development

Microsoft expands payout market coverage for developers, adds more billing connections

Windows Phone News

By Rich Edmonds, Sunday, May 5, 2013 at 7:47 am

Microsoft has announced on its official Windows Phone Blog that a substantial increase in app downloads and revenue has been experienced by developers. The company has continuously expanded developer support and store coverage since the platform launched back in 2010.

Not only are we looking it added reach, but it's reported that app downloads is up by more than 100 percent, while paid app revenue has rocketed by nearly 140 percent since Windows Phone 8 launched last year. The team also unveiled a few enhancements to expand distribution and opportunity.

Unity 4 early access program for Windows Store apps begins, Windows Phone still on the horizon?

By Rich Edmonds, Thursday, Mar 7, 2013 at 11:28 am

The Unity team (behind the Unity video game engine that powers a number of popular titles) has announced on the official blog that the Windows Store apps early access programme is kicking off. With Unity 4.2, developers will be able to create games for computers and tablets running Windows 8 and RT, publishing them on the Windows Store.

This opens up the floodgates for both developers and consumers to connect with Unity-powered content, but what about Windows Phone?

Need some tips on creating solid Windows Phone apps? Microsoft has some for you

Developers

By Rich Edmonds, Wednesday, Feb 13, 2013 at 5:40 pm

So you're thinking about developing an app for Windows Phone, but how does one create an awesome app for consumers to download and enjoy? Much like our own Windows Phone app - which is highly rated by our readers - there are a number of apps available on the store that are effectively designed for the platform. Microsoft has detailed some pointers on how to make a quality app.

GLQuake ported to Windows Phone 8

By Rich Edmonds, Monday, Jan 7, 2013 at 12:43 pm

Windows Phone sports Xbox Live integration where consumers can download and interact with their avatar and account, which pulls down gamerscore, friends and more. It's a strong selling point for the platform since the Xbox Live service boasts over 40 million subscribers. If Microsoft can successfully tap into that pool of consumers, Windows Phone's marketshare would pose more of a threat to Apple and Google.

An MSDN member has published a quick look at a GLQuake port for Windows Phone 8. Jmarshall23 (Justin Marshall) has not only thrown together the above video showing off some gameplay on a Lumia Windows Phone, but has added D3D11 support. The project is currently available to download and run to test out what's being developed. It's a strong foundation, especially since work only too place over the festive period.

Windows Phone 8 version 10141 caught on Lumia 920 development device

Windows Phone News

By Daniel Rubino, Tuesday, Nov 13, 2012 at 11:23 am

From our perspective, Windows Phone 8 is interesting for numerous reasons: new kernel, over-the-air updates and a re-commitment by Microsoft in making sure the OS stays competitive. In that sense, knowing that a new version of the OS is floating around, especially one for an odd market like China (who have many restrictions) is far from shocking.

The history of the start screen in Windows Phone 8

Windows Phone News

By Rich Edmonds, Sunday, Nov 4, 2012 at 8:13 am

Live Tiles have been a much loved feature in Windows Phone since the platform launched back in 2010. Microsoft has since improved the functionality by extending the column support from two to four, enabling more tiles to be present on-screen at any one time. But how did Live Tiles in Windows Phone 8 come about at Microsoft?

Microsoft refreshes Dev Center for Windows Phone 8

By Rich Edmonds, Friday, Nov 2, 2012 at 5:57 pm

Amidst all the announcement and unveilings, Microsoft has also taken the time to refresh the Windows Phone Developer Center with the release of Windows Phone 8. The Dev Center is the developer's HQ when it comes to Windows Phone development, deployment and support.

New video game engines announced for Windows Phone 8

By Rich Edmonds, Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 at 4:09 pm

Microsoft unveiled a number of video game engines and components amidst Windows Phone 8 announcements the company made today at its BUILD 2012 event. To provide more opportunity for game developers to get started on the platform, the company revealed a total of five new engines, as well as five new components.

