efficient.”

“The central role of Silverlight is still only just emerging,” said Sebastian Holst, chief marketing officer at PreEmptive Solutions. “Recent, early successes extending analytics and protection to Windows Mobile 7 and into XAML resources outside of Silverlight assemblies have only served to reinforce the criticality of being able to measure user experience and secure applications across both physical layers and form factors.”

Read more about the important technology at www.preemptive.com.

Via SDTimes.com

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For Developers – Managed code wrapper for Windows Mobile 6.5 Gesture API

September 6, 2009 | By Surur

While Microsoft strongly encourages the use of managed .NET code for Windows Mobile development, paradoxically the new gesture API’s for Windows Mobile is only accessible using C++.

Microsoft developers Ron Buckton and Alex Yakhnin solved this problem by creating a wrapper making the gesture API accessible from with the .NET CF environment.

A webcast of the API in action can be seen here and here and the open source code can be downloaded here.

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Sensory Overload – asteroids game for the HTC Diamond using G-sensor

August 10, 2008 | By Surur

Koushik Dutta, lord of .Net CF, has created a game for the HTC Touch Diamond that brings together many of his efforts to ease development of .Net software that takes full advantage of the excellent hardware of the HTC Touch Diamond.

His version of the venerable Asteroids game utilizes the G-Sensor, Nav Sensor, and the 3D hardware capabilities of the the HTC Touch Diamond and looks simply gorgeous and works reasonably well.

The game is simple:

Move the ship by tilting the device.
Don’t run into an asteroid.
Blow up the asteroids into tiny pieces.
When an asteroid spawns (it will be faded out), you have 5 seconds to get away from it before it can hurt you.
Rotate the Nav sensor clockwise to fire a bullet.
Rotate the Nav sensor counter clockwise to fire a spray of bullets. You can only use this special ability once every 5 seconds.
Asteroids spawn every 15 seconds.

The author mostly intended the game as a proof of concept to provide other developers starting ground to create their own amazing games for the HTC Touch Diamond. With this in mind not only is the game freely downloadable, but also the full source code.

Visit Koushik Dutta’s website here to read more and download the game.

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HTC Diamond Accelerometer managed API created

July 9, 2008 | By Surur

Developers, start your engines! Koushik Dutta, who appears to be some kind of .Net virtuoso, has wrapped Scott’s reverse engineering work in a managed API, allowing programmers to access the sensor from managed languages like C#.

His API also saved subsequent programmers some work, as he translates the raw data into accelerations in space using Newtonian units. He also includes with his example the source code for a simple Teeter-like game.

Hopefully the floodgates will soon open to a variety of accelerometer-based applications, like on the Nokia N95 when the API became similarly available. Lightsaber programmer, I’m looking at you

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Free Repeated Notifications software for your phone

June 28, 2008 | By Surur

Chris Craft’s quest to publicize .Net by developing 30 apps in 30 days is drawing to an end, but instead of getting fatigued, the software just keeps getting better and better. His latest app, Repeatr, fixes an old WM bugbear – repeated notifications.

With the software, if you miss the first SMS notification tone, your phone will keep on pinging every 5, 10 or 15 minutes. It works equally well for missed calls, voice-mails and e-mails and can be configured as needed. Now there is no excuse not to return that call in a timely manner!

Download the app here (source code included)

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Set your clock by the stars

June 24, 2008 | By Surur

At present at least 40 of the most accurate clocks ever made are floating around in the heavens, and most of us are still setting our PDA’s using the time on the TV. GPS Clock is open source software which takes the extremely accurate time used by the GPS satellites which orbit the earth to do more than navigation, but actually to set the time on your phone.

The software is part of Chris Craft’s attempt to write 30 .Net applications in 30 days, to underline how easy development is on the Windows Mobile platform, and he seems to be succeeding admirably in this endeavor.

Visit Chris’s blog here, and download this app free, or try some of this other handy utilities.

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