Finally the “MCTS: Microsoft Silverlight 4 Development (70-506) Certification Guide” book authored by Johnny Tordgeman is available in the market. I was the Technical Reviewer of this book along with Evan Hutnick, who works as a Developer Evangelist at Telerik.

 

In short, this book will provide all that you need to know to pass the Microsoft Silverlight 4 dev exam (70-506). Find more about this book and publisher link to buy it online.

Published by on under Book | Certification

While working with the XNA Framework in Windows Phone 7 application, you might face an exception which says “Invalid Operation Exception” with a message “FrameworkDispatcher.Update has not been called”.

 

This exception generally occurs when you are working with the sound effects. In this post, we will discuss about this exception and the solution to fix it.

Published by on under Tips | WP7

As declared in June, Nokia rolled out “Camera Extras” for Windows Phone 7.5 Lumia devices. To get this application, you must upgrade your phone OS to 7.10.8773.x which was released in US and China from 22nd June and all other countries during various time frame of July.

 

The Camera Extras includes “Smart Group Shots”, “Action Shots”, “Panorama” and “Self-Timer” showcased for Windows Phone 8. Continue reading to get more info and download link.

Published by on under Lumia | Lumia800

This post is with response to a question asked by my friend Abhimanyu. Yesterday he asked me whether it is possible to test the Windows Phone app on computer by installing in emulators?

 

I answered him personally but thought to write a post on the same with proper steps so that, if you want to deploy any Windows Phone XAP file in your emulator to test it, this post will guide you.

Published by on under Tips | WP7

If you are ASP.Net developer, you might be aware of the AdRotator control. The AdRotator control is used to display a sequence of ad images from an XML file which stores the ad information in proper format.

 

But if you want to use the same in a non-asp site, how can you develop it? Exactly, I was looking for such answer for one of my friend and later found a solution which uses plain JavaScript to build the adrotator in a simple HTML page. A simple knowledge of JavaScript coding can help you on this. In this post, I will share the same code with you. So, if you want to implement it, you can take direct reference from here.

Published by on under JavaScript | Tips

For last two days we learnt about the new attributes named “CallerMemberName” and “CallerLineNumber” introduced in CSharp 5.0.

 

Today in this post we will learn about another attribute named “CallerFilePath” which has been newly included in C# 5. Tune in to know about it with a simple example to trace the development issues that one source file can generate.

Published by on under .Net | C# 5.0

Yesterday we discussed about “CallerMemberName” attribute. If you didn’t read it, you can find it here: “What’s New in C# 5.0 - Learn about CallerMemberName Attribute”.

 

Today we will discuss about another attribute named “CallerLineNumberAttribute” that has been newly added in latest CSharp version i.e. C# 5.0. Tune in to learn about it’s feature and uses to trace our development issues. Don’t forget to ask your queries and leave a comment below if this post was helpful for you.

Published by on under .Net | C# 5.0

C# 5.0 comes with Visual Studio 2012 and .NET Framework 4.5. Currently it is in RC (Release Candidate) mode and will get the final RTM version soon. In our last CSharp blog post “Evolution of C# (1.0 – 5.0)”, we learned about the evolution of C# and also we also came to know about the main features introduced in each C# version.

 

Today in this post, we will learn about one new attribute that has been introduced in C# 5.0 named “CallerMemberName” for developers. Yes, it is for developers to trace the information about the caller code. Let’s begin discussing about it.

Published by on under .Net | C# 5.0

Inspired from Windows Phone 7 Metro UI look and feel, Microsoft included the same lock screen in Windows 8 optimized for both PC and tablet users. This is by default available in Windows 8 but if you want to disable it, there are no options provided by Microsoft in the settings page and hence you need to set some tricks to disable this lock screen if you are not happy using it every time.

 

Today, we will discuss about the process to disable this Windows 8 lock screen as well as we will show you how to re-enable it if the option is already disabled. So, continue reading.

Published by on under Tips | Win8

C# is not new to us. We are using it since Visual Studio 2002. Currently it is in released version 4.0 and C# 5.0 is on the way to release with Visual Studio 2012. Though we are using it since a long time, but many of us don’t know the new features that has been introduced in each new release.

 

This post will cover the “Evolution of C#” from version 1.0 to version 5.0 along with the new features and respective Visual Studio version. Bookmark this post for future reference and share it to your network and help others to know.

Published by on under .Net | C# 4.0

My 5th Windows Phone application is now in Windows Phone Marketplace which you can download for free and motivate yourself and your friends with random motivational quotes. It provides sharing functionality to share the quotes in social networking sites.

 

The app has been designed using the Telerik controls and I am confident that, it will be the best quote app in the marketplace. Keep reading to know more about this free application, few screenshots of it and get the downloadable link to install it in your device.

Published by on under DZone | Silverlight

Microsoft Office 2013 (Customer Preview) has been released for general public availability. If you didn’t yet download it, check out the blog post for download links: “Download Office 2013 Customer Preview”.

