MSDN Flash - Ready to Code Windows Phone Apps? - Windows Phone 7 Development and Hacking

Recieved this email today:
Download the Windows Phone Training Kit
Windows Phone 7 Series promises to be an amazing personal mobile phone with innovations in user interface and functionality, as well as a great development platform on which you can quickly and easily build games and applications
Link: http://click.email.microsoftemail.c...a6a2c2d391e110d8a9e06bd5641c9e78847292e9bac7f
Hope this helps!
flyboy

Related

App idea, need help starting. :)

Since there isn't a SAPI that's accessible for windows mobile developers, I was disappointed. I just got a Samsung Omnia and I'm quite enthralled by it. I want to write an application that does speech recognition and text to speech.
eSpeak is a program easily ported. It's been done and comes with a how-to guide for compiling for windows mobile 6.x. As far as text to speech goes, then, I'm not too worried (it will be fun developing a voice.)
I got pocketsphinx to compile. The project settings says it was compiled for an x86 machine. Do I have to compile it for the ARM architecture, or do I just need to compile the final application for the ARM architecture, with the pocketsphinx dll somehow baked into the end result?
Also, I was wondering if anyone could point me to a beginner level tutorial for developing applications on windows mobile. I'm brand spanking new to developing on mobile devices, and while the language specific stuff is old hat, there's lots of transitional stuff I need to learn. Any links are appreciated. I'd like to not brick my Omnia by doing something silly, so I'll be developing strictly on my desktop until I'm satisfied with the safety of whatever it is I'm developing.
Thanks, awesome community here!
Hey there JR. As far as WinMo development, here's a list of the basic tools you need:
1. Visual Studio 2008 Professional SP1 + patches (or VS 2010 which is in beta now)
2. Windows Mobile 6 Professional and Standard Software Development Kits Refresh (device and cellular emulators, some samples, download from msdn.microsoft.com)
3. Windows Mobile 6.5 Developer Tool Kit (6.5 emulator images, gestures API etc - also at msdn.microsoft.com)
Assuming you will be writing managed code, the most widely used language is C#.
As far as books, unfortunately WInMo is not getting much love these days (hopefully this will change with WinMo 7) so there's little new but the best book out there IMO is "Microsoft Mobile Development Handbook" by Andy Wigley (2007).
The good news is that there's a plethora of on-line material, easily accessible from the aggregate Search screen in Visual Studio. Sites like codeguru.com, social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowsmobiledev, www.c-sharpcorner.com, www.codeproject.com, 4guysfromrolla.com etc are your best friends!
I hope this gets you started! Best of luck with the project.
JRowe47 said:
Since there isn't a SAPI that's accessible for windows mobile developers, I was disappointed. I just got a Samsung Omnia and I'm quite enthralled by it. I want to write an application that does speech recognition and text to speech.
eSpeak is a program easily ported. It's been done and comes with a how-to guide for compiling for windows mobile 6.x. As far as text to speech goes, then, I'm not too worried (it will be fun developing a voice.)
I got pocketsphinx to compile. The project settings says it was compiled for an x86 machine. Do I have to compile it for the ARM architecture, or do I just need to compile the final application for the ARM architecture, with the pocketsphinx dll somehow baked into the end result?
Also, I was wondering if anyone could point me to a beginner level tutorial for developing applications on windows mobile. I'm brand spanking new to developing on mobile devices, and while the language specific stuff is old hat, there's lots of transitional stuff I need to learn. Any links are appreciated. I'd like to not brick my Omnia by doing something silly, so I'll be developing strictly on my desktop until I'm satisfied with the safety of whatever it is I'm developing.
Thanks, awesome community here!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Writing in C#.NET Compact -- you have no worries for 'safety', unless you literally do a File.Delete("/Windows/blah");, you should be okay ;P
But yes, It is based off of the big .NET Framework. So if you can do .NET, you can do .NETCF.
acidhax said:
if you can do .NET, you can do .NETCF.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't agree. In .NET you usually do not need to worry about performance, you usually get away just fine by using a simple approach at the cost of a small bit of performance. On .NET CF you certainly need all the performance you can get. Also, the .NET Compact Framework is heavily stripped down and for a lot of tasks you need to find an alternative, innovative solution.

