http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/default.aspxBlogs for Windows Phone and Windows Mobile.7.x Productionhttp://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/wpdev/archive/2013/05/23/inside-windows-phone-practical-mvvm-for-windows-phone.aspxThu, 23 May 2013 23:08:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:a702ea1e-caad-4cfd-98a2-6878f5bb6e96Larry Lieberman This blog post was authored by Matthias Shapiro , a technical evangelist at Microsoft. - Larry The cornerstone app architecture for Windows Phone development is the MVVM (Model-View-ViewModel) design pattern. In this video, Matthias Shapiro demonstrates the basic structure of a Windows Phone MVVM app. He shows how you can build robust and flexible MVVM apps for the phone that take advantage of data binding, commanding, and presentation logic (ViewModel) portability. For more information, see Practical MVVM For Windows Phone on Channel 9. http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/wpdev/archive/2013/05/23/windows-phone-8-xaml-longlistselector.aspxThu, 23 May 2013 19:47:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:ba181e45-8acf-4783-874e-41c0aa8fde7dAdam Denning This blog post was authored by Rohan Thakkar, a Program Manager on the Windows Phone team. - Adam Last year we evangelized the use of the LongListSelector control to provide smooth infinite scrolling scenarios . The LongListSelector control is so useful that we decided to enhance it and move it to the SDK for Windows Phone 8 . In this post we discuss the improvements we’ve made to the control, and provide a mapping guide for Windows Phone developers who are already using the Windows Phone Toolkit 7.1 version of the LongListSelector. If you prefer to read XAML instead of plain text, you can go straight to the samples and explore them: TwitterSearch - Windows Phone 8 LongListSelector Infinite Scrolling Sample PhotoHub - Windows Phone 8 XAML LongListSelector Grid Layout sample PeopleHub - Windows Phone 8 XAML LongListSelector sample For more info about how to use the LongListSelector, see How to display data in a grouped list in LongListSelector for Windows Phone 8 . Let’s dig a little deeper into various enhancements we’ve made to the control. The following sections are provided in this post. LongListSelector moved to Windows Phone 8 SDK and to ROM Sticky headers Grouped grid layout Improvements to infinite scrolling scenario Globalization – SortedLocaleGrouping LongListSelector mapping guide – Differences between Windows Phone OS 7.1 Toolkit and Windows Phone 8.0 SDK FAQs LongListSelector moved to Windows Phone 8 SDK and to ROM The LongListSelector control is now a part of Microsoft.Phone.Controls namespace in Microsoft.Phone.Controls.dll assembly. This means it’s now a fully supported, high-quality control shipped by the Windows Phone Development team. We also moved the assembly to ROM to take advantage of the internal off-thread input and the render thread architecture. This means the control is optimized for the full potential of Windows Phone. The Microsoft.Phone.Controls.dll assembly also contains other phone-specific controls, such as Panorama and Pivot . These controls also get the performance benefits of being in ROM, including reduced memory consumption (~50% reduced memory for a basic app) and improved touch performance, especially when you have data being loaded in the panorama view. Sticky headers The native Windows Phone grouped list has the headers stick to the top as you scroll. The LongListSelector control in Windows Phone 8 has the same smooth effect. Note the headers in the following screenshots. Figure 1 - Notice group header "a"   Figure 2 - Scrolling up, notice how "a" sticks to top   Figure 3 - Notice how the group header "b" pushes "a"   Figure 4 - Now "b" is sticky, same as "a"   Grouped grid layout In Windows Phone 8, LongListSelector supports grid layout, which is more than just the WrapPanel that’s available in the Windows Phone Toolkit . The LongListSelector grid layout is virtualized, which provides better performance. The following screenshots are from the PhotoHub sample. Figure 5 - LongListSelector's Grid layout   Figure 6 - Jumplist's List layout.   The following code is an excerpt of the XAML for the LongListSelector from the PhotoHub sample. C# phone: PhoneApplicationPage .Resources phone: JumpListItemBackgroundConverter x:Key= "BackgroundConverter" /          phone: JumpListItemForegroundConverter x:Key= "ForegroundConverter" /            Style x:Key= "JumpListStyle" TargetType= "phone:LongListSelector"              Setter Property= "LayoutMode" Value= "List" /              Setter Property= "Margin" Value= "12,12,0,0" /              Setter Property= "ItemTemplate"                  Setter.Value                      DataTemplate                          Border Background= "{Binding Converter={StaticResource BackgroundConverter}}"                              Width= "470"                              Height= "70"                              Margin= "6"                              TextBlock Text= "{Binding Key}"                                  Foreground= "{Binding Converter= {StaticResource ForegroundConverter}}"                                  Font Family= "{StaticResource PhoneFontFamilySemiBold}"                                    FontSize= "28"                                  Padding= "2"                                  VerticalAlignment = "Bottom" /                          / Border                      / DataTemplate                  / Setter .Value              / Setter          / Style /phone: PhoneApplicationPage .Resources phone: LongListSelector Name= "PhotoHubLLS" Margin= "13,-30,0,0"      ItemsSource= "{Binding GroupedPhotos}"                           ItemTemplate= "{StaticResource ItemTemplate}"      GroupHeaderTemplate= "{StaticResource GroupHeader}"      JumpListStyle= "{StaticResource JumpListStyle}"      IsGroupingEnabled= "True"      LayoutMode= "Grid"      GridCellSize= "108,108" / Let’s look at some examples of interesting properties found in this code. LayoutMode – Indicates whether the collection in the context should be displayed as a list or as a grid. In the preceding XAML example, LayoutMode is set to Grid as a property on the LongListSelector, and set to List as a property on JumpListStyle . JumpListStyle – Provides the style for the jump list items. GridCellSize – Indicates the size of each cell in the grid. This property has to be set on the LongListSelector or the JumpListStyle wherever the grid layout is to be rendered. Converters - Note that the JumpListItemBackgroundConverter and JumpListItemForegroundConverter are needed to convert the foreground and background colors of the jump list item (group header of a group) whether or not it has items in the group. These converters also are part of the SDK and are in the same Microsoft.Phone.Controls namespace. Figure 7 - Value converters shading empty group jump list items   The default foreground and background colors match the first-party app. You can customize it to align with your design needs using the Enabled and Disabled properties as shown here: XAML phone : JumpListItemBackgroundConverter Disabled ="Bisque" Enabled ="Aqua" x : Key ="BackgroundConverter"/ phone : JumpListItemForegroundConverter Disabled ="Azure" Enabled ="BlueViolet" x : Key ="ForegroundConverter"/ Improvements to infinite scrolling scenarios Earlier we spoke about infinite scrolling for the Windows Phone Toolkit 7.1 LongListSelector . As you approach the end of the visible list when scrolling, the LongListSelector automatically fetches more items and adds them to the list, which gives you a sense of infinite scrolling. We made this scenario simple to implement in Windows Phone 8. The following code from the Twitter Search sample demonstrates how easy it is to implement: XAML phone : LongListSelector Name ="resultList" Grid.Row ="1"     DataContext ="{ StaticResource viewModel} "     ItemTemplate ="{ StaticResource ResultItemTemplate} "     ItemsSource ="{ Binding TwitterCollection} "     ListFooter ="{ Binding} "     ItemRealized ="resultList_ItemRealized"/   C# void resultList_ItemRealized( object sender, ItemRealizationEventArgs e) {      if (!