Yes, you read the title right. Just after the announcement of Windows 8 RTM, Microsoft announced the release date of Visual Studio 2012. The final product will be available to MSDN subscribers and general public on 15th August 2012.
Visual Studio 2012 virtual launch event will be organize by S. Somasegar and Jason Zander on 12th September 2012. Don’t miss the opportunity to watch it live.
Microsoft announced that, today they released the new Windows 8 operating system to the Windows 8 OEM and manufacturing partners. Side-by-side they also announced the general availability of Windows Store today for the MSDN Subscribers.
This is the first step towards the general availability of Windows 8 to the consumer and everyone is now looking for the date (26th October 2012) when it will be available for general public.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
In our last blog post we discussed about browser switching mechanism in Visual Studio 2012 for web developers to test their web applications against different web browsers which actually increases the productivity time of such applications.
Today in this post, we will learn about the Refactor feature of Visual Studio 2012 which will again improve your productivity without using any additional tools or extensions. So, continue reading this post to learn about this feature of new Visual Studio IDE.
If you are a web developer and use Visual Studio to design and develop web applications, this post will help you to improve your productivity. Last year we discussed how to improve your productivity using the “Default Browser Switcher Extension” in Visual Studio 2010.
Now here comes another post which will show you how to use the in-built “Browser Switcher” extension available in Visual Studio 2012. I hope that, once you start working in Visual Studio 2012, this will definitely help you to increase your productivity.
Everyday we use various social networking sites especially Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to connect with our friends virtually over the wire. These social networking sites are now directly and/or indirectly connected with our daily life.
As a computer user, many time we are familiar with Keyboard to do some operations