development

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.

Mark Osborn, creator of the Windows Phone app Articles for Instapaper, is just in the process of uprooting from the UK and moving to the the US. We had been in touch with Mark for a while as he had shouted me on twitter to tell us about his Instapaper Client for Windows Phone.  For those not familiar, Instapaper is a free web service that lets you save web pages and articles to read later.  With Articles for Instapaper, you can tap into your Instapaper account from your Windows Phone to read your articles.

We were just in time to catch him before he headed off to frolic in Europe one more time before he left and had the opportunity to sit down, drink too much coffee and chat about the old, the now and the next.

Qualcomm has announced a Windows RT Metro Style App developer contest at Uplinq 2012. Before you get yourself excited, the competition is only available to those who reside in the states, but should you be eligible you can pocket a chunk of the $200,000 prize - not bad, eh?

Winners will be selected in a number of categories, including 'Best Overall Windows RT app" ($100,000), "Best Compelling Connectivity Use Case" ($20,000), "Best Gaming App" ($20,000), "Best Productivity App" ($20,000) and "Best AllJoyn Peer-to-peer app" ($40,000). Each entered app will be evaluated by a panel.

To enter one must submit their working application where it will then be judged. The entry period is active until October 1st 2012. For more information, check out the competition website. Full press release can be found after the break.

It seems every time we cover news that includes the Social Mints app, it's always winning some kind of award. This story is no different as the app is one of four recently announced winners of the Microsoft 30 to Launch developer competition. We previously looked at 30 to Launch when it... well... launched earlier this year. The winning submissions (out of over 130 entries) were Social Mints, Brain Cube Reloaded, Play The Hunt, and Surf Info.

Social Mints is a familiar name here at Windows Phone Central HQ, as we've covered the app numerous times and have even reviewed the social stalking beauty. Should you not be aware of what it's about, it's a must-have for any social media geek that enables users to keep track of what's trending, how it's trending and what you should be looking out for. Winner of the Core77 Fast Track to the Mobile App International Design Challenge and featured at Mobile World Congress by Microsoft, Social Mints has been recognized for it's intuitive design and functionality.

Brain Cube Reloaded is a puzzle / platformer which is developed using the idea of a rubik's cube. Players progress through levels attempting to smash bosses into Oblivion. Oh, did we mention it's a free game?

Play The Hunt is an interesting concept, which enables users to actually go on treasure hunts using their Windows Phone. Clues and locations are provided and users will find themselves playing through mini-games, before uploading photos of their location and then progressing through the next step.

Finally we have Surf Info, an app for surfers around the U.S. coastline and Hawaii. Surf destinations are rated for quality among other related statistics and values.

Winning developers will each receive a state-of-the-art entertainment package. Find the QR Codes for each app below.

Source: 30 to Launch; Thanks Pratik for the heads up!

Ready. Set. Code. The Nokia developer challenge, which we previously covered not-so-long-ago, will be kicking off this weekend. The 13-city hackathon will run through May and June, enabling developers (and teams) to come together to develop apps for Windows Phone. 

The Code Warriors are expected to be one of the pushes Nokia and Microsoft will make in their plans to bring big brand developers / apps to the platform. With Nokia forming partnerships with big-brand developers and companies to bring over official apps, this hackathon is a perfect way to get the community involved as well.

Event schedule:

• May 12 - Columbus, OH
• May 15 - Atlanta, GA
• May 15 - Chicago, IL
• May 19 - Sunnyvale, CA
• May 31 - Houston, TX
• June 2 - San Diego, CA
• June 6 - New York, NY
• June 7 - Boston, MA
• June 7 - Miami, FL
• June 12 - Dallas, TX
• June 12 - Chevy Chase, MD
• June 15 - Vancouver, BC

Check out the video parody “Dev City Kid" below, which kicks the challenge off.

Whoever said developers and geeks weren't cool? Should you be attending the events and have registered your place, you might be interested to know there are some prizes available. At each event, prizes will be handed out for the top 3 apps created, top student app, as well as most Nokia-branded developer. Apps will be judged on creativity, usability, technical difficulty and presentation.

• 1st place: $500 gift card and Lumia 900
• 2nd place: $250 gift card and Lumia 900
• 3rd place: $100 gift card and Lumia 900
• Student winner: $150 gift card and Lumia 900
• Most Nokia-branded developer: $100 gift card and Lumia 900

We'll close up this article with some wise words from good man Joseph. Be sure to check out the Nokia Developer Eventbrite listing for details on the events.

Microsoft has announced an upcoming Windows Phone developer summit, which will be held in San Francisco on June 20-21. The company is set to activate plans to attract more developers and big-name brands to the platform. One of the major complaints with Windows Phone is the lack of popular apps that are available on competitor platforms.

Microsoft has done a good job thus far with bringing companies to Windows Phone to build apps for consumers and broaden the Marketplace inventory. Some developers are even swayed without the software giant intervening - Windows Phone owners have proven to be a stubborn bunch when it comes to showing interest in a much desired port. DrawSomething is a good example of this with the community urging the developers to support Windows Phone.