_viewModel.IsLoading && resultList.ItemsSource != null && resultList.ItemsSource.Count = _offsetKnob)      {          if (e.ItemKind == LongListSelectorItemKind .Item)          {              if ((e.Container.Content as TwitterSearchResult).Equals(resultList.ItemsSource[resultList.ItemsSource.Count - _offsetKnob]))              {                  _viewModel.LoadPage(_searchTerm, _pageNumber++);              }          }      } } The ItemRealized event is raised every time a LongListSelector item acquires a UI container to be displayed on the screen. In other words, every time an item enters the UI buffers above or below the current viewport, the ItemRealized event is raised. The event argument property ItemKind indicates whether the UI container is an Item , ListHeader , GroupHeader , or ListFooter . Using the property Container.Content you can get the actual object associated with the UI container that was realized. This way you can monitor the objects within the UI container buffer. Note how the app code in this example contains a private variable _offsetKnob . This helps fine-tune the LongListSelector scrolling experience by helping to determine when to load more items depending on how heavy your item template is, or on how slow the response is from the service sending the data. Globalization – SortedLocaleGrouping When you group contacts in alphabetical order, you want to do this in all languages. You could provide your own globalized, sorted alphabet characters for group headers. However, using your own alphabet strings will not guarantee 100% matching with the phone first-party contacts list. So we introduced a class called SortedLocaleGrouping that provides a set of alphabets that are the same as those used by the first party. In the PeopleHub sample, SortedLocaleGrouping (from Microsoft.Phone.Globalization namespace) is used in one of the helper types, AlphaKeyGroup (which also is very highly recommended). You get the group display names by using the SortedLocaleGrouping.GetGroupDisplayNames property to populate your groups. Then use the GetGroupIndex method to classify your contacts list. SupportsPhonetics property This is a unique property and we have included it in SortedLocaleGrouping . In some cultures, such as ja-JP, last names are written in a different script and are pronounced differently depending on the region or background. Here’s an example: String of LastName Yomi/Pronunciation Group based on Yomi Group without Yomi 新井 (display string) Nii -- にいい (in Hiragana) or ニイイ (in Katakana) ナ The Globe icon   Arai -- あらい (in Hiragana) or アライ (in Katakana) ア The Globe icon   Shinkyo -- しんきょ (in Hiragana) or シンキョ (in Katakana) サ The Globe icon This is a common phenomenon catching on in different cultures, and the first-party contacts list will be grouped based on the Yomi that is passed in. If no Yomi is passed in, it will return the default, same group (equivalent to other or globe). You usually would use the SupportsPhonetics property when classifying the contacts into groups and if you have the Yomi (pronunciation) database that you can access via a service or other means for the specific culture. The code between the //EXAMPLE comments in the following example is from one of the helper methods that shows how you would use it if you have a database of the pronunciations (Yomi) for various names. C# /// summary /// Create a list of AlphaGroup T with keys set by a SortedLocaleGrouping. /// /summary /// param name="items" The items to place in the groups. /param /// param name="ci" The CultureInfo to group and sort by. /param /// param name="getKey" A delegate to get the key from an item. /param /// param name="sort" Will sort the data if true. /param /// returns An items source for a LongListSelector /returns public static List AlphaKeyGroup T CreateGroups( IEnumerable T items, CultureInfo ci, Func T, string keySelector, bool sort) {      SortedLocaleGrouping slg = new SortedLocaleGrouping(ci);      List AlphaKeyGroup T list = CreateDefaultGroups(slg);        foreach (T item in items)      {          int index = 0;          // EXAMPLE          if (slg.SupportsPhonetics)          {              //check if your database has Yomi string for item              //if it does not, then do you want to generate Yomi or ask the user for this item.              index = slg.GetGroupIndex(Yomiof(item));          }          // EXAMPLE          else          {              index = slg.GetGroupIndex(keySelector(item));          }            if (index = 0 && index list.Count)          {              list[index].Add(item);          }      }        if (sort)      {          foreach (AlphaKeyGroup T group in list)          {              group.Sort((c0, c1) = { return ci.CompareInfo.Compare(keySelector(c0), keySelector(c1)); });          }      }        return list; } LongListSelector mapping guide – Differences between Windows Phone Toolkit 7.1 and Windows Phone 8.0 SDK We modified and enhanced the Windows Phone Toolkit LongListSelector. In this section we briefly outline what has changed. Properties modified from the Windows Phone Toolkit 7.1 Deleted BufferSize IsBouncy IsScrolling MaximumFlickVelocity ShowListFooter/ShowListHeader Modified Windows Phone Toolkit 7.1 Windows Phone 8 ROM SDK DisplayAllGroups Display all groups in the list whether or not they have items. Default is true. HideEmptyGroups Hide all groups in the list without items. Default is false. GroupItemTemplate JumpListStyle IsFlatList Gets or sets whether the list is flat instead of a group hierarchy. Default is true. IsGroupingEnabled Gets or sets whether the list is flat instead of a group hierarchy. Default is false. New concepts GridCellSize LayoutMode LongListSelectorLayoutMode { List, Grid }; ManipulationState C# public enum ManipulationState {      Idle, // nothing is manipulating or animating      Manipulating, // Gesture is being recognized, finger is down and any delta is received, drag/pan or flick      Animating //No Gesture is currently happening, but there is some animation happening, like scroll animation or compression animation } Methods modified from the Windows Phone Toolkit 7.1 Deleted AnimateTo(object item) CloseGroupView() DisplayGroupView() GetItemsInView() GetItemsWithContainers(bool onlyItemsInView, bool getContainers) ScrollToGroup(object group) Events modified from the Windows Phone Toolkit 7.1 Deleted StretchingBottom StretchingCompleted StretchingTop Modified Windows Phone Toolkit 7.1 Windows Phone 8 ROM SDK ScrollingCompleted ScrollingStarted ManipulationStateChanged (coupled with ManipulationState property) Link/Unlink ItemRealized/ ItemUnrealized With EventArgs including ItemKind C# public class ItemRealizationEventArgs : EventArgs {      /// summary      /// The ContentPresenter which is displaying the item.      /// /summary      public ContentPresenter Container { get ; }        /// summary      /// Gets the kind of item that is realized      /// /summary      public LongListSelectorItemKind ItemKind { get ; }   } /// summary /// Different kinds of items that exists in LongListSelector /// /summary enum LongListSelectorItemKind {      ListHeader,      GroupHeader,      Item,      GroupFooter,      ListFooter } FAQ Why use IList instead of IEnumerable for ItemsSource? You have to know how many elements there are and there is no Count property on IEnumerable . You also have to be able to access the items by index, not just in the forward-only, one-at-a-time way that enumerators do. If ItemsSource accepted IEnumerables or an IEnumerable of IEnumerables , you’d have to convert them to lists internally using the default method of iterating over every single item. This conversion would rule out data virtualization, which could cause poor performance without the app author knowing why. Worse yet, the author might think that it is the status quo and simply accept a longer start time. This was one of the complaints about the original toolkit LongListSelector. Now, if an app author has only an IEnumerable set of data, the developer can simply call ToList() for the default conversion to an IList but the developer also has the flexibility provide their own IList implementation. Is LongListSelector recommended instead of ListBox? Yes! We have designed the LongListSelector specifically for phone scenarios and we encourage people to use the LongListSelector instead of ListBox for phone apps. http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2013/05/23/splashtop-2-which-provides-mobile-access-to-your-computer-and-files-is-now-available-for-windows-phone-8.aspxThu, 23 May 2013 17:52:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:f319e003-229f-4e26-b0c8-d4715e76cd50Michael Stroh How many times have you rushed out of the house without some important file you needed for work —or wished you had access to your desktop computer’s music or movie library from your hotel room on the beach? Enter Splashtop 2, a popular app designed to provide remote access to your PC or Mac that just arrived in the Windows Phone 8 Store today. Splashtop 2 users can view and edit files, use apps, and stream audio and HD video to their phone directly from a remote computer. Setting it up is pretty straightforward.   First download the Windows Phone app , which is free through August 31, then install Splashtop’s free Streamer software on your PC or Mac. The Splashtop remote access service runs $1.99 a month. For more info, head over to the Splashtop site .   http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2013/05/22/speed-dial-6-tips-for-quicker-calling-on-windows-phone-8.aspxWed, 22 May 2013 22:07:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:b03d7b43-acee-4203-9cff-0608a2eadf47Matt Lichtenberg With everything else it can do, it’s sometimes easy to forget that Windows Phone is still, well, a phone. Looking for ways to call someone a little quicker? Here are a few tap-saving shortcuts I’ve discovered along the way.   1. Call back quickly . It never fails that when my wife and I need to sync up, I miss her call or she misses mine. To increase the odds of catching her, I tap Phone on my Start screen, and then tap the Phone icon next to her name in call history to ring back faster. 