WP7 Barcode Scanning using ZXing and Microsoft.Phone.Media.Extended

     When I first saw this blog post from Kevin Marshall it crossed my mind that it could be used for barcode scanning in order to get the same user experience you have on Android and iPhone. I've contacted Kevin to give me some details/source code for the project and a few days ago he sent me his project that is already posted on his blog here. Kevin also thought of the possibility to use it for barcode scanning, but his sample works only with QR codes. Looking at the project I saw that he was using VideoCamera class that has no...

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DropBox library for Windows Phone 7

    So here it is.... I finally published the DropBox client library on CodePlex. It is a fully functional Dropbox client library for Windows Phone 7 and it is the same I've used to build BoxFiles. The first version of BoxFiles received a pretty bad review from http://wmpoweruser.com as it was using only the official API that doesn't have any method for generating links to files (the only way to open a file in Windows Phone 7), but after some searching I've found the API and I think that the current version (1.3) is...

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A phone lifetime: an epic battle between Microsoft and OEM

     Looking back at my blog it seems pretty dead, but I intend to catch up as I am on vacation traveling to Brazil and Bolivia so I have some spare time for writing. It's more than a month since I finished the Dropbox client library (that I will soon post on Codeplex) and also Boxfiles for Dropbox which is the application I am trying to publish on the Marketplace. The whole publishing process was (still is as the app is not yet certified) quite an adventure and even with the support of Microsoft Italy, which I thank, it can take...

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Telerik RadControls for Windows Phone 7

     I am really happy that Telerik decided to develop controls for WP7. I have been using their silverlight controls since 2007 and they always added great controls. You can already download and try the CTP from the following this link . Even if it's just a CTP there are already many useful controls (Animation, DatePicker, DockPanel, PhoneApplicationFrame, DockPanel, TimePicker, Transition Control, UniformGrid, Window, WrapPanel, LayoutTransform, PickerBox, InfiniteListBox) . I would love to see a ProgressIndicator also...

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The Mobile Developer Journey

You have to look at the full size im...

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How to localize The Title in a WP7 Silverlight application

This is a really interesting post by Pietro Brambati. It combines C++ and Silverlight projects:http://blogs.msdn.com/b/pietrobr/archive/2010/11/01/how-to-localize-the-title-in-a-wp7-silverlight-application.a...

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WP7 on HTC HD2

Looks like there is hope on getting WP7 running on HD2 thank to Cotulla (you can follow his progress on Twitter http://twitter.com/CotullaCode )http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f_NJatLVQkIn this case HTC HD2 will become the first phone that runs WM 6.5, Android 2.2 and WP 7.NAMA...

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25 years

It's impressive how things have changed in 25 years.1983http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVtxEA7AEHg2007http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Z7eal4...

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WP7 Multi-language v2

 While working on my WP7 app I had to improve the multi-language library I've posted earlier on my blog http://sviluppomobile.blogspot.com/2010/06/wp7-multilanguage-app-proof-of-concept.html.What's new in v2:The LanguageSingleton class has now resources that can be accessed using an indexed property. In the published sample the Save messagebox uses the indexed property lang["MainPage.Messages.saved"] ) The LanguageSingleton...

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WP7 Device The End of the First Contact

            Today I got an email from Microsoft Italia telling me that I have to send back the test device :(. I think the main reason is that I was not able to deliver an App in short time, but it's not like I didn't tried. September was a crazy month with all my client coming back from holidays and start calling so the only time I had to develop was at night so the results were not as I expect them to be . Anyway I improved a lot the multi-language module (I will post later on the blog the new...

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WP7 Ads

Definitely not the best way to promote Windows Phone 7: WP7 Ad 1WP7 Ad 2 The sad part it's that somebody (hope not Microsoft) paid for this ads when it's common sense that this is a cr...

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WP7 Application Settings on IsolatedStorage

I'm starting to put together pieces for my WP7 application and one of the features I needed is to save/load application settings. There is already an integrated mechanism using IsolatedStorageSettings.ApplicationSettings, but I've implemented it using an XML file located on the IsolatedStorage. The main reason why I don't use the default one is because I want to upload/backup the file to DropBox or SkyDrive making it possible to share the same settings...

