5 points developers should know about WinRT/Windows 8

Most of us already started developing for WinRT, so it make sense to have a better understanding of the run time. I am listing down few points with respect to WinRT, mainly from a developer’s perspective.

Read those 5 points here

Getting started with Metro Elements: Chart controls

Not long ago we released the beta version of Metro Elements – a suite of controls for WinRT. Currently we provide a set of powerful charting controls and a date-time picker with flexible formatting. We also have many more controls currently under development which will be released throughout the next couple of months. In this blog post I’m going to walk you though getting started with using Metro Elements. In particular, we will look at adding a couple of charts to an application and populate them with data. If you would like to follow along but don’t have the beta yet, you can download it for free from here.

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Create an Appointment Tracking App with RadDatePicker & RadTimePicker

We all have a variety of uses for collecting Date and Time information from a user. For example, tracking the time a patient arrives and departs from a hospital, to when a car was returned at a local car rental location to tracking expense reports. One of the controls that you may have found missing with Windows 8 XAML applications is the Date/Time Picker control. While the control exists for Windows 8 HTML Applications, it is very limited in its initial state. That is one of the reasons that Telerik has decided to make a more robust Date/Time Picker control and in this blog post we will explain how to use it in a simple app that keeps track of important appointments. So buckle up and let’s get started.

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Using WinJS & WinRT to build a fun HTML5 Camera Application for Windows 8 (2/4)

Using WinJS & WinRT to build a fun HTML5 Camera Application for Windows 8 (1/4)

In this second tutorial, we’re going to add support for video recording. The first step will then to work on the UI to let the user choosing between photo & video mode. Then we will add the JavaScript code that will let you recording some videos. Finally, we will add a cool slide effect with CSS3 animations to provide a visual feedback to the user while taking some photos/videos. As a reminder, this tutorial is part of this series:

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Windows 8 App Challenge: Microsoft Australia giving away 50 x $1,000 Windows RT tablets

Australian developers, start your Windows 8 app engines.

Attendees of the Microsoft TechEd Australia 2012 conference over the next couple of days will have the opportunity to win one of 50 Windows RT tablets for submitting three Windows 8 apps to the Windows Store by October 1.

The $50,000 AUD contest (50 x Windows RT tablet each worth $1,000) starts today on September 10 and closes three weeks later on October 1. During this time, the developer must create an Australian Windows Store account, submit three Windows 8 applications, complete a virtual lab session and email Microsoft Australia with their apps.

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The Windows Store Submission Process

I recently got access to the Windows Store, and submitted my first app, “The game of Bao”, a simple and fun board game I learned when we visited Malawi, Africa during our honeymoon (any money the game makes will be donated back to an organization working on improving the lives of the kids that taught us this game, so please be kind and play it a lot and give some great reviews :-).

I recorded the steps that I have had to go through so you can see what you need to have ready if you need to submit an app yourself.

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WinRT: Creating an Image Collage in C#

Collage - is a technique of art production, primarily used in the visual arts, where the artwork is made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ~ Source Wikipedia

I imagined the process would be straightforward but the fact is I found a couple of gotchas that I was able to overcome eventually. In this post, we will see how we can stitch together a series of images to build a collage. Let’s jump right in.

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How to find an element in a DataTemplate in WinRT/XAML

Here’s one way to find a named element in a DataTemplate in XAML in Windows 8 XAML.

You might try FindName to discover it doesn’t work. That’s because it’s not recursive.

So, I created a simple extension method to do the same thing

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Windows 8 Apps With HTML5 Published in Visual Studio Magazine (September 2012)

I have a new cover story article published in print and online in Visual Studio Magazine today called, “Windows 8 Apps With HTML5”. If you're an experienced Web developer, you'll love the new Windows Store options to use HTML5/JavaScript/CSS3 to build an application that works in the Windows 8 UI. Here's a step-by-step guide to getting started.

See below for more information and a link to the online article in case you don’t get a print copy.

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