2. No answer? Try another number. Even if I call her back a few minutes later, I still might miss her. Instead of leaving voicemail, I’ll tap End call , tap her name at the top of the screen, and then tap one of her other numbers. (Tip: You’ll need to be quick because the name only appears for a couple of seconds.) 3. Go double wide. Another way I try to save a tap or two is to increase the size of my Phone Tile. Then if I miss a call or get a new voicemail, it shows up right there—no need to go to call history. Just tap and hold the Phone Tile on Start, and then tap the icon on the bottom right to resize the Tile . 4. Turn a number into a name. Instead of hunting through call history and trying to remember which number goes with which person (I’ve guessed wrong more than once), I’ll save the number as a contact so I can quickly find and call them next time. Just tap Phone History, tap the phone number, and then tap Save . I can tap New to make them a new contact, or add the number to a contact I already have. Check out this article on the Windows Phone website to learn more about saving contacts on your phone. 5. Can’t talk when someone calls? Text instead. If you have the latest update for Windows Phone 8 you might’ve already discovered this new feature, which I really love and use a lot. When a contact calls from their cell phone and you can’t talk, just tap Text reply, then tap a response and away it goes. I’ve customized my replies, too, so I can say what I want with two taps. This video shows the feature in action. 6. Who’s calling? Let Windows Phone tell you . I don’t always have my phone sitting next to me at home, so I have it announce the caller’s name out loud. That way, I know if I really need to run and pick up. To turn this feature on, go to Settings Ease of access Speech for phone accessibility . This setting turns on a few more things, too, including the ability to speed dial and forward calls with your voice. To learn more, see Use Speech on my phone . I hope one or two of these were new to you. Have any tips or things you do to speed up calling? I’d love to hear ‘em! http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2013/05/22/trivial-pursuit-and-3-more-classic-ea-games-now-available-for-all-windows-phones-plus-new-nokia-exclusives-arrive-including-tiger-woods-12-and-nba-jam.aspxWed, 22 May 2013 18:12:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:e2a8fbb6-e6ff-453c-bd1e-498f06239cf2Michael Stroh It’s a great week for Xbox games from Electronic Arts, with four titles previously available only to Nokia owners now available to everyone and four new Nokia exclusives hitting the Windows Phone Store. Unless otherwise noted, these titles are available for both Windows Phone 7 and 8. Here’s the rundown. All Windows Phone users can now test their driving and parking skills in the spatial-awareness Parking Mania ($2.99). If you love classic board games, you’ve got to try The Game of Life ($2.99). Sneak, scamper, and snack your way on an epic journey in SPY Mouse ($2.99). Or test the limits of your knowledge with Trivial Pursuit ($2.99). Nokia owners get four new exclusive titles this week. Command and fight your way through the 3D third-person shooter Mass Effect: Infiltrator ($6.99), which runs only on Windows Phone 8. Burn rubber and race your friends over Wi-Fi on 14 different tracks in Real Racing 2 ($4.99). Tailor-make your own golfer and then play through world-famous courses in Tiger Woods 12 ($2.99). Or hoop it up with your favorite basketball pros in NBA JAM ($2.99).   Former Nokia Exclusives New Nokia Exclusives Parking Mania Mass Effect: Infiltrator The Game of Life Real Racing 2 SPY Mouse Tiger Woods 12 Trivial Pursuit NBA JAM http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/wpdev/archive/2013/05/21/testing-your-windows-phone-app-part-2.aspxTue, 21 May 2013 20:07:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:dd5ab806-a232-4885-b48e-35eb500ebe99Adam Denning This blog post was authored by Craig Horsfield, a Senior SDET on the Windows Phone Test and Operations team. - Adam Testing your app throughout the development process can help you create a really great Windows Phone app. Testing helps ensure that your app is effectively represented in the Windows Phone Store as an app that offers Windows Phone users a high level of performance and quality. A small investment in the key areas described in this post can help you bypass common errors early in the development process, and help you get positive results in the long term. This post is part 2 of a 3-part series that outlines key test areas that you should consider before submitting your app to the Store. See part 1 for additional details. Push notification and Live Tiles Live Tiles Live Tiles are updated through push notification or through an app’s periodic background agent. When testing these areas, you should accelerate the update time so that you can test more rapidly. For more info, see Tiles for Windows Phone . Test scenario Details 1. Verify that your Live Tile updates. Verify that the Live Tile updates after it has been pinned to Start . 2. Verify that your Live Tile stops updating. If this setting is disabled in the app, make sure the Live Tile stops updating. 3. Verify that the Live Tile updates via a periodic agent. If the Live Tile is updated via a periodic agent, verify the update on all network types, and verify that the Live Tile updates when there is no network, for example, in Airplane mode. 4. Verify that the Live Tile is working and present after an app upgrade. None. 5. Verify that the Live Tile is working and present after an app upgrade and subsequent restarting the device. If updating the app, make sure that you don’t change the TokenID in the WMAppManifest.xml file. This results in your Live Tile being removed from Start when the device is restarted. 6. If using a background agent, verify that the agent doesn’t crash or terminate. This results in disabling the agent and Tile updates will fail. Notifications Apps that use notifications normally are used within background agents. Test these notifications to ensure that they work properly. For more info, see Notifications for Windows Phone . Test scenario Details 1. Verify that notifications are received. None. 2. Verify what happens when you tap the notification. Tapping the notification launches the user into the app in the correct state. 3. Verify that the app doesn’t overuse toast notifications. None. Agents Background agents provide key abilities for an app, but they also introduce some specific test considerations. Agents can be disabled and enabled in the phone’s settings, on the Settings Application Background Tasks screen. The app needs to be aware of the state of the agent. Resources available to agents also are restricted. A key point to remember is that when running in the debugger, these restrictions are not enforced so it’s important to test your app outside of the debugger and track the resource that it is using. For more info, see Background agents for Windows Phone . Test scenario Details 1. Verify initial app start. The agent starts when it’s needed. 2. Verify that the app handles state in which the agent has been disabled by the user in Settings\Application\Background Tasks. Additionally, verify that the app performs as follows: App notifies the user that it’s not available and continues to work as expected. App notifies that the agent is needed and re-enables it. 3. Agents are disabled in low-battery conditions - test that the app can handle these states. None. 4. Agents that crash or are terminated by the OS for exceeding resources, on two successive crashes will be disabled. Ensure your app handles this state. In this state the foreground app has to reschedule the agent. This state can be queried from the agent API. For more info, see Background agent best practices for Windows Phone . 5. Resource-intensive agent only runs when on power and Wi-Fi. Ensure app handles this correctly. None. 6. Verify that the agent stays below the required CPU and memory caps. None. This table lists the required CPU and memory caps, by agent on Windows Phone 8: Agent CPU Memory CBE 10% N/A GBA 10% 11 MB BAP 10% 20 MB FA 5% 10 MB VoIP agent 20% 60 MB Media, audio, and video Media, audio, and video throughout your app should be tested. Consider these test scenarios in the table below. For more info, see Media for Windows Phone . Test scenario Details 1. Preserve audio state. If your app plays an audio sound (clip) when it starts, your app should not pause the currently playing audio. The app should preserve and not interfere with the currently audio playing on the device. If your app plays back audio content from a background agent or a foreground app, your app should pause any currently playing audio. 