 

The metro look and the features of the new office cheers the mind. Today in this post, we will discuss on the new features that has been introduced in Microsoft Office 2013 (aka. Office 15). Continue reading to find out more.

Published by on under Office | Office 2013

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announces Office 2013 (aka. Office 15) Consumer Preview yesterday at San Francisco. The new version of Microsoft Office has natural touch functionality, feature to use stylus for data handling, availability for both Windows 8 and Windows RT.

 

This post will guide you to download the public release to explore more of this product and system requirements. Check out the Modern Office 2013 system video included in this post.

Published by on under News | Office

Yesterday we discussed “How to Create Windows 8 Bootable USB Device from ISO Image using WinUSB Maker?” and later mentioned that, today we will show you another tool to achieve this. Today we will use the “Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool” which you can freely download from Microsoft Store.

 

You will feel it like click of 1-2-3 and your bootable USB device will be ready with the Windows 8 installation files which you can use in your systems to install the Windows 8 OS without using the DVD drives. As I mentioned yesterday, this process is much faster and has chances of less error. So, continue reading to know about it.

Published by on under Tips | Win8

Want to install the Windows 8 on multiple systems but don't want to burn on a DVD? Here's how you can create a bootable USB drive containing the Windows 8 Operating System. An USB drive is always faster than DVDs and the chances of failed or corrupt installation are very low as compared to other optical medias. So lets see how you can create the bootable USB of Windows 8 in the easiest way possible.

 

WinUSB Maker is a tool to make any USB, External HDD as bootable with Windows Setup. In this post we will learn how to create a Windows 8 bootable USB device from ISO image. Though we will create the Windows 8 Release Preview installer, but it is applicable for OS.

Published by on under Tips | Win8

The world is big and there are various currencies available for various countries. Some time we need to convert an amount from one currency to another, some time we want to see the current market price of one currency to other. Maximum time we need to check the USA market value in terms of US dollar.

 

To do this, we generally search in Google to get the current market value of currency. Now think a scenario when you want to integrate it in your application. In this post I will discuss about the converter API and how to retrieve the result using JSON.

Published by on under Google | JSON

The Microsoft 70-506 exam is designed for candidates who are preparing and maintaining rich Internet-based applications using Silverlight. It emphasizes on Silverlight 4, however also covers core Silverlight concepts. The TS: Silverlight 4 Development (70-506) exam provides credit towards MCTS: Silverlight 4 Development.

 

Few days ago, I started reviewing the preparation kit and today in this blog post, I am going to share the review report of the Preparation Kit. Read how it will help you to prepare yourself for the Exam. Special discounts are available for my blog followers. If you want to purchase it, contact me first to get a discount coupon.

Published by on under Certification | Exam

During TechEd 2012 Telerik announced their first control library set for Windows 8 Metro application. I blogged about it few days ago and if you didn’t read it yet, you can find it here “First Look to Telerik RadControls for Win8 Metro”.

 

Earlier this control library set was for few developers through invitation only as it was in Early Adopter Mode. Telerik now released the first beta set of this controls for public download. You can now use these controls to develop your Windows 8 Metro applications. As it is in beta stage, the library is available for free download and once they release the final binaries, we will come to know about the pricing. Till then, try out the controls and read the complete post to find out the downloadable link and other resources.

Published by on under HTML | Metro

My 4th Windows Phone application named “ABC For Kids” is now available in Windows Phone Marketplace. This application is for Kids, who can play with this application to learn Alphabets, Words, Numbers and Colors. Parents can help them to check their kids learning skills using this application.

 

Find details about the application and the downloadable link from Windows Phone 7 marketplace. Don’t forget to rate the app and share your feedback.

Published by on under DZone | Silverlight

Visual Studio 2012 is currently in RC stage and many of us actually started exploring it by downloading. Each Visual Studio release is like Christmas for developers around the globe and Visual Studio 2012 is no exception!

 

Telerik released a Free eBook on Visual Studio 2012 and ASP.NET 4.5 for you which will walk you through the highlights and show you how to use the new features to make your life as a developer easier. Read more to download the Free eBook and start exploring it’s features.

Published by on under eBook | News

“Quick Launch” is a new feature in Visual Studio 2012. If you used Productivity Power Tools in Visual Studio 2010, you might be familiar with this. In Visual Studio 2010 Productivity Tools, you can see this with the name “Quick Access”.

 

Now Microsoft integrated it as “Quick Launch” in Visual Studio 2012 and to use it, you don’t have to install any extensions. This 4th tip on Visual Studio 2012 will guide you to know more about this new feature. So, continue reading and let me know your feedback.

Published by on under CodeProject | Tips

Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 RC is now available for public download. There are plenty of new enhancements in this release of Visual Studio IDE. I already started explaining them in my blog for the developers to improve their productivity using this new IDE.

 

Today in this productivity improvement post, we will know about the enhanced version of the Solution Explorer. It is not new and was available in earlier versions too but in this new release they added new enhancements for the developers. Check out the complete post to know about it and it’s benefits.

Published by on under CodeProject | Tips