BUILD 2012 attendees also receive free Lumia 920 from Nokia

Windows Phone News

By Rich Edmonds, Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 at 1:48 pm

Nokia popped its head on stage with Richard Kerris from the manufacturer who announced that each and every developer who attends today's BUILD event will walk away with a free Lumia 920 to incentivise further development on Windows Phone.

Stay tuned for more news, or just plain giveaways.

Windows Phone developer registration opens up in 13 new markets

Windows Phone News

By Rich Edmonds, Thursday, Oct 11, 2012 at 8:11 pm

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer eyes up a developer in the audience

Windows Phone developer registration has opened up in 13 new markets, according to a blog post published on the Windows Phone Developer Blog. Small improvements and enhancements are being periodically applied to the Dev Center, which today includes further market adoption bundled with over 100 fixes and changes.

Windows Phone User Group returns with the possibility of Apollo hardware

By Rich Edmonds, Tuesday, Oct 9, 2012 at 7:46 am

The Windows Phone User Group is back, and in full force it seems. To be held on Wednesday, October 17, 2012 from 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM, WPUG will once again be catering for developers to network, show off Windows Phone projects and to discuss aspects of the platform.

The WPGeek Developer Marketplace will be covered next Wednesday, as well as the possibility of some Windows Phone 8 hardware being present. We've previously been to WPUG meet-ups where Nokia has not only shown a friendly face, but has also sponsored the event itself, so there's certainly a chance of a device or two being present.

Our Rob Brand, Jay Bennett and myself will be heading along, so be sure to sign up for next week's event if you believe you'll be able to attend and we'll see you there.

Survey of Windows Phone developers shows high interest in cross-platform development

Windows Phone News

By Rich Edmonds, Monday, Oct 1, 2012 at 10:41 am

Cross-platform development is considered a safe guard when building and launching mobile apps and games. The ability to pump out content for more than one platform provides enough ground to fall back on should one eco-system not accumulate enough sales for a good ROI (Return On Investment).

Last week we covered the results from a survey held over at Windows Phone Geek, a popular destination for Windows Phone developers. Part one of the survey, which saw a total of 1853 developers take part, revealed a high interest in developing apps for Windows 8. The website has now published the remainder of the results.

How should developers price apps in the Windows Phone Store?

By Rich Edmonds, Thursday, Sep 27, 2012 at 3:53 pm

As Bruce Forsyth would say - higher or lower?

Bernardo Zamora has published an insightful blog post on the Windows Phone Developer Blog, which goes into detail on how developers should configure individual market pricing - if at all. It's an interesting part of marketing one's work. Building and submitting the app is one thing. Effectively pricing your app(s) is another.

Developers experiencing issues with submitting apps and updates to the Store

By Rich Edmonds, Wednesday, Sep 19, 2012 at 8:07 pm

It's another cryptic Microsoft error code...

Developers have been experiencing issues when submitting .XAP files to the Marketplace for approval. Whether it be new apps or updates for already-submitted content, developers are getting hit with an error code. Glenn Edwards, the brains and soul behind recently released MetroSpec, has also been having trouble getting his work published.

We last covered MetroSpec when it went live on the Marketplace a couple of days ago. The paid version got through, but the free, ad-supported baby brother is still being held back. It's an annoyance more than anything as the Windows Phone community love their trials and free versions of apps that seek their hard-earned cash - and rightly so. If developers can't publish all their work, then this could cost them valuable custom.

Developers - New AppBizDev app marketing and monetisation podcast launching

By Rich Edmonds, Tuesday, Sep 4, 2012 at 5:49 pm

Alan Mendelevich, the genius behind the AdDuplex advertising network for Windows Phone developers, has launched a new marketing and monetisation focused podcast titled AppBizDev (www.apbizdev.com). The bi-weekly podcast aims to aid developers and businesses who choose to launch apps on Windows platforms - be it Windows 8 or Windows Phone.