Advice please

Greetings all
I'm an XDA veteran, and have had an idea for an application I'd like to develop. I have programming skills, mainly in VB6.
So my question is, what application/language is best/simplest for developing my app on WIndows Mobile? The main criteria I have is that I want to be able to read data from and write data to a remote windows based pc - I'm assuming that I'm going to do that via wifi or bluetooth networking.
I'm "between jobs" at the moment, so looking for a development platform that won't cost me much, if anything. I intend to make my application initially as free/donateware - it's something I need, but may be useful to others, but I don't want the hassle of trying to make it secure, serial numbers etc, for it to end up cracked on a warez site!
So what's the best development tool for PC/Windows Mobile development?
Thanks in advance
Are you looking to develop for Window Phone 7 or Windows Mobile 6.x?
This section is for WP7 development only, if you are looking for the latter, here is the right section http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=523
You can program in VB/C++/C# for WM 6.x using Visual studio, I'm unaware of other tools. For WP7, it is strictly C# with Silverlight (for applications) using Visual studio 2010 (You can get the express version free)
Here is a good start http://developer.windowsphone.com/
WM6 Really - Ill post in the other forum, sorry!

[Q] Why Microsoft decided not to build NT-based OS?

Hello,
one question bothers me since the first time I have heard about WP7. Why Microsoft have decided to create a whole new OS without thinking of OS that would ne NT-based so any program made for normal PC would run on our phones. Just imagine, how many developers could easily port their programs to new OS, just changin the screen size, leaving all core components just the same... All classic PC games, like Blood, Duke Nukem workin flawlesly on a phone without the need of any port. I believe, that it is the only real way to compete with Android and Iphone OS. What do you think?
Wolfas said:
Hello,
one question bothers me since the first time I have heard about WP7. Why Microsoft have decided to create a whole new OS without thinking of OS that would ne NT-based so any program made for normal PC would run on our phones. Just imagine, how many developers could easily port their programs to new OS, just changin the screen size, leaving all core components just the same... All classic PC games, like Blood, Duke Nukem workin flawlesly on a phone without the need of any port. I believe, that it is the only real way to compete with Android and Iphone OS. What do you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if the app was created in siverlight/c# which alot of newer apps are then it can be ported to wp7.. For sometime now microsoft has been pushing their silverlight for devolpers to use so if the games you mentioned is bult in silverlight there should be no problem...
NT on a mobile phone would be a usability nightmare...look how far windows mobile got with the masses. Microsoft is not catering towards the hackers, but the masses.
And to be honest, I would not touch any mobile device running NT...LOL.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
emuneee said:
NT on a mobile phone would be a usability nightmare...look how far windows mobile got with the masses. Microsoft is not catering towards the hackers, but the masses.
And to be honest, I would not touch any mobile device running NT...LOL.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
me eather!!! i am so done with wm 6.0, 6.1, 6.5 and its many problems having to flashing rom after rom, restarting the device cause it has no memory left, this list goes on... wp7 is like a breth of fresh air...
Why so negative? WM always had problems, but the level of freedom and customization made me love this platform more and more. And I wouldn't be so sure about unpopularity of this kind of new OS, as NT-based Windows OS platform is the most popular in PC world, stable and nice-looking enough, so why it couldn't be that popular in mobile phones, especially with wide variety of programs already designed for this platform, only waiting for small fixes of resolution? Those games are from dos era, with no good port on any mobile platform...
wolfas said:
why so negative? Wm always had problems, but the level of freedom and customization made me love this platform more and more. And i wouldn't be so sure about unpopularity of this kind of new os, as nt-based windows os platform is the most popular in pc world, stable and nice-looking enough, so why it couldn't be that popular in mobile phones, especially with wide variety of programs already designed for this platform, only waiting for small fixes of resolution? Those games are from dos era, with no good port on any mobile platform...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dont get me wrong i not trying to say 6.5 is not for some people just not for me... I think the fact that smartphones moved to a more touch enviroment it seems that the old wm is not as finger friendly and made more for the use of an stylist, to me this type of os seems to not work well on mobile devices for long peorids without a reboot maybe its the way its design or maybe it just have too many things of the desktop enviroment not sure but it gets to be a problem for me, others my not mind. As far as customizing goes well guess you cant have everything.. i personaly would prefer a more stable os than customization, and i am sure additional pc like options will come as well as more customization in the future..