2. Verify the Universal Audio Control during audio playback. Verify Play. Verify Pause / Resume. Verify Skip Next / Skip Previous. Skip to last and back to the first track, etc. Some apps may take time to process these calls. Verify that the UI is set to disabled while the app is processing these calls to prevent multiple invokes. Verify volume controls. Audio continues under lock. Audio continues when app is on the back stack. Verify all expected codecs that the app offers can be played back. Track info is displayed in the UI. 3. Verify audio playback via a background audio agent. Test all of the above test cases. Audio continues when the app is terminated but the background agent is allowed to continue. Audio continues to play when device screen is locked. App agent remains below the app 20-MB cap. 4. Media Source Verify media from a network stream. Verify media from the app’s ISO store. Verify media playing from the media library on the phone. (This case requires the correct capability in the app manifest.) 5. Video playback Verify all states: Play from start Pause, resume Skip forward and back Change states rapidly 6. S-Video playback in FAS scenarios On navigate away event, the app needs to record the current media stream location. Play media stream return to the phone start page and then switch back to the app. Verify the stream is preserved, should continue from the previous point. Play media stream and force the app to tombstone via Visual Studio. In this case, the app should continue from previous point but will have to load the stream and forward it to the location saved in navigate away and deactivated events. 7. Bandwidth Verify media stream playback on different networks and bandwidth. App should adjust playback quality and codec as need. Verify network dropped scenario and the app handles this and informs the user correctly. Visual studio phone emulator can manipulate the network quality and type to aid in this testing. 8. Media hub integration Verify app is visible in the Media hub, manifest must have HubType=1. App has to use MediaHistory and MediaHistoryItem classes in this scenario. Verify post market place ingestion where the correct capabilities are set on the app manifest to enable it in the hub. (Use the App Beta submission process to test this.) App must update the, ‘now playing’ tile, ‘history’ and ‘new’ list. Verify app plays correct stream when launched from history or new list. 9. FM Radio App is not compatible with all hardware and versions of Windows Phone. Test app on the correct platform. Verify that app sets the correct region based on the phone location; this enables the correct frequency stepping. If incorrect it will not tune well or find stations. Set the correct power modes. For example, verify that the user is not playing media from the FM radio, then set RadioPowerMode to off. Geolocation With Windows Phone 8, you can create apps that use info about the phone’s physical location. Scenarios for location-aware apps include checking the user into a web service using the user’s instantaneous location, and tracking the user’s location as it changes over a period of time. The location data the phone provides comes from multiple sources, including GPS, Wi-Fi, and cellular. The visual studio phone emulator can be used to simulate these location changes. The location can be moved manually or simulate a sequence of location changes. For more info, see Location for Windows Phone 8 . Test scenario Details 1. Prevent PositionChange events from firing too often and placing CPU processing load on the app. Set the MovementThreshold property to the appropriate value for the app needs and make sure that events fire only outside of that threshold. 2. Handle the unknown location state. Ensure the app can handle NA values. Test the app when it has no location state. 3. Test a large change in location data so that any internal calculations in the app do not fail in these cases. For example, position changes greater than 1 degree. This can happen if the phone has had no valid location data for some period of time. 4. Test app in all hemispheres: North/South and West/East. Ensure that your calculations on negative degree values are correct. 5. Test 0-degree and 180-degree location for longitude and latitude. None. Design considerations when using location: Test scenario Details 1. Use a lower level of accuracy to save on battery power if applicable. None. 2. Check the Position.Location.IsUnknown and GeoPositionStatus properties to ensure that the location is valid. None. Resource usage and performance Windows Phone apps need to be designed to efficiently use and preserve the limited resources of the phone platform. You want to design your apps to use the least possible CPU cycles, to access networks efficiently and purposefully, and to make the best use of visual components—graphics, bright colors, and themes use more power than a simpler UI. Test areas to consider: Test scenario Details 1. Check for a nonresponsive or jerky UI. This could be caused by long-running activity on the UI thread. 1. Check for Memory leaks – repeat scenarios multiple times to detect memory leaks during specific sequences. Repeat page navigation could increase app memory. 2. Check for rapid battery drain. Can be caused by using the app for long periods of time. Tips and tools: The Visual Studio app profiler, on the debug menu, is a key tool for looking into app memory and CPU usage. Using the EnabledFrameRateCounter / EnableRedrawRegions can be useful when app testing. Use APIs in the DeviceStatus class track memory usage in the app, especially ApplicationCurrentMemoryUsage and ApplicationPeakMemoryUsage . See App performance considerations for Windows Phone for an overview of app performance for Windows Phone. In part 3 of this series, we’ll discuss additional areas and testing approaches to consider, including to network resources, device-specific tests for hardware variations, display resolution, app upgrade, common Store test cases, and real-world testing . http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/wpdev/archive/2013/05/20/use-your-html5-skills-port-your-phonegap-app-to-windows-phone-and-win-prizes.aspxMon, 20 May 2013 19:09:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:3a1b32e4-0717-4050-9454-03c971b55d8dJC Cimetiere Many of you have heard about PhoneGap (aka Apache Cordova ), the popular open source framework you can use to create mobile apps using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. PhoneGap has supported the Windows Phone platform since Windows Phone 7.5 , and had a major update to support new capabilities in Windows Phone 8, including Internet Explorer 10. Today, we’re launching a Porting Challenge and inviting developers who have used PhoneGap to publish apps in other stores – for example, Apple iTunes, Google Play, Blackberry World, Bada, Symbian, or Palm OS – to take any of their existing PhoneGap apps, published in any store, and port it to Windows Phone 8, like the Untappd app recently ported to Windows Phone 8 . Members of a panel selected from Microsoft, the Adobe PhoneGap team, and industry experts will choose 20 winners, based on apps that are: Original Innovative Easy to use Engaging and visually appealing to the user The panel will pick 3 grand prize winners who each will receive a Windows Phone 8 device and a Surface Pro, and 17 first prize winners who each will receive a Windows Phone 8 device. All winning apps will be evaluated for featured slots in the Windows Phone Store. The challenge starts today, May 20, 2013. You have through June 30, 2013, to submit your app for this porting challenge. Winners will be announced July 19, 2013, at the PhoneGap Day event in Portland, Oregon. The challenge is open to developers in all countries/regions where Windows Phone Dev Center registration is available . Read the complete rules for all the details before you sign up at http://www.phonegapwpchallenge.com/ . Whether you’re a seasoned PhoneGap developer new to Windows Phone, or if you’re new to PhoneGap, I encourage you check the pointers on how to get started on the challenge site: http://www.phonegapwpchallenge.com/Home/Resources We have a 5-minute video tutorial  that shows you how to set up PhoneGap with Visual Studio, and a few other detailed tutorials. We’ve also collected tips & tricks to adapt WebKit-optimized HTML5 code to Internet Explorer 10, and how to give your app UI a Windows Phone look and feel. If you’re curious to see examples of published Windows Phone apps that were built using the PhoneGap framework, head over to the PhoneGap website to browse their Windows Phone app gallery . Ready, set, go! JC Cimetiere @jccim http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2013/05/17/love-magazines-get-a-50-credit-from-zinio-for-your-nokia-lumia.aspxFri, 17 May 2013 19:16:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:d61b2280-5749-4293-85a6-2bc4d02b231fMichael Stroh The popular digital magazine app Zinio arrived in the Windows Phone Store this week as an exclusive for Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 models. (Miss it? You can grab it here .) It’s a beautifully-designed app that should please any magazine junkie. But it gets better: To celebrate their debut, Zinio is also offering a $50 magazine credit to jump start your library. Click here to claim the credit . The deal ends June 30. Zinio has an impressive stable of publications to pick from—everything from mainstream titles like The Economist, Esquire, and Rolling Stone to niche offerings such as Poker Player and Simply Crochet. Reader-friendly features of the official Windows Phone app include the ability to pull articles from multiple