Over $1 million going to 36 startups through AppCampus development programme

Windows Phone News

By Rich Edmonds, Saturday, Sep 1, 2012 at 4:14 pm

While we continue to impatiently approach Nokia's event this coming week where we'll hopefully see what the Finnish manufacturer has to offer in terms of Windows Phone Apollo hardware, news has unearthed today surrounding the AppCampus (www.apcampus.fi), which was set up earlier in the year.

The joint venture between Microsoft, Aalto University (Finland) and Nokia was established at a cost of $23 million to promote quality app development on Windows Phone. AppCampus has revealed that it has distributed the first $1 million of its budget on 36 developers out of a total of 900 submissions.

Nokia to sell Qt software unit to Digia and increase focus on Windows Phone

Windows Phone News

By Rich Edmonds, Thursday, Aug 9, 2012 at 1:10 pm

Nokia has reached an agreement to sell its Qt app development tools unit to Digia as it focuses on Windows Phone 8 and its future partnership with Microsoft. Nokia will be placing all its eggs into one basket and will be pushing its next line of Windows Phones harder to continue the increase in platform shipping and sales figures.

Purchasing the Qt technology back in 2008, Nokia provided its developer community with tools to write apps for both Symbian and MeeGo devices, but the manufacturer has since halted expansion on both platforms, favouring its partnership with Microsoft and the Windows Phone operating system.

WPDevCon postponed until 2013 to focus on Windows Phone 8

By Rich Edmonds, Thursday, Aug 9, 2012 at 11:46 am

WPDevCon is an independent developer conference, which was is to be held in San Francisco later this year. We previously covered the announcement of plans to hold the first independent event focusing solely on Windows Phone development. It's set to be a bash with over 50 classes and workshops, not to mention a number of speakers attending.

Windows Phone 8 SDK Preview: Application platform overview and Windows 8 APIs

By Rich Edmonds, Thursday, Jul 26, 2012 at 12:08 pm

The Windows Phone 8 SDK Preview has been leaked on the Internet today before being released in the coming weeks. What's included in the upcoming version?

App Development

Windows Phone 8 Developer Preview supports native C++ development and is able to support a significant subset of the Windows 8 SDK, allowing developers to share a significant amount of code between apps on Windows Phone and Window 8. The lack of native development support in Windows Phone 7.x has proven to be an issue with developers in the past, which has now been recognised by Microsoft.

The SDK Preview reduces the need to port and maintain components such as compute engines, graphic libraries, and API sets. Direct3D is also making its way to Windows Phone, which will enable developers to create and release games built using DirectX and share code base between PC titles (D2D, DWrite and WIC aren't supported). The supported vertex shader model version is 2.0, as is the pixel shader.

PhoneGap 2.0, the Adobe cross-platform development platform, adds more features as well as other improvements

Developers

By Rich Edmonds, Monday, Jul 23, 2012 at 4:04 pm

We last looked at PhoneGap, the Adobe-owned open source mobile development platform, when version 1.3 arrived which included support for Windows Phone. Adobe has now released 2.0 and further expands on the feature set provided to developers who wish to build apps that can easily be submitted to multiple platform app stores.

Using HTML5, CSS and Javascript, PhoneGap allows those who do not possess the knowledge of mobile platform native code to create and release apps for all the supported operating systems. So what's new in version two-point-oh? The team have implemented a new command line interface for building iOS apps, which removes issues surrounding Apple's Xcode tools, adds more support for enterprise app development, includes enhanced user guides and documentation, as well as security and stability improvements.

Cordova WebView is also present, which allows for the integration of PhoneGap as a larger native application. Listed with the new features is "Windows Phone support", which we're slightly confused at since it was added in version 1.3. We've reached out to the PhoneGap team for clarification just in case there are some incredibly useful features added. We'll update the article once we've received a reply.

Source: CMSWire