I think the main reason why NT would not make a good mobile OS is simply because it was never designed or meant to run on a mobile device. Your phone is not a computer, so your phone needs an operating environment to suit it's purpose.
The "phone as a computer" approach has been tried by Microsoft, it's called Windows Mobile. While I love Windows Mobile, I have to say, having "Windows NT" on a phone just doesn't make sense.
While it would be cool to play Duke Nukem on your Windows NT mobile device, at the end of the day, you are going to put down your Windows NT phone and just sit at your computer and play Duke Nukem on that. It's just a better overall experience, and Windows NT was designed for that sit-down, productive, huge screen experience. So it wouldn't make sense to invest in a platform that no one would use at the end of the day because their desktop computer does it better.
What you have to do is create an entirely unique and different experience designed for the phone and "on-the-go" life, to complement the Windows NT desktop experience. That is after all, what your phone is for. That's what Windows Phone 7 is.
Can't wait to get my hands on a Windows Phone 7.... phone.... XD
Well, I guess you are right, but I will try once more to support my idea, if you don't mind. I still see some reasons why NT- based mobile OS would be a good idea:
1. There are plenty of popular netbooks, tablet PC's and other relative small devices with full XP, Vista or Win7 OS. All of them are made for on the go experience and still having NT OS. Not even talking about miniature UMPC's. We also often leave these devices unused when we turn on our normal PC's at home, but doesn't prevent them from having huge popularity.
2. Of cource, I do not want to suggest porting normal WinXP to mobile phones (but win98 on my touch pro didn't look half that bad ), but rather something with an UI suited for small screens, but still capable to run any application made for normal Windows.
3. I also think about the interest of developers to this kind of OS. Theorically, there would be no need to learn OS-specific programming, just the things used on any NT OS. Most of the developers who makes programs for PC would be able to make a version for this OS just by changing the resolution, leaving engine just the same.
Please, say your opinion about these things I've pointed out
1. Netbooks and tablets still operate outside of the smartphone arena of capabilities and requirements for most users. There is a reason why there isn't a successful phone running Windows XP. You can write the drivers and software for phone functionality, but at the end of the day NT was not produced with phones in mind.
2. Applications written for desktops are written for desktop processors and memory capacities. Its not a simple change of just resolutions. What if an app request memory that doesn't exist on the mobile device? Chances are the mobile device can't even address that amount of memory. So you design a mobile focused NT kernel...well now all apps can't run on both platforms..so what's the point.
3. Yes you do, because all the capabilities available on a desktop aren't available on a smartphone. Developers still have to keep that in mind when their app is in development.
I sit here looking at my Windows XP work workstation and I would kill myself if I had to use this on a phone. Windows Mobile was hard enough.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
I forget the name but there was a secret (ish) project inside Microsoft to make the NT kernel more portable and sorta combine it with the CE kernel. They were basically building off the MinWin work.
But remember, native code still wouldn't be cross platform. x86 and ARM are not binary compatible. Just look at "OSX" on Mac desktops and "OSX" as the base of "iOS". Nothing crosses back and forth.
The NT kernel doesn't scale down that well yet. The kernel land is still full of bidirectional vertical dependencies. The current lowest profile incarnation called MinWin needs like 40MB RAM to boot to a text console and offer next to no APIs and is still shock full of missing dependencies (apparently boot loader magic makes it not break on boot).
Once they're really done despaghettifying, you might see it on mobile devices. But that'll still take a while, because right now, slimming down involves tons of aliasing dependencies to nothing.
Absolutely no reason why they could not run NT on a smart phone but why would they? They already have Windows CE (aka pocket PC) and if MS had been serious about Pocket PC IMHO they would be in a much better market position now.
One of the biggest messups with Pocket PC is the inconsistancy of the user interface and MS failed to revamp the 6.5 completely for touch.... They have a lot of good things going with WM 6.5 but it was an incomplete effort and it shows.
well, I see you are right... That NT is much more complex monster than I thought, thanks for clearing that out Yesterday, I found information about device called xpPhone, I wonder what would you say about it ? http://www.xpphone.com/en/product/specification.html

PC Software –How to Run on Win Mobile?

