Using the Metro Share Contract With Custom Data

In a few months Windows 8 will be released.  This is an exciting, reimagining of the Windows operating system.  With this new operating system comes a new application paradigm.  Metro applications are optimized for tablets device.  These new applications operate in a restrictive,  sandbox environment.  This is part of the security that is intended to keep user’s systems safe.  Windows developers are used to being able to access all parts of the system when developing their applications. So sharing data between applications is as easy as posting the data to a common location that both applications can access.  This could include a local database. This is not possible with Metro applications.

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Using UDP sockets to connect a Windows 8 Metro style app to a .NET Micro Framework device: Part 2

Using UDP sockets to connect a Windows 8 Metro style app to a .NET Micro Framework device: Part 1

The .NET Gadgeteer endpoint

Currently, you need Visual Studio 2010 to develop .NET Gadgeteer projects. If you have a Gadgeteer (or other .NET Micro Framework device) you probably already know that. So, set up a new .NET Gadgeteer Project named GadgeteerUdpDemo.

Module setup

As is typical, I've included the T35 display and the UsbClientDP modules in my circuit. The display is optional, but certainly helps for debugging or when you want to see the IP address on bootup. In addition, there's one MulticolorLed module and the ethernet module. The LED module is there to provide something for us to command, and the ethernet module is there to talk to the Windows 8 machine.



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Serializing and deseralizing objects using XMLSerializer to StorageFile and LocalFolder using generics and async/await threading

This one was a hard one! I just couldn’t find ANY working examples of how to serialize and deserialize objects to local storage or local file. And it should be so simple, right? Well, here is an example app as always – enjoy

Serializing and deseralizing objects to local storage/ local file using generics and async/await threading

Problem:
Your app has to work offline as well and you are looking for a way to store smaller amount of data. You would like to serialize objects to a the local storage in a local file.

Some requriements applicable from Application Profile Survey:
Networking: behaves well offline and while on intermittent internet connection…
Performance: rely on local data as much as possible…

The sample app can be downloaded here
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Converting StorageFiles (png) to a Byte[] in order to display as an Image in WinRT (C#)

When you are building Metro Applications it will be very common that your application will have image (.png) files stored in local isolated storage and that you will want to show these images to the users inside your application.  In this post I am going to walk you though how to access these stored files and how to show them inside your XAML application.

Step 1: How to access the Storage File

var packageLocation = Windows.ApplicationModel.Package.Current.InstalledLocation;
var assetsFolder = await packageLocation.GetFolderAsync("Assets");
StorageFile myImage = await assetsFolder.GetFileAsync("myFile.png");
 
// We now have our StorageFile to work with

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Metro, Direct2D and XAML – Burst of Performance in Windows 8

Now that Windows 8 Release Preview is out we are eager to explore the new framework and the features it offers. While part of it is the good old XAML, there are plenty of other unique features, one of them being the DirectX integration at XAML level. While XAML is a great technology and offers literally unlimited features regarding layout and UI richness, sometimes there are cases where we need to push the framework beyond its limits in order to achieve highly-performing components with responsive and fluid user interaction. Although in most cases writing efficient algorithms and using the proper data structures will be enough to achieve the desired performance, there are scenarios where extensive UI scenes are rendered frequently and the density of the updated pixels is high. So I was most excited by the opportunity to present Direct2D content directly in XAM and started a research on how it actually works and how the performance is affected.

WinRT is a brand new framework and there is little to no information over the Internet about Direct2D and XAML integration, so I decided to summarize my efforts and to hopefully help other people who are doing the same tests. In this post I will show you a simple C++ demo that uses Direct2D and a SurfaceImageSource instance to render a Polyline with 5000 points. Microsoft has done a great job with introducing three different entry points where DirectX content may be directly embedded in a XAML application. The demo also compares the same scenario implemented with a XAML Polyline shape.

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Making money with your apps through the Windows Store

Currently, all the apps that are available in the Windows Store are free for customers to acquire—keeping with the preview nature of the Windows 8 releases to date. At Windows 8 RTM (Release To Manufacturing), all developers signing up for a company account and living in one of the supported countries will be able to publish and offer paid apps.

 

How app pricing works

You, as the developer of the app, are always in control of the pricing of your app. When you onboard your app, you set its price (and the price of any in-app offers that your app provides) by selecting a price tier. Price tiers range from $1.49 to $999.99; you can see the entire list of price tiers on the Dev Center. The currency you pick for the price tier is based on the currency the Windows Store supports in the country you signed up from.

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Windows 8 Metro app of Imagine Cup 2012

The world’s toughest problems will be addressed one solution at a time. In its 10th year, the Microsoft Imagine Cup brings together students from around the world who are stepping up to the challenge of leading global change. For Imagine Cup 2012, students selected from three competitions; Software Design, Game Design: Xbox/Windows, and Game Design: Phone, but these weren't their only opportunities to compete. They also had the opportunity to share their world-changing ideas in the Kinect Fun Labs Challenge, Windows Metro Style App Challenge, Windows Azure Challenge or Windows Phone Challenge. This application showcases the finalists for all eight competitions, highlighting their projects, the teams and even the students and where they're from.

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Creating a Zoomable ScrollViewer with ZoomSnapPoints in WinRT XAML

The Metro/WinRT XAML ScrollViewer by default allows to zoom in on its contents. That is because its ZoomMode property defaults to “Enabled”. I think in most cases it is actually not the desired behavior and you might want to set ZoomMode to ZoomMode.Disabled. I do understand though that this makes the feature more discoverable and does not hurt much while potentially getting users familiar with the new paradigm of quickly scrolling by zooming that is also displayed in the SemanticZoom control.

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Metro Applications - FAQ

With the advent of Microsoft Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and Office 2013, Microsoft is now all about Metro UI and Metro Apps. And when Windows 8 will be released, everybody will be developing or talking about Metro apps. But what is a Metro app and how to build these apps? There are many questions in the mind of many developers. Let’s just find answers for few of them in this blog post. 

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