Detect CPU architecture at runtime for Windows 8 Store Apps

  If you are developing an application for the Windows 8 Store it is very important that you test it on an ARM device (Surface RT, Asus VivoTab RT, Dell XPS 10,etc.) before sending it into certification. You will probably have some bad surprises and not everything that was fast&fluid on your development machine will continue to be so on an ARM device (the list scroll performance reminds me of the first version of Windows Phone)....

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C# XAudio2 Sound Playback for Windows Phone

     Let's begin with a small introduction to XAudio2:     XAudio2 is a low-level audio API. It provides a signal processing and mixing foundation for games that is similar to its predecessors, DirectSound and XAudio. XAudio2 is the replacement for both DirectSound and XAudio.     XAudio2 abstracts audio generation by separating sound data from "voice", allowing each voice to be filtered...

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Using indexOf method on array in server side JavaScript

Sometime back I was trying to use indexOf method on an Array object in server-side JavaScript (SSJS) code. But it was giving me error that indexOf method is not defined. I also couldn't find this method in help documentation. It was then it struck me that the implementation indexOf method in client side JavaScript itself is a bit fuzzy with Internet Explorer not supporting it. It can be defined using prototype property.I found a simple solution here which implements the method. Just add the below code snippet to your SSJS code and then...

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Charging pattern on HTC One X

My HTC One X has a pattern in which it charges itself.In the above screenshot of my battery usage you can see that from 10% battery level to 60% battery level my phone charges at a constant rate. But from 60% up till around 75% this rate dramatically drops and it takes much longer to charge. Then picks up again until around 90% and afterwards it charges very quickly. I don't know why does this happen and what is its significance. I contacted HTC...

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Some business customers invited to test new BlackBerry 10 platform

If you're lucky, you may be one of the 120 select customers from 64 Fortune 500 companies to beta test the BlackBerry 10 smartphone, which is set to make a worldwide debut on the 30th of January. The new BlackBerry Hub experience is waiting for your reactions.The by-invitation-only program starts today and includes participants from financial, government, insurance healthcare, manufacturing and media. It is design to give early adopters a real-life...

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New features in HTC One X after Jelly Bean update

Some time back I updated my HTC One X to Jelly Bean (JB) using OTA update. The update takes your Android version to 4.1.1 and Sense to 4+.Its been almost a 2 weeks with this update and the most noticeable improvement I can see is of battery usage. My phone lasts 1-2 hours more than it used to before. Well done HTC! There also some additions (and deletions) which I am going to describe here. Now I not an Android expert so...

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Smart watches connecting to smartphones could be next big thing

I have been feeling a little like Dick Tracy lately, as I walked around with a Sony SmartWatch on my arm. There is a certain cool factor about this device, which was on loan from Verizon Wireless. The SmartWatch functions as an extension of your Andriod smartphone or tablet and will allow you to read text messages and view social network updates, as well as check the time and date. The latter should be a "duh" moment; of course it'll give you the...

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Making internet pass-through work after updating HTC One X to Jelly Bean

Update 22 Jan 2013: "HTC Sync" seems to have been discontinued so the download links given below will not work. "HTC Sync" is different from "HTC Sync Manager". For exact difference read on.I recently upgraded my HTC One X to Jelly Bean via OTA update. After updating I was unable to use internet pass-through which used to work flawlessly before and I already had HTC Sync installed on my PC. I uninstalled, installed, uninstalled again and installed...

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Bluetooth Service's UUIDs

If you are developing on Windows Phone 8 and trying to communicate with a Bluetooth device using a StreamSocket these UUID's might come in handy:ServiceDiscoveryServerServiceClassID= '{00001000-0000-1000-8000-00805F9B34FB}';BrowseGroupDescriptorServiceClassID = '{00001001-0000-1000-8000-00805F9B34FB}';PublicBrowseGroupServiceClass = '{00001002-0000-1000-8000-00805F9B34FB}';SerialPortServiceClass = '{00001101-0000-1000-8000-00805F9B34FB}';LANAccessUsingPPPServiceClass = '{00001102-0000-1000-8000-00805F9B34FB}';DialupNetworkingServiceClas =...

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Nokia 206 brings new technology, design to classic feature phone

The feature phone is not dead. Nokia is bringing new life to these guys from "back in the day" with their announcement of the Nokia 206 today. So long live the alphanumeric keyboard. This classic design has a 2.4-inch display and comes in single and dual-SIM versions. The camera is nothing to brag about at 1.3 megapixels and it also has video capture. But the camera is optimized for sharing pictures - let's say on Facebook - at around 700KB....

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Adding caption to image in form

When you add an image on to your form in Lotus Notes you can specify a caption for that image. In the image properties you will find this option along with where do you want to position this caption.I usually use this technique to put text on fancy button images. So with just one image resource I can have multiple buttons with each having different text on it. You can even change the font by clicking on the image and then setting font properties...

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Samsung Galaxy S III, Motorola Photon Q near perfection

I have been in smartphone wonderland for the past few weeks. C Spire Wireless took me there with the Samsung Galaxy S III and the Motorola Photon Q. Both of these devices are on C Spire's 4G LTE network. I could stop right here and say these smartphones are what dreams are made of, but you need to know the details. With one in each pocket , I found myself reaching for either the Galaxy S III or the Photon Q, depending on what I was doing. Galaxy...