I was wondering, tht when buying a new smartphone if I go with windows based OS on mobile, will I be able to run any software tht can run on windows based desktop computer? If not, such functionality is expected to come with forthcoming Windows 8 mobile?
PS: I wana run my live stock market terminal on mobile phone.
Since ver 7, the os is no longer called windows mobile; its now called windows phone. but to answer your question, no you can't run desktop applications on windows phone (or windows mobile for that matter) and this is unlikely to change.
That said I'm sure you can find another application to achieve whatever it is that you're after on the marketplace...
:-( my all needs are getting completed with an smartphone, but i guess eventually i will have to buy a laptop as well... just to run my stockmarket software.... Damn and they are telling smartphones (Like SGS2 etc.) are quickly replacing laptops...
PS: Wht is the latest ver. of windows phone called and, what is the windows phone marketplace url (Kind of new to smartphones)
Well for a lot of people smartphones or tablets can replace computers, most people aren't stockbrokers!
The latest version of Windows Phone is 7.5 Mango, which is currently at RTM stage - i.e. released to OEMs pending approval for new devices and upgrades to existing devices.
The Windows Phone Marketplace can only be accessed via the phone or via the Zune desktop software. The Zune software comes highly recommended from me, it's a very, very good media management software and I can't live without the wireless sync function anymore!
You can browse the marketplace through Zune without owning a Windows Phone device.
Perhaps you could let the community know what it is exactly that you need to do and someone might be able to suggest something?
EDIT: As you're new to smartphones, from a usability perspective Windows Phone 7 would be an excellent choice for you - it is simply brilliant to use, the interface is understated and elegant and the lack of pointless graphics makes it both simple and quick. Microsoft have clearly put massive effort into making Windows Phone highly usable and have surpassed pretty much all expectations, especially with the 7.5 update, which brings in a huge amount of functionality. A lot of people try and put Windows Phone down having never used it, because it's one of those things that needs you to spend 10 minutes with it to understand - but once you've spent 9 minutes with it, everything else just seems ridiculously complicated.
olivespin said:
:-( my all needs are getting completed with an smartphone, but i guess eventually i will have to buy a laptop as well... just to run my stockmarket software.... Damn and they are telling smartphones (Like SGS2 etc.) are quickly replacing laptops...
PS: Wht is the latest ver. of windows phone called and, what is the windows phone marketplace url (Kind of new to smartphones)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Silverlight in Windows
Hi
Silverlight apps are currently available in Windows and I think that the concept being put out there at the moment is that Windows 8 will run the same apps as Windows Mobile 8.
Nobody knows if this will become a reality or not.
Cheers
andrew-in-woking
olivespin said:
I was wondering, tht when buying a new smartphone if I go with windows based OS on mobile, will I be able to run any software tht can run on windows based desktop computer? If not, such functionality is expected to come with forthcoming Windows 8 mobile?
PS: I wana run my live stock market terminal on mobile phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The best thing for you to do would be to find a mobile version of the software you are trying to run. Then get the device that runs that particular software.
The closest you'll come to running your "exact" software on a mobile device is to get a Windows based tablet or laptop. But to run your stock software on a smartphone, you will need the "mobile" version of that software, if it exists.
Also, check to see if your stock-terminal application is web-based. If it is, you may be able to access what you need with ANY smartphone through the smartphone's web browser. That means your "stock terminal" would work on Windows Phone, iPhone, Android, etc.