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WP7 Deploy Db as Content File

Some readers asked me about the possibility to use a database file deployed as Content with the project. Using the file directly from the content folder it is not possible as we do not have read/write access to content files. In fact if we use only the silverlight assemblies we don't have access to any content file. The solution is to use TitleContainer.Openstream from Microsoft.Xna.Framework (a reference should be added manually to your project) to read the content file and then save it to the IsolatedStorage. Once we have the file on IsolatedStorage...

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WP7 Device Test Day One

Today was my first day of testing a WP7 device as my primary phone. Got the device on Monday, but being a really crazy week, I only got time to configure it today. Still have to install this weekend the development environment(I hope that tomorrow they will release the RTM also for the test devices cause I have a "clean" install of VS 2010 and I would like to keep it that way). The device is the LG and the build is the one that works with the beta tools. In the past two days knowing that I don't have time to use/configure it I did some tests...

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Get Monotouch with 15% discount

Apple decided to take out the restrictions introduced in the iOS Developer Program earlier this year making Monotouch a "SAFE" environment to develop apps for iOS. Novell is celebrating this decision by offering a 15% discount on Monotouch for the next two weeks. If you are interested just use the discount code "MONO-331" on http://monotouch.net/St...

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I hate marketing people

This post was not planned, but I have to write about it. The only reason I am not buying the iPhone 4 is the price. Today, watching the Apple presentation from 1st of September, got another confirmation. The new iPod Touch 32GB, that even Steve Jobs calls an iPhone without the phone and seems to have the exact same hardware of the iPhone, costs (in Italy) 309 Euros. The iPhone4 on the other hand 32GB costs 779 Euro, so 479 Euro for the Skyworks SKY77541/42 GSM module. That's why I hate marketing people: they decide. If they say the product...

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C# for Mobile Development

A long time without blogging but I have some ideas for my next two posts (will be on Windows Mobile). Today I wanted to talk about developing on mobile platforms. Two weeks ago I joined the Monodroid preview version. So in this moment a C# developer is able to develop on all 3 major mobile platforms (Microsoft, Apple and Google). My personal opinion on each of the development platforms: I will start with Android and Monodroid which is the newest arrived. The integration with Visual Studio 2010 is fabulous (they plan to integrate with MonoDevelop...

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Smartphone Market

I saw today the Gartner chart with the smartphone market shares for the Q2 2010. What really impressed me was the "jump" Android did:What it is interesting is that the iOS won 1% which I think it's the 1% RIM lost but everyone else lost market shares in favor of Google. Looks like it doesn't matter if you have the best OS on the market today(iOs) , but it's better to be "open" - good adoption from the hardware makers, a lot of developers/fans...

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WP7 Device Tests

No I didn't got lucky to have a dev device of my own. Last Wednesday I attended the WP7 Lab event in Milano and everyone wanted a dev device. We even tried to bribe Lorenzo to "forget" some devices in the bar, but as there was only 3 devices available and he had the same event the next day in Rome we didn't got lucky. Anyway I've spent some quality time meeting new people and testing the Samsung and LG dev. phones.The first project that I've tested was the SqliteClient. Could be my impression, but there is a big difference between how an application...

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WP7 ZXing Barcode

First of all I want to express my regret that I am not one of the 3.000 developers that received a WP 7 developer device (I read somewhere that there are more than 3.000 users that use Facebook from WP7). I really hoped to have a "real" device, but that's the way the cookie crumbles... This weekend I had two days of WP 7 fun. What I've wanted to see was the use of ZXing in WP 7. There is already a C# port of the library in the ZXing trunk....

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WP7 SqliteClient with transaction support

I've updated the preview and implemented the transaction-commit-rollback mechanism. For 1050 rows the results are:Without transaction: 13.088 secUsing transaction: 0.474 secFor more rows you will get even better results.The link to the project is the one from the previous postEnjoy the updateNAMA...

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WP7 SqliteClient Preview

WP7 developer devices are already out in the US and I still hope I will qualify for one here in Italy. I would really love to test one. Brandon PLEASE don't forget me :) As my proposal was a better port of the Sqlite engine I did some optimizing on the engine and also implemented/adapted a SqliteClient that is easier to use than normal sqlite3 commands. At the "engine" part I use the journal file persistent this way the engine doesn't...