sources into your own customized reading list and read magazines offline. Zinio also serves up free articles each day from a selection of top-drawer titles. Check it out and let me know what you think. http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/wpdev/archive/2013/05/17/xaudio2-performance-and-battery-considerations-for-windows-phone-8.aspxFri, 17 May 2013 18:50:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:2ea73dc4-ab3e-47a2-924d-947bd2b61a25Adam Denning This blog post was authored by Joao Lucas Guberman Raza, a program manager on the Windows Phone team. - Adam In this post we cover important information for Windows Phone 8 developers who use the XAudio2 APIs, including best practices for battery performance. XAudio2 is a high-performance audio API available in Windows 8, Xbox 360, and Windows Phone 8. An app developer can use XAudio2 to create audio graphs in which they can treat each audio source in the graph as a distinct “voice.” The developer can apply different effects to each of the “voices.” In Windows Phone 8, the XAudio2 engine must be aligned with the life cycle of the app. This means that if an app is suspended, the app that’s using XAudio2 must force the XAudio2 engine to stop. When the app resumes/rehydrates, if it is designed to resume sounds using XAudio2, it must restart the XAudio2 engine. Significant battery drain can occur if an app doesn’t stop the XAudio2 engine when the app is suspended, and the engine continues to run. To avoid this scenario, an app must call IXAudio2::StopEngine when the app is suspended as described in the Native audio APIs for Windows Phone 8 . When the app resumes, it should call IXAudio2::StartEngine . For Silverlight and Direct3D with XAML apps, the suspend/resume APIs are the Suspended and Activated events. For Direct3D native-only apps, the suspend/resume APIs are the Suspending and CoreView Resuming events. The following code examples show you how you can do this in a pure native Direct3D app. First create the XAudio2 object, which handles the XAudio2 sound APIs. C++ IXAudio2* pXAudio = NULL ;   if ( FAILED(XAudio2Create(&pXAudio, 0, XAUDIO2_DEFAULT_PROCESSOR) ) )          return false ;   if ( FAILED(pXAudio- CreateMasteringVoice( &pMasterVoice ) ) )          return false ; Then, on the suspending/resume events, set up the XAudio2 object to call StopEngine and then StartEngine . In the following example, we use the default events in the Windows Phone 8 SDK template for Direct3D native-only apps. C++ void WindowsApp::Initialize(CoreApplicationView^ applicationView)      {      applicationView- Activated +=          ref new TypedEventHandler CoreApplicationView^, IActivatedEventArgs^ ( this , &WindowsApp::OnActivated);        CoreApplication::Suspending +=          ref new EventHandler SuspendingEventArgs^ ( this , &WindowsApp::OnSuspending);        CoreApplication::Resuming +=          ref new EventHandler Platform::Object^ ( this , &WindowsApp::OnResuming);     }   void WindowsApp::OnSuspending(Platform::Object^ sender, SuspendingEventArgs^ args) {      pXAudio- StopEngine() ; }       void WindowsApp::OnResuming(Platform::Object^ sender, Platform::Object^ args)     {      pXAudio- StartEngine() ; } With these steps, you can design your app to follow best practices for battery consumption when you use the XAudio2 APIs. It’s important to note that this is one of many best practices you can use in your app. To learn more, see also local folder best practices for Windows Phone , localization best practices for Windows Phone , and background agent best practices for Windows Phone . http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/wpdev/archive/2013/05/16/tips-to-grow-your-app-revenue-through-in-app-purchase.aspxThu, 16 May 2013 17:28:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:f2655464-d337-439d-b7b9-c641bcbfa7b6Bernardo Zamora Your Windows Phone 8 app presents three potential sources of revenue: app sales, in-app advertisement, and in-app purchases . In a previous blog post I wrote about what you can sell in your Windows Phone 8 app by adding in-app purchase . You can: Sell digital items. Offer consumables (items that are used a set number of times per purchase) and durables (items purchased and then owned by the buyer). Extend app features: add game levels, app features, and game currency, for example. Today, I want to share recommendations and guidance to optimize the experience and effectiveness of in-app purchase in your Windows Phone app. In-app purchase trends in the Windows Phone store In-app purchase was added with the launch of Windows Phone 8 as a way to expand the value of apps and offer the possibility of additional revenue. It represents a growing revenue source in the Windows Phone Store: already 40% of the top 15 highest-grossing developers have apps that use in-app purchase. Consumer adoption of in-app purchase varies by market, depending on regional trends, consumer preferences, and other regional differences. Central Europe, China, France, Middle East and United States are the markets where consumers purchased most in-app items, as a percentage of app downloads, compared to other markets. In-app items are used in all categories of Windows Phone 8 apps in the Store. The categories with highest use of in-app purchase are Games, Tools and Productivity and Books & Reference. So in-app purchase can be used in all types of apps. Use of in-app purchase by app category Insight from the apps with highest in-app revenue We analyzed the 30 apps and games with the highest in-app purchase revenue in the Windows Phone Store, and found some interesting trends, common characteristics, and best practices. Here’s what we discovered. In-app purchase can add value to both games and non-game apps: the top grossing list includes 20 games (shooters, puzzles, racing, family, and other types of games) as well as 10 non-game apps (audio book, health/fitness, tools/productivity, navigation, and sports). Start with a great app : All these top 30 apps are high quality, engaging apps with beautiful graphics and compelling sounds and music. All apps have 4-star ratings or higher, and user comments posted in the Store show that users love these apps, and therefore are willing to purchase the in-app items to enhance their experience. All these apps are easy to use and intuitive. Use the ‘freemium’ business model : Most of these apps are free and offer in-app purchase extends the value of the app (90% of the apps are free and 10% are available in a paid version only). There are a few apps that are not free, and these apps are from developers with a brand name strong enough that users will know the quality or utility of the app. Very few of the apps, less than 5, use advertisement in the apps: most of these top developers focus only on in-app purchase to generate revenue. Offer value even without purchase, and extend the app through in-app purchase : 28 of the 30 apps are useful even without in-app purchase. The apps provide great value even if no in-app purchase is used. In-app purchase is used to improve the app experience: The games use in-app consumables to offer game currency, which in turn is used to purchase items in the game. Users can earn this currency through gameplay, or accelerate gameplay through purchase. Non-games offer content through consumables and durables (audio books, book chapters, navigation maps, more sounds) or offer additional features through durable in-app purchase (for example additional features like online backup). Three of the five apps that have ads use in-app purchase as an option for the user to remove the ads. Two apps use in-app purchase to unlock the full version or new levels. These apps require in-app purchase to provide value beyond the introductory level or content. Integrate in-app purchase seamlessly : The app developers use in-app purchase as a natural extension of the app, not as an afterthought. When using these apps, users feel that they are getting a significant additional value of value through the in-app purchase, and don’t feel forced to buy the app items to be able to use the app. In-app purchase is shown on simple, clear screens that show the value of what is being purchased, and frequently offer many options so the user can choose the best one for their budget and needs. Make the app available also on Windows Phone 7 : In-app purchase is only available on Windows Phone 8, so many of these top apps have created a XAP for Windows Phone 7 and a XAP for Windows Phone 8, to offer the app on Windows Phone 7: 10 of these apps are available for free on Windows Phone 7, providing the same functionality as the Windows Phone 8 versions, without in-app purchase. A few of these apps added mobile ads to provide ad revenue in place of the in-app revenue. 