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BlackBerry 10 launch set for Jan. 30; new smartphones unveiled

The BlackBerry 10 interface will include a new feature that will divide the screen into a "Personal" and "Work" display of apps and data. The BlackBerry 10 launch is scheduled for Jan. 30, where Research in Motion, the smartphone's maker, will unveil the first two BlackBerry 10 Smartphones that will run on the new platform. This is what a lot of BlackBerry fans have been patiently waiting for, as the iPhone, Android devices and now Windows Phone...

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Drag out file links from download control to save just like in Gmail

Google adds a lot of interesting features in it products. One of them is dragging a file link in your Gmail on to your desktop (or a folder) to download it. This article on CSS Ninja explains exactly how it is done.We can also put this feature in our download control so that each file link can be dragged on to your folder to start download without going through save dialog.Step 1: Identifying the file links in a download controlThis is actually pretty simple. XPages by default sets the class name of the file links in download control to xspLinkFileDownload....

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Franklin Wireless 4G modem a champ with providing Wi-Fi signal

Finally, I can say that I was able to access the Internet at the grandparents house, a low-tech enclave best known as a weekend getaway, along with a dose of tranquility. As relaxing as it is, there is no available Wi-Fi signal within range of the comfortable couches in the family room. So the lack of being connected to the world was bothering us until I discovered the Franklin Wireless USB Modem from C Spire Wireless. Let’s bump it up a bit and...

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Getting resources in database as stream in XPages (SSJS / Java)

Some time back I was trying to get the resources in database (to be precise image resource) in my SSJS / Java code. I tried a lot of options like ClassLoader.getResourceAsStream, MyClass.class.getResourceAsStream but no success. Then today while going through the sample database of Extension Library I ran into a piece of code which got the image resource as stream using a single line of code.var inStream:java.io.InputStream = facesContext.getExternalContext().getResourceAsStream("<RESOURCE NAME>"); As simple as that. In case of Java you would...

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iPad Mini arrives to battle other 7-inch tablets for dominance

Now that the iPad Mini has finally been unveiled, the real question is how it will fare among all the other small tablets on the market. Apple has given us a mini version of previous iPads, with an A5 dual-core chip, a 7.9-inch display, and a starting price of $329 for the 16 GB version. For the 32 GB and 64 GB models, you’ll need $429 and $529 for the latter. It also has a 10-hour battery life, LTE network capability, updated Wi-Fi performance,...

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Using dijit.form.CheckBox in check box group in XPages

dijit.form.CheckBox adds a fancy styling to the plain check box, which I love. Adding it to a single check box is pretty straight forward. Just set the dojoType property of the check box to dijit.form.CheckBox. But in case of check box group its not that straight forward.When a check box group is rendered in browser it is rendered inside <fieldset> tag. So setting the dojoType property doesn't give the desired result. You need to set the dojoType property individually on each of the check boxes in the group. Fortunately, all the...

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Windows 8 is coming; upgrading or a new device will need a plan

Windows 8 will be available for sale on Oct. 26 and can be pre-ordered now. So it’s time to start thinking about your game plan for upgrading your existing computers or pondering what kind of device you’ll want in a new purchase. But there is some confusion about which version of Windows 8 will work for you and the price you’ll pay, along with a long list of choices for new Windows 8 hardware coming down the pikes. Windows 8 will be available...

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Japan's SoftBank in talks to acquire 70% stake in Sprint Nextel

SoftBank Corp. was founded Sept. 3, 1981, with headquarters in the Higashi-shimbashi area of Minato-ku, Tokyo. Masayoshi Son is chairman and CEO. A deal is in the works for SoftBank Corp,. a Japanese telecommunications conglomerate, to acquire a 70 percent in Sprint Nextel, the number three mobile company in the United States, behind AT&T and Verizon. This could be the ship coming in for Sprint, as SoftBank will put $12.1 billion on the table...

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BlackBerry 10 developers hard at work on apps for new platform

As we wait on the BlackBerry 10 platform to arrive sometime early in 2013, Research In Motion says the developers are hard at work creating apps for the new upcoming devices. Developers have been issued 5,000 BlackBerry Dev Alpha test devices to put their apps through the paces on various BlackBerry 10 projects. We can expect apps from Cisco, Foursquare, Sencha, Gameloft, HalfBrick Studios, Madfinger Games, Funkol and others when the magic time...

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Farseer Physics for Windows Store Apps using Monogame

  Last week I did a session on porting XNA Windows Phone 7.x games to Windows Store apps using MonoGame. I have to thank Dean Ellis from the MonoGame project team for all the help.  While XNA is not a framework directly supported by Microsoft for Windows Store apps the current version of MonoGame is compatible with Windows 8 and, the most important thing, the applications pass the WACK. There are already several games available in the Windows Store developed using MonoGame (Armed, Skiddy, Rune Legend and I guess there are more).  ...

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Error of "Invalid field name" while saving form

While working on a legacy Lotus Notes client based application, I did some modifications on a form but while trying to save it I was getting error message "Invalid field name" and the form simply refused to be saved. I checked all the field names trying to find out any invalid character amongst them, but no luck.So I went to my faithful old friend — Google. And it took me to this discussion on Notes/Domino 8.5 Forum where a user was having the same issue. He resolved it by removing and adding existing sections. Why it happened, he didn't know.Continue...

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Facebook gets a 'Like' from one billion users; offers 'thanks' to us all

Facebook's announcement of reaching one billion users each month was the biggest "like" of their existence. This was big enough for CEO Mark Zuckerberg to sign his name at the top of the news release. He wanted to give a big "thank you for giving me and my little team the honor of serving you." I say "well done" to Zuckerberg for having the vision and innovation to make Facebook what it is today. But the toughest part is probably still yet to come,...

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