Networking in Windows Phone 8

A couple of weeks ago at //BUILD I did an overview of the API surface and features offered for networking in Windows Phone 8. Over the next few months, I’ll be writing drill-down posts focused on the individual sections I showed in the networking session. These posts will use the examples I used at //BUILD, which showcase Windows Phone 8 support for sockets, Bluetooth, NFC, and more. The team has had a number of requests for the //BUILD session code samples, and we’ve uploaded them to MSDN. Please download the samples, use them, and prepare your questions!

Follow-up posts will drill into the following topics and include answers to the following questions:

1. Socket basics: How to create a TCP socket and send and receive simple data using managed, Windows Runtime (WinRT), and Winsock sockets.
   • Why bother with sockets?
   • What socket API should I choose?
2. How to create a Bluetooth RFCOMM socket connection to an external device from Windows Phone 8.
   • Why would I use Bluetooth?
   • What Bluetooth profiles are supported?
   • Is Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) supported?
   • Can I write my own profile?
3. How to download data to your app asynchronously using HTTP with Windows Phone 8.
• Can I call HTTP APIs using the await keyword?
4. How to use NFC tags with Windows Phone 8. 
   • Why would I use NFC tags?
   • What types of NFC tags are supported?
   • How do I write to them and make them read-only?
5. How to create a Bluetooth RFCOMM socket connection from Phone to Phone using NFC.
   • How do I control what type of network is used for Phone to Phone connections?
   • What data transfer speeds should I use?
   • Why would I use this socket?
6. How to launch an app using a URI scheme, with an example of how to use an NFC sticker.
   • Why would I use this?
   • What if someone takes my URI scheme?

I’d love to hear your feedback on the //BUILD session code samples. You also can review my video session from //BUILD. I’m looking forward to your questions and comments on follow-up posts.

-Tim Laverty

Program Manager, Developer Platform, Windows Phone