5 of these apps have a paid Windows Phone 7 version that offers the capabilities of the Windows Phone 8 version with all the in-app purchases. Rebellion: Dredd vs Zombies and Guns 4 Hire I interviewed Chris Kingsley, CTO of Rebellion, to understand more about their Windows Phone games and how they use in-app purchase. Rebellion has two shooter games on Windows Phone: Dredd vs Zombies and Guns 4 Hire . Both games use in-app purchase, and are among the highest grossing free Windows Phone games. Rebellion makes games for many platforms, including PC games and Windows Store games. Chris shared with me the principles that he thinks have made in-app purchase successful in their Windows Phone games: The game has to be great. The game has to be designed with in-app purchase from the ground up. The game has to balance free versus paid content. Test, test, test, with as many people as possible. Dredd vs Zombies was designed for in-app purchase from the ground up: the game is playable from beginning to end without in-app purchase. In-app purchase is used to sell credits that are used to purchase items that make the game more fun and which accelerate leveling up. The items are designed so they genuinely feel like they are part of the game, and they provide a better play experience. Dredd also offers items to try out, so players can get a feel for the game items that can be purchased. This also helps increase player engagement. Guns 4 Hire offers a variety of in-app purchase items. The player has different options to choose from, and isn’t required to purchase to play the game. The game shows the items for purchase in a very effective way: a large display for each item, a price, and a short and clear description of what you get with the purchase. Chris from Rebellion mentioned they have another game coming up this month for Windows Phone – Zombie HQ – which builds on the shooter template by allowing players to customize their own HQ between missions. Adding in-app purchase to your app In-app purchase can enhance the app experience and increase your revenue, so if you think that you have a great app or game that is a good candidate for in-app purchase, add it today! Here’s how to get started: Understand what can be sold through in-app purchase and how to add it . Define how you would add in-app purchase to your Visual Studio project: Add it to an existing Windows Phone 7 project ( through reflection ) or create a new Windows Phone 8 project that uses in-app purchase natively. Offer a trial/paid version for Windows Phone 7 users. Add the in-app purchase to your code. Add the in-app purchase items through Dev Center. Test using the different available testing techniques , and share the game with as many users as possible to polish the in-app purchase experience. Publish your app in the Store! Please post your feedback or questions about in-app purchase. http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2013/05/15/now-in-the-store-angry-birds-rio-for-windows-phone.aspxWed, 15 May 2013 17:06:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:0d4b5711-105e-4173-86dd-44b9a8336264Michael Stroh Here’s another classic Angry Birds title for your growing Windows Phone collection. As we previously hinted , Rovio’s Angry Birds Rio arrived this morning. The game works on both Windows Phone 7 and 8 devices. Price: $0.99. In the game, the original Angry Birds have been caged up and shipped off to exotic Rio de Janeiro, where they eventually elude their captors and set out to rescue friends Blu and Jewel—two rare macaws you’ll recognize from the 2011 movie Rio.   The scenery in the game is fresh and exciting, and the physics-based gameplay is as fun as ever—with 210 challenging levels and more than 40 bonus ones. Speaking of bonus: The Windows Phone 8 version of the game also includes Xbox LIVE achievements and leaderboards. Buy it for Windows Phone 8 Buy it for Windows Phone 7.5 http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2013/05/14/buy-39-ngop-bing-adds-klingon-to-its-popular-translator-app-for-windows-phone.aspxTue, 14 May 2013 19:33:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:d19872b5-5ae1-48cf-b663-741168dda5caMichael Stroh Bing just added a new language to its highly rated Translator app that makes it a must-have for Star Trek fans headed to see Star Trek: Into Darkness this Thursday: Klingon. Download it to your Windows Phone communicator . In what could be the biggest advance for the popular fictional language since the publication of 1984’s “The Klingon Dictionary,” the app lets you translate back and forth between Klingon and the 41 planetary tongues it supports. If you really want to test your skills, check out this post from Microsoft’s Translation team. Klingons, as most fans of the Trek franchise know, are a fictional warrior race with famously boney foreheads (an anatomical quirk that presumably inspired the cringe-inducing Klingon curse: “Your mother has a smooth forehead!”). Early in the series, they were everybody's favorite villain. According to Guinness World Records , their throat-wrecking tongue is today the world’s most popular fictional spoken language (though it’s unclear how much competition it has). Curious linguaphiles and younger Trek fans might be surprised by its origins and rich history. Klingon got its start with some words and phrases made up by James Doohan, the actor who played Montgomery “Scotty” Scott in the original series. The occasion was 1979's "Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” the first time the language was spoken in a movie. It was then fleshed out by UC Berkeley-trained linguist Marc Okrand , author of "The Klingon Dictionary,” which is still in print . In the years since, as Wikipedia notes , several Shakespeare plays and parts of the Bible have been translated into Klingon. There’s even a nonprofit Klingon Language Institute , formed in 1992 to promote the study of “Klingon linguistics and culture.” The organization, which publishes its own quarterly academic journal registered with the Library of Congress, assisted Bing with its intergalactic upgrades to the app. As the LA Times reported yesterday , Bing also received help from Okrand and Microsoft engineer Eric Andeen, who is fluent in the language. (You knew there’d be someone here who was, right?) Give it a shot and post a comment—Klingon only, please. And leave my mother’s forehead out of it, thanks. (In case you’re wondering, the headline starts with the Klingon for “Great news!” As the screenshots above show, the Translator app is also handy for doing things like ordering Chinese for lunch.) http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2013/05/14/nokia-s-first-metal-windows-phone-arrives-meet-the-sexy-lumia-925.aspxTue, 14 May 2013 13:36:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:7923ccd3-8929-4025-82ad-568b0cf156bcMichael Stroh Nokia’s design team is on fire lately. Just days after unveiling a sleek new addition to its Windows Phone 8 flagship line—the Verizon-bound Lumia 928 —the company today took the wraps off another innovative new model at a highly-anticipated London press event today. ( Watch the replay .) There’s a lot to say about the new Lumia 925, but let’s start here: The first Windows Phone to incorporate aluminum into the design is something to hold and behold. The second thing to know is that the phone will come with the latest Windows Phone 8 update that adds FM radio support and a handful of other goodies—extras that existing Windows Phone 8 owners will ultimately be offered, too. (More on that in a moment.) The Lumia 925, which also includes an advanced new camera, will debut in June on Europe’s Vodafone network, then head to China Mobile and China Unicom. It’s scheduled to launch on T-Mobile in the U.S. later this year, Nokia said. In Europe, the phone will cost around 469 euros before taxes and subsidies. Why metal? All of Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 models to date have been made with sturdy polycarbonate plastic. Adding metal to the mix opened up a new world of design possibilities for Nokia engineers. Metal supplies strength, saves weight, and allows designers to sculpt a thinner, more tapered edge. It also helps deliver better antenna performance, Nokia says. ( Learn more about its construction .) The new Lumia 925 sports many of the same specs and hardware that helped earn its sibling, the Lumia 920, Smartphone of the Year honors from Engadget this year. It has a 4.5-inch AMOLED WXGA touchscreen with curved Gorilla Glass 2, 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 16 GB of internal memory, and a beefy 2000 mAh battery . Nokia Lumia 925 will be available in white, grey and black matte. Wireless charging snap-on covers will come in white, black, yellow and red. Here’s a little peek at how it all comes together. Introducing Nokia Smart Camera But the real star of the show is the phone’s 8.7 megapixel PureView camera with optical image stabilization and dual LED flash. The Lumia 925 continues to evolve this critically-acclaimed camera and push the boundaries of what’s possible on a smartphone, thanks to its advanced new lens design and new imaging algorithms. I never realized that a smartphone lens is actually a sandwich of glass, but the Lumia 925’s camera now includes a sixth physical lens—an industry first. This means the phone’s Carl Zeiss optics are able to take in five times more light than competing smartphones for sharp, naturally-colored images and 1080p HD video, even under challenging conditions. The video above offers a glimpse of how this new lens is constructed. The Lumia 925’s onboard imaging software algorithms