Month: March 2013

Development

How to call WinRT APIs in Windows 8 from Desktop Applications

Callon Campbell [MVP] on March 28, 2013

Great article by Scott Hanselman on How to call WinRT API’s in Windows 8 from a Desktop Applications.

Enjoy!

Development

Pretty Paste Tool for Visual Studio

Callon Campbell [MVP] on March 26, 2013

I came across a great tool for Visual Studio that fixes a real issue when pasting code into Visual Studio called Pretty Paste. This is a tool which fixes an issue where copied text into Visual Studio introduces new blank lines and line numbers as shown in the following image:

This is a fantastic tool. Thank you Mads Kristensen for creating this tool for the community!

Download

You can install it from the Extensions and Updates dialog in Visual Studio. Go to Tools | Extensions and Updates and do an online search for pretty paste:

You can also download it from the Visual Studio Extension Gallery: http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/6a23234d-45f6-4212-bac3-f6d9bb08fb1e

Enjoy!

Communication Development

The mistake that kills too many start ups – Talk to your customers!

Callon Campbell [MVP] on March 20, 2013

Great Post: Talk to Your Users. Or Else!

I completely agree with what they have to say. This is why we use UserVoice for our ReflectInsight .NET Logging tool over at ReflectSoftware for capturing feedback and support from our customers.

I have not tried the other tools mentioned, but I highly recommend that you evaluate them and use one, even if it’s for something simple.

Enjoy!

Cloud Development Mobile Web

Windows Azure Mobile Services – Backend for Your Windows 8, iOS, and Android Apps

Callon Campbell [MVP] on March 15, 2013

Mobile app developers don’t need to care about servers and clouds, push notification services and databases. Windows Azure Mobile Services is a cloud-based offering that provides a complete backend for mobile apps including data access and push notifications, enabling you to focus on the mobile app infrastructure and code and forget about the server management intricacies. In this talk we’ll build a backend for a Windows 8 app, an iOS app, and an Android app — all accessing the same data store and server-side triggers.

Video: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/WindowsAzure/AzureConf2012/B01

References

http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/mobile/

Design Development Mobile Web

Responsive Design: The Only Mobile Strategy That Scales

Callon Campbell [MVP] on March 15, 2013

http://www.sitefinity.com/mobile-web/responsive-design-graph?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=sm&utm_campaign=sm_t_telerik_rwdinfographic

Mobile Technology

Nokia Lumia 920 wins prestigious ‘Innovative Handset’ Award 2013

Callon Campbell [MVP] on March 15, 2013

Congratulations Nokia on winning this prestigious award.

“When you take a look at the Nokia Lumia 920 it’s easy to see why it should be given the award. Not content to simply cram more processing power into an old design, the Nokia Lumia 920 brings innovation to the screen in the use of PureMotion HD+ to deliver the fastest screen refresh rates yet, while the super-sensitive technology means you can use the screen even when wearing gloves.

When it comes to innovation in camera tech, the Nokia Lumia 920 delivers Optical Image Stabilisation that is normally only found in high-end video cameras, while the use of PureView delivers stunning low-light images for an amazing experience.

Then there are the little touches, like bringing wireless charging and NFC to the mainstream, as well as the wealth of apps you’ll find from Nokia that support and expand the ecosystem.”

References

http://www.noknok.tv/2013/03/15/nokia-lumia-920-wins-prestigious-innovative-handset-award-2013/

http://www.mobilenewscwp.co.uk/2013/03/15/o2-wins-hat-trick-of-gongs-at-mobile-news-awards-2013/

Design Development

Create icons from any font character in Metro Studio 2

Callon Campbell [MVP] on March 13, 2013

I’ve been using Metro Studio 2 from Syncfusion for a while now to create beautiful looking Metro styled icons for Website, Windows Phone and Windows 8 development projects.

Today I got an email from Syncfusion about the ability to create icons from any font character. This is awesome stuff and I just wanted to share this with you.

If you haven’t tried Metro Studio 2, then head over and download it. It’s free and a tool I recommend every designer and developer should have in their toolbox.

Enjoy!