Windows 10 on RPi 2

I decided to start a new topic 'cause previous one was a complete mess.
So, finally I ran Windows 10 on my RPi 2 and was really excited by the job that MS did for this low cost computer. It was a really easy to run your UWP app on RPi with a little changes; now I'm trying to run my "DOSBox" app on this computer (but DOSBox isn't a simple and straight UWP app, some difficulties still exists).
I still have no idea about practical implementation of the RPi-based Windows 10 computer but, I believe so, it should exist (BTW, I do have very good sample of practical usage of RPi - my another one - it run self-moving web camera (former robot app ), it controlling my X10 lights and switches via web interface (yes, I do have Apache server running on this RPi), this RPi also serving my huge OPDS library.
By the way, it's a really cheap and exciting gadget (you can get it for about $22 on eBay), and the "Last of the Mohicans" UWP developers definitely should take a look to this gadget and platform! Fun guaranteed!
I.ll like to use this with cortana in the car, just for music and vocal commands.
JHey cortana, play voodoo people..... skip song, send message to Sensboston...good job buddy
Or.... https://9gag.com/gag/ad9LqQB
sensboston said:
I decided to start a new topic 'cause previous one was a complete mess.
So, finally I ran Windows 10 on my RPi 2 and was really excited by the job that MS did for this low cost computer. It was a really easy to run your UWP app on RPi with a little changes; now I'm trying to run my "DOSBox" app on this computer (but DOSBox isn't a simple and straight UWP app, some difficulties still exists).
I still have no idea about practical implementation of the RPi-based Windows 10 computer but, I believe so, it should exist (BTW, I do have very good sample of practical usage of RPi - my another one - it run self-moving web camera (former robot app ), it controlling my X10 lights and switches via web interface (yes, I do have Apache server running on this RPi), this RPi also serving my huge OPDS library.
By the way, it's a really cheap and exciting gadget (you can get it for about $22 on eBay), and the "Last of the Mohicans" UWP developers definitely should take a look to this gadget and platform! Fun guaranteed!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great project i have about 50 low performance laptops and mini laptops its so good for them
I will try this in next year and I will tell you the result
can you port and install ppsspp on that and tell us the results ?
@augustinionut, yeah, Cortana is cool but you can do this on your handset (never tried but it should work, I believe so). I'm thinking about RPi specific scenario. Yes, I can make a blinking LEDs, it's fun but not very practical
@Ferrybigger, I can try. But I'm unsure about overall performance; it looks like RPi CPU is less powerful than L-950 (and has less memory).
P.S. I also ordered this LCD TFT touch screen on AliExpress, it will add more fun for development
sensboston said:
@augustinionut, yeah, Cortana is cool but you can do this on your handset
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only that hey cortana dont work on lumia 640xl, and my media bluetooth button dont have win+c command.
I need an app in the background to launch listening cortana.
I found something equivalent: snowwy.
Tried to rebuild and run ppsspp: no luck at all, always getting error 0x800402200 before app's code get execution.
I prefer using Linux for such devices. It's lightweight and flexible. It's easy to use: you can draw on any display with just Bitmap and FileStream. LOTS of drivers! LOTS of programs.
Win10 IOT is not on the same level yet. But it will be someday.
P.S. RPi hardware is garbage.
Yeah, Raspbian is pretty stable and with some configuration tricks (to reduce file I/O access on sd-card) it can work seamlessly for a years (as mine), even with Apache server running on it.
However here I'm talking from the UWP developer position: ability to run your existing UWP app on the extremity low cost (mine costs me $22), portable computer is cool, I believe so.
I can't compare development difficulties for UWP and Linux but some MS public APIs are still ... maybe, not unique but really good, such as map services, easy integration with Azure, speech API and many more. Of course you can find similar packages on Linux but with UWP you already have it out of the box.
P.S. I'm still thinking about "real life" implementation of RPi with W10 but can't find any...
Windows 10 iot core is the os that runs on the raspberry pi. It started out with windows on devices edition on the intel galileo (x86) (2013). The windows on devices edition was probably microsoft's smallest os since windows 95 (only 185mb). The windows iot os has come a long way since then as they have been refactoring the os to include more and more of the apis windows developers know. You can use gdi to paint windows on raspberry pi, and i think directdraw (but have not tried it myself). Porting apps to windows iot core is difficult, but using the remote debugger you can see apis that fail because they aren't included. Once you get around the missing apis issue, you can easily create apps that work directly with hardware, which is something thag's always been difficult with windows ( you used to have to buy a development board ). Using visual c++ to remotely debug drivers is really convenient, as windbg is too difficult.

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