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WP7 IsolatedStorage speed improvement

If you remember some time ago I did some tests on the IsolatedStorage and the speed was not very impressive (it was 127 slower than the FileStream). In the new beta version there is a TREMENDOUS improvement. I rerun the old test in the new emulator and these are the results: Dividing the two values 0.0632/1.1866=0.0532 which is almost the same with FileStream. At this point it does make sense implementing/porting a database engine on IsolatedStorage....

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Compact Framework Network Printing

As usual a lot of time without posting but I had no time. I am really excited about the beta tools of WP7 (2 days ago I felt asleep while installing the beta cause the only time I have is after 11 p.m.). I also did some improvements on the Sqlite port but I will post it as soon as it will be usable (I plan to compare the performance with Perst even if it's a different approach). I am posting this because I lost almost two days and maybe someone that needs it will find it right away. My task was some labeling process using MC9090 devices and...

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WP7 Suggestions

Today at Remix I had the opportunity to play for the first time with a WP7 device (it was an LG flashed with a build from last week that includes the XBOX Live hub) . The device looks nice and pretty responsive. Playing with the LG there are some suggestions that came me to mind and that could be implemented (improvements from my point of view):In the call answer menu in the current build there is a big image and two small buttons (Answer and Deny I think) . There is a lot of space for more functionality. One would be the ability to deny a call...

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WP7 Device Request

What better time to blog than during a conference (I am attending ReMIX in Milano). As every Windows Mobile developer out there I would love to have a test device before the official launch. So when I read the post of Brandon Watson about the availability of developer devices in July I've "spammed" him with a message on Facebook and he put me in contact with Microsoft Italia. Today I had the pleasure to talk with Lorenzo Barbieri which told me that it will be difficult (almost impossible) to have a test device without an application proposal that...

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WP7 Marketplace Limit download size over 3G

I was looking at the Teched sessions and one of the aspects that cut my interest was the limit for application download using 3G network (maximum 20MB). It's a choice that Apple made and from my experience with the end user they are loosing clients for some applications. For example A friend of mine that owns an iPhone, uses it, loves it but is not able to connect it to a PC via iTunes. It's not said that somebody that will own a WP7 will also know how to connect it to a PC (it's a sad reality but it's like this). A lot of people will buy a "trendy"...

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WP7 Multilanguage App Proof Of Concept

For quite a while I wanted to write this post but always the same problem NO TIME. There is nothing innovative, but it's something that you might need/use in your apps. As you know I am romanian, I live in Italy and I usually develop in english :). So we usually add multilingual support to our solutions. The way we did it in previous version of Windows Mobile(Phone) is using xml files. I've implemented this mechanism slightly changed for WP7. I've...

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WP7 Need for list with integrated search

A lot of time since my last post, but it's a really busy period. This is a small "inconvenient" when you own a small and have a lot of projects. I would love to have more time for blogging. This will be a small post...Maybe you've already read about this on other blogs, but seem that there are some lucky developers that can already develop/test/debug on a real device.First of all ... I WANT ONE TOO :) Maybe we will get lucky and the guys XDA (especiallyDA_G) will be able to port the leaked Mondrian ROM to other devices. It would be even nicer...

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WP7 Memory Requirements

Finally some time for blogging. Let's go to the subject...The new "unlocked" image gives the possibility to do some tests of how much memory does WP7 eat as OS and also how much memory the developed apps occupy. The emulator starts with 77 MB occupied. To understand how much that changed in comparison to previous versions I started all the other emulators I have installed on my development system and this is the result:Not so bad... The memory requirement...

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WP7 Build 6176 "Unlocked"

A long time without blogging but it was a really full period. I would love to have more time for writing and testing, but I have some "stressing" deadlines. As you probably know Microsoft released the new version of the Windows Phone 7 Development tools and there is a new version of the emulator. The old "unlock method" still works and there is already an unlocked version on XDA Developers and you can download the image here. The new version of the bin doesn't work on the old XDE emulator because there seem to be some changes in XDE hardware...

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WP7 IsolatedStorage Backup/Restore

One of the drawbacks of the WP7 Emulator is that it doesn't save the state between sessions and also it is difficult to deploy a file with your project and then use it. This means that every time you start a new session of the emulator you loose all the data on the IsolatedStorage. I've developed a small solution (there is room for improvement) for backing-up and restoring the files (folder structure included) of the IsolatedStorage. It is...