have also been tweaked to help make the camera perform even better in low light, and to improve color reproduction and reduce noise in shots. Another cool innovation in the Lumia 925 is its new Smart Camera feature, which captures ten 5-megapixel shots in a short burst and then lets you edit them using one-touch editing options like Best Shot, Action Shot, Change Faces, and Motion Focus. Check out the video below to see what I mean. Then head over to the Nokia Conversations blog, which has an even more detailed post today showing how Smart Camera works. Another nice touch: The Lumia 925 lets you set Nokia Smart Camera as your default camera interface so you can open straight to it just by pushing the camera button. Nokia says Smart Camera—as well as the new under-the-hood imaging algorithms—will roll out to all its Lumia models with Windows Phone 8 as part of a future update the company is calling Nokia Lumia Amber. Windows Phone 8 update coming this summer Speaking of updates. As I mentioned earlier, the Lumia 925 comes with the latest update to the Windows Phone 8 operating system that includes a small number of improvements and upgrades. (It’s similar in size to the one we delivered earlier this year, which brought new Wi-Fi and messaging improvements like the ability to text a reply to an incoming call.) The new update, which is expected to start rolling out to existing Windows Phone 8 phones later this summer, brings back support for FM radio (we heard you!) and makes the Data Sense feature of Windows Phone 8 available for more carriers to offer. The update also makes it easier to select, download, and pin tunes in Xbox Music and improves the accuracy of song info and other metadata—something I know music fans will appreciate. (FM Radio and Data Sense availability depend on your phone model and carrier.) The update includes hundreds of other small quality improvements. One final one worth highlighting, as we announced earlier , is that the update also ensures Windows Phone continues to work with Google services by adding support for the company’s newest sync protocols—CalDAV and CardDAV. Make sure to check out Nokia’s official blog for more coverage and photos of the new Lumia 925. http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/wpdev/archive/2013/05/10/latest-windows-phone-app-submission-improvements.aspxFri, 10 May 2013 18:12:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:1b0e0fd7-c3d5-4372-920b-182a5c7fd12aRushmi Malaviarachchi As Todd mentioned in his post last week , I’d like to share some details about the latest improvements we’ve made to Dev Center to address your feedback. Multiple XAP management during app submission As more developers update their apps to take advantage of new Windows Phone 8 functionality, managing multiple XAP files for a single app becomes an increasingly common scenario. Many apps have different XAPs for Windows Phone 7.x and Windows Phone 8.0. Dev Center allows each to be serviced independently. Many of you asked for a simplified way to manage XAPs, so we set out to streamline the experience, make it easier to keep track of which XAPs exist for your app, and to clearly identify which XAP you’re acting on when you make a change. Here’s the new UI for managing XAPs in an app submission: When you update an existing app, you’ll see that all of the XAPs for your app are already present in the submission. You can replace or delete one or more of the existing XAPs, add new ones, or leave them unchanged. Typically you’ll only want to add a new XAP when you’re either submitting a new app or adding support for a new platform version to an existing app. (For more details, see Guidance for app management for Windows Phone ). Be careful when you delete a XAP in a submission because it will be removed from your app and no longer available in Store after the submission is published. You can think of this table as showing all XAPs that will be available for your app when the submission is published. After you’ve established the XAPs that you want for your app, you can select each XAP individually by clicking the button beside its name, and then add/edit the Store listing info for each language that the XAP supports. MPNS certificate management To use authenticated push notifications from the Microsoft Push Notification Service (MPNS), your app needs to be associated with the authentication certificate that’s used by your service. You can manage certificates at an account level in Dev Center and then choose from those certificates when you submit a new app or update an existing app. We’ve refreshed the certificate management UI to make it easier to see all of the certificates that you’ve uploaded, and to differentiate between them: We’ve also updated the certificate selection UI on the App info submission page to help you select the correct certificate. Remember that if you’re updating an app to associate it with an updated certificate, MPNS requires that the Subject Name CN value remains the same. Dev Center will enforce this restriction to ensure that push notifications continue to work after your update is published. Review submission When you create a submission for a new or existing app in Dev Center, that submission will remain until you submit or delete it. This means that you can make changes to a submission on different days and from different browser windows and we’ll keep track of them. This can be a powerful feature as you don’t have to worry about losing changes by closing your browser or switching computers. However, this also makes it important to check your work before final submission to make sure you’re aware of all of the changes. We’ve created a new review page to help you do just that. Now you’ll have the opportunity to check the review page for a submission to be sure you are satisfied with the changes that you’ve made before you submit your app. Here’s an example: The review page is organized into three sections: Submission : Displays the publish option chosen, along with errors and warnings if applicable. App : Displays the changes made at the app level. By default, this section shows only the changes you made, but you can clear the Only show changes I made box to see the full summary. XAPs : Displays a list of XAPs that will be published for your app. Here’s how the page looks if you choose to see the full summary of app-level information: We made these changes to enhance your experience with Dev Center. As always, please keep adding your feedback to the Windows Phone Dev Center UserVoice forum . We appreciate hearing from you and your feedback helps us shape future development priorities. http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2013/05/10/the-wait-is-over-lumia-928-for-verizon-wireless-launches-may-16-for-under-100.aspxFri, 10 May 2013 14:09:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:35200961-ace2-4e32-ba11-8fe3e6dd63f9Michael Stroh If you were paying close attention earlier this week, you might’ve picked up on some clues—buzz over a billboard spotted here, a magazine ad there—that our friends at Nokia had something special brewing. A moment ago, all was revealed. Meet the Lumia 928, a new addition to Nokia’s award-winning Windows Phone 8 flagship lineup and its first exclusively for Verizon Wireless. Available in black or white, the phone goes on sale next Thursday for $99.99 (with $50 mail-in rebate and t wo-year contract). Pick one up and for a limited time you’ll also get $25 to shop at the Windows Phone Store, which now has 145,000 apps and games ( read the fine print ). “Verizon Wireless customers: we heard you,” said Matt Rothschild, vice president of Nokia North America. “The wait is over.” One push of its camera button or blast of its speakers and you’ll understand why online buzz around this new Lumia has been building. While the phone sports many of the same innovative features and specs that earned its sibling, the Lumia 920, Smartphone of the Year honors, you can tell Nokia designers wanted to give Verizon’s first flagship a unique spin. (Nokia likes to call it a “new expression” of the Lumia 920). So, for example, the Lumia 928 has a super-fast Xenon flash that makes its 8.7MP PureView camera— widely considered the best low-light camera on the market—even more helpful in dim conditions and for freezing fast-moving objects. The phone also comes preloaded with Nokia’s handy Smart Shoot app for removing photobombers and other spoilers from the picture. The new phone has a 4.5-inch OLED display screen for easier viewing outdoors. The device’s stylish polycarbonate body feels thin and light in the hand, and the glass extends to its very edge—a subtle but slick design touch. Some innovations are less seen than heard. Tucked inside the Lumia 928 are three high-audio-amplitude-capture (HAAC) microphones and a new speaker, which Nokia says is one of the most advanced available for smartphones. These new audio components are designed to record and playback the sound more accurately and with less distortion—all the way up to a whopping 140 decibels (the equivalent ruckus of a jet engine). I can’t wait to hear it take on my AC/DC collection or, say, the new Vyclone collaborative video app that also officially