What's interesting to note about this developer summit is that it's a week before Google I/O 2012, and is even in the same city. It would be a smart move for Microsoft to make it as convenient as possible for developers on other platforms to attend their Windows Phone event. Even if the attendees show no interest in building apps, for them to actually be present during the presentations could be enough to motivate the poor souls.

We'll of course be there for the event should you not be able to make it.

Apps on Windows Phone boot up fairly quickly and the user only has but a few seconds to wait for the software to fully load, but what if the operating system itself could predict what app(s) you're likely to run that exact second? Cue FALCON, a project undertaken by Microsoft Research. The "Fast App Launching with Context" allows the faster execution of apps by preloading the software in memory (multitasking stack).

One of the researchers, Tingxin Yan, describes FALCON as:

A context-aware mobile app preloading component for mobile OS. Based on intensive data analysis of app usage across multiple mobile users, FALCON presents a decision engine which exploits temporal and spacial characters of user behavior to pre-load apps ahead of time, thereby improves the responsiveness of smartphones.

How FALCON would achieve this is by anticipating what apps the user is likely to launch using algorithms, and is part of a larger project called "Context Data OS (ConDOS)". Microsoft Research aims to improve the mobile experience with ConDOS by integrating context into the platform OS.

The team is set to present their research at the MobiSys 2012 conference this year. It'll be interesting to see such functionality built into Windows Phone to further improve responsiveness beyond competitor platforms.

Via: iStartedSomething

Elan Feingold, co-founder of Plex, has shared his thoughts on the experience the company has had with development on the platform thus far. Plex recently released the official app for Windows Phone, which enables the user to stream movies, music and photos to their device(s) on the go.

Feingold is a longtime iPhone user who has never had any interest in Android, due to the mess of the system itself, fragmentation and how much work is involved into personalising the experience to suit the user's needs. He was introduced to Windows Phone ("Mango") by his brother, and explains his initial reaction:

"When Windows Phone 7 was released, I was intrigued by the design and typography [...] my initial impression (this was pre-Mango) was lukewarm, and I was obsessed with the iPhone at that point anyway, so I just went all fanboy on his ass and mostly ignored it."

Feingold moves onto talk about how he returned to Windows Phone in January and ordered himself a second-hand Samsung handset to aid with development. He was surprised by how impressed the operating system left him after initial use.

"Windows Phone felt original, well designed, and fun to use. The performance was great, really smooth in a way iOS is and Android isn’t even in ICS. The 'pivot' and 'panorama' UI concepts were fresh and a great way of making good use of a small screen in portrait mode. The typography was clean and brazen. The integration of Facebook and Twitter made them feel like first class citizens, not an afterthought. The live tiles on the home screen were a great way to make the phone feel alive."

The features of the OS were so appealing during and after use that it actually made Feingold almost dislike using his beloved iPhone. How was the development of the Plex app though, and does it stand up to competitor platforms? The icing on the cake is the below comment on how the development on Windows Phone compares to both iOS and Android:

"So how is the Windows Phone development environment? It’s scary good. C# is a great language, .NET is a solid framework, XAML is a really nice way to design user interfaces, and the edit-build-deploy cycle is fast. It still has a bit of growing up to do, but the proof, as they say, is in the pudding: we were able to write the app from start to finish in two months, between two engineers working part time, which is almost an order of magnitude faster than it took for the iOS and Android app."

Be sure to read the full blog post over at Elan's blog on Plex's website (see source link), and of course the official Plex app which can be found on the Marketplace.

Source: Plex

In partnership with both Nokia and Microsoft, Aalto University in Finland will use an €18 million (a tad over $28 million U.S.) investment kitty set up by the two companies to launch an app development program. The program, named "AppCampus", will act as an umbrella for the development of innovative apps to take place for Windows Phone, Symbian and Series 40.

AppCampus will attempt to attract students, developers and entrepreneurs to the Windows Phone platform and help boost the quality of apps found on the Marketplace. While it's pleasant to see Symbian and Series 40 still receiving some attention from Nokia (as well as Microsoft with this investment), it'll be exciting to see how the program will affect the situation with Microsoft's mobile platform.

"Within the AppCampus program, mobile entrepreneurs can benefit from comprehensive support, training in mobile technology, design and usability, and funding to create innovative new mobile apps and services. Windows Phone Marketplace and Nokia Store offer local and global business opportunities to program participants via distribution to consumers around the world. Mentored by veterans in the mobile industry, program participants will be given insights and business coaching to help them commercialize their ideas while retaining the full intellectual property rights for their innovations."

With Windows 8 just around the corner, along with the "three screens" dream for Microsoft and Nokia's apparent tablet plans, we wouldn't be surprised to see development for Metro apps outside of the 480x800 resolution. Exciting times for developers and consumers, nonetheless. Check out the press release after the break.

Source: AppCampus, via: Gizmodo