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WP7 IsolatedStorage Speed

I was wondering if it makes any sense fully implementing SQLite on IsolatedStorage as the "quality" of the db support will depend a lot on the speed of of the storage. I read on some posts that the speed of IsolatedStorage was a problem, but I've wanted to compare it with the speed of the Filestream. The problem is that you cannot compare the two directly so I had the idea to compare both of them with another "item" that is available on both systems....

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iPhone Printing using MonoTouch - Proof of concept

Printing from the iPhone (also iPad I presume) it's not an impossible task (as it is in WP7 for the moment). It can be done using a network printer connected to the device using wireless radio (infrastructure or Ad hoc mode). As there is no internal driver for printing developers will have to write an interface to the printer. The "task" is pretty big as there are many programming languages for printers: HP PCL5, Epson ESC/P, PostScript, Zebra Programming Language, ASCII printers and many more. Using socket programing available in MonoTouch it...

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WP7 CTP SDK or HOW TO GET THE DEVELOPERS FRUSTRATED

Initially this post was about WP7 Printing. Two days ago I thought that it would be nice to write about printing from WP 7 and iPhone and the only "compatible" that I could think of was using a WiFi printer (on the iPhone the bluetooth stack doesn't have implemented the SPP and you have to hack it ). It's something I've already did years ago in Compact Framework when I wasn't using PrinterCE or PrintCe and wanted to share it cause it is a new beginning and at some point in a small business application you will need to print something. (it was...

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MacBook, Windows 7 & MonoTouch

Last Friday I got myself a MacBook (it is my first one) and I gotta say that I am pretty impressed with the performance. I made the investment after seeing that it's not good to "invest" everything in just one mobile platform (in a dynamic market it's important to adapt). The first two things that I've done was to install MonoTouch trial (for iPhone development) and Windows 7 (for WP7 and Silverlight development). In W7 with all the drivers installed I have a 5.2 rating which is far better than my 2 year old laptop that I've paid 1.200 Euro (the...

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Good strategy Microsoft

The more I think about it the more I am convinced that Microsoft intentionally let the "trace" in the registry so someone could easily restore the functionality (they are creating the links and then delete them but they could have just released the registry without any link inside). Imagine if Microsoft would have released the emulator with everything enabled the first instinct would have been to say that around 60% of the functionality is not implemented so bad publicity. Instead they lightly "obfuscate" the ROM and leave the key in a file that...

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WP7 Design - Application List

The second design aspect I want to talk about is the Application list. It is a functionality that was never "revolutionized" and in the CTP of WP 7 it is worst than the honeycomb interface in WM 6.5 (I am referring to functionality not design).On the WM 6.5 there are 12 icons on a page and on WP 7 there are only 10 meaning almost 20% less icons. My Omnia II has 5 "pages"of icons without installing any program which would translate in 7 "pages" on...

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WP7 Design - Call & End Call buttons

This post and the next one will have nothing to do with development but will be about design choices that Microsoft made for WP 7 and I don't like. The first one is the decision to eliminate Call and End call hardware buttons in favor of Back and Search buttons. It is a strange choice to me (maybe someone could explain to me why) because the buyer is mainly buying a phone so it will mainly use it for calling. Sure the iPhone has only one button...

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BlockDevice

Looks like I was terrible wrong about the drivers part. BlockDevice is a totally different thing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_device#Block_devices So if you are playing around for making the SharedFolder work forget about my idea. Thanks Arktro...

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Net CF 3.5 .exe on WP 7

I asked myself: would it be possible to run an executable compiled with NETCF 3.5 run on WP 7?The answer is very simple: NO for device applications MAYBE for console applications. The reason? There is no System.Windows.Forms library in .NETCF 3.7. Maybe a native application could run but you have to consider that's a new shell in WP 7 so some things changed. For netcf apps even if you could install the old NETCF it will still not work because the shell is different.The only solution would be to install the old shell, but doesn't make any sense...

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WP7 Emulator "Unlocked" - How to

As I promised I will explain shortly how I did it. It was simple. I began with the dump XDA member l2tp did. I mainly looked at the registry file default.hv (as you can see in my other posts) and found the section were they are blocking the applications.So I eliminated the entries in the blacklist, but I also searched the guid presented in the list in the other registry files (.rgu) and also took it out from them.Then there was the section HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Settings...

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