launched today. Need more concrete proof of the Lumia 928’s awesomeness? Check out Nokia's new teaser videos , like the one below shot during a late-night roller coaster ride that compares the 928’s camera with the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S3. And don’t miss all the additional coverage of the new phone—including this hands-on video Nokia put together—on Nokia Conversations , the company’s official blog. http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/wpdev/archive/2013/05/09/inside-windows-phone-windows-phone-and-html5.aspxThu, 09 May 2013 18:41:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:f02b06cb-b48c-4868-a48d-de6b08255a59Larry Lieberman This blog post was authored by Matthias Shapiro , a technical evangelist at Microsoft. - Larry One of the exciting things and lesser known features in Windows Phone development is how it’s the perfect place to develop apps using HTML5. Jeff Burtoft, an HTML5 technical evangelist with Microsoft, joins us this week to talk about the flexibility and cross-platform power of HTML5 in Windows Phone. The in-depth example that we cover in the video is a project called YetiBowl, a standards-compliant HTML5 game that runs flawlessly on the web, as a Windows 8 app, and as a Windows Phone 8 app. For more information, see Developing in HTML5 and Javascript for Windows Phone . http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2013/05/09/lumia-521-hits-walmart-on-saturday-t-mobile-stores-may-22-plus-what-else-can-you-buy-for-under-150-answer-not-much.aspxThu, 09 May 2013 16:33:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:4048a261-49ab-4b9f-b4b1-356104341370Michael Stroh After quickly selling out during its retail debut on Home Shopping Network last month, Nokia’s no contract, sub-$150 Lumia 521 is about to make an even bigger splash. Walmart officially starts selling the phone on Saturday at the insanely low price of $129, although you’ll already find it listed in the retail giant’s online store . (As I wrote this morning, it won’t be the only Windows Phone on Walmart’s shelves, either.) The Microsoft Store , meanwhile, is also planning to start carrying the wallet-friendly phone this weekend for $149.  And T-Mobile announced today that it would start selling the Lumia 521 on May 22. The phone, as you might recall , was designed specifically for T-Mobile and is based on the popular Lumia 520, the most affordable model in Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 lineup. It will be available via the carrier’s retail and online stores for $29.99 down and 24 equal monthly payments of $5 for qualifying customers with T-Mobile’s new Simple Choice Plan . Lumia 521 smartphones sold through T-Mobile also feature its nifty Wi-Fi Calling feature. (If you buy the phone from one of the other outlets listed above, T-Mobile said an over-the-air update will start rolling out May 20 to enable Wi-Fi Calling.) One big reason for all the pre-release buzz and early sales rush: You get a ton of phone for less than $150. The Lumia 521 features a 4-inch touch screen, 5-megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording, and 8 GB of internal storage—expandable to 64 GB via microSD card. Designed for T-Mobile’s 4G HPSA+ network , it comes pre-loaded with great Nokia apps like Music, Cinemagraph, Creative Studio, Panorama, Smart Shoot, and the HERE navigation suite—Drive, Maps, and Transit. Check out Ben Rudolph’s recent hands-on video review for an up-close peek. Finally, I said the Lumia 521 gives you a lot of phone for the money. But that begs the question: What else does $150 buy you these days? To find the answer, Ben, Lucas, and David from the Windows Phone team recently went on a shopping spree for comparably-priced prepaid smartphones. After scouring local stores, they returned to base camp with the Samsung Illusion , Samsung Galaxy Appeal , T-Mobile Prism , and the LG Optimus Elite . Check out their first impressions of how the Nokia Lumia 521 stacks up against these other devices. (In his post-spree bliss, my buddy David gets so excited he even forgets that the Prism also comes with a 2GB memory card—although it doesn’t change his analysis one iota.) Anyway, it’s definitely a fun and instructive watch. http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2013/05/09/huawei-w1-with-windows-phone-8-coming-to-walmart-this-month.aspxThu, 09 May 2013 13:18:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:89cc1621-8c72-4a7e-8cf8-9d6be34b856fMichael Stroh Huawei’s first Windows Phone 8 smartphone—the Huawei W1—is expected to go on sale at Walmart later this month, the company announced today. So keep an eye out. It will be sold in Walmart’s online and retail stores . ( See what other Windows Phone is headed to Walmart.) Already a popular choice among price-savvy smartphone buyers overseas—where it’s known as the Ascend W1—it’s the first time the phone has been offered in the U.S. While Huawei didn’t disclose pricing info today, the phone—which comes in black—will use a no-contract prepaid plan and be priced “competitively,” Huawei’s Michael Chuang said in a statement. “The Huawei W1 brings consumers a truly compelling alternative to what’s currently in the marketplace,” he added. We blogged about this phone when it was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year. It sports a 4-inch 480x800 LCD display with Gorilla Glass, a speedy dual-core 1.2 GHz Snapdragon processor, a 5MP rear-facing camera that captures 720p video, and 1.7 GB of user-available internal storage (expandable to 32GB via microSD card)—all squeezed into a 0.4 inch-thin case. But its secret weapon is its battery life. According to Huawei, the W1 delivers up to 320 hours of standby time (that’s a tad under two straight weeks, folks) thanks to its built-in power-saving technology. After putting the phone through its paces earlier this year, my colleague Ben Rudolph concluded : “If you’re looking to get your first smartphone (or upgrading to Windows Phone from an old iPhone or Android device), the Ascend W1 is going to give you a lot of value for your dollar.” Watch Huawei’s website for more details about the phone and its U.S. rollout. http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2013/05/08/full-res-photo-and-video-backup-now-available-worldwide-for-windows-phone-8.aspxWed, 08 May 2013 21:10:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:35232b60-492f-4e22-93ba-5d8cc2fba625KC Lemson [This post was written by Aaron Sauvé, a senior program manager on the Windows Phone camera and photos team. –KC] One great feature of Windows Phone 8 is its ability to save full-resolution backup copies of your pictures and videos on SkyDrive, Microsoft’s cloud storage service. It’s an option that both helps protect your best shots and also makes them easier to share. But as some of you have noted , that feature wasn’t available in all markets. Until now. Today I am pleased to announce that we’re making the ability to back up full-res photos and videos available everywhere. (We just started to light this up, so be patient if you don’t see it right away. The change could take a few days to roll out around the globe.) To start using the new feature, tap Photos More Settings SkyDrive . Here’s what it looks like visually:   Now, instead of the menu on the left, you’ll now see the one on the right. Just tap Best quality to upload your photos or videos in the highest resolution. One caveat: To save your phone bill, it does require a Wi-Fi connection. ( Learn more about the feature.) Finally, a big thank you to the SkyDrive team, who we’ve worked closely with over the months to make this key feature is available globally. As you can imagine, backing up high-res photos and videos involves a lot of data. To ensure we could provide a quality experience in each market, we deliberately took things slow and planned a staged roll out of the feature. I’d love to hear your thoughts about this or anything else related to the camera and photos experience on Windows Phone. --Aaron http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2013/05/08/ubisoft-s-hit-game-monster-burner-is-here-and-it-s-free.aspxWed, 08 May 2013 16:47:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:403ef1b3-0c01-4dc6-b5f8-b1ef5da20e78Michael Stroh Protecting castles from marauding monsters is the idea behind Monster Burner, Ubisoft’s fast-paced, highly-rated hit that just arrived in the Windows Phone Store. The game, which runs on both Windows Phone 7.5 and 8 devices, is free. So there’s no reason not to give it a spin. Download it now There isn’t much of a learning curve here: Your task is to torch every (admittedly cute) creature in sight by slinging fireballs and conjuring fire spells. The game is a nice blend of high-energy arcade and strategic puzzle solving. One nice touch: The built-in kids mode, which ratchets down the difficulty level but not the pace of the action, making it perfect for the preschool set. But my favorite thing about Monster Burner is that a typical game is all over in a matter of minutes, so it’s one of those titles that you can pick up or put it down whenever you’d like; a great way to shorten the wait at Starbucks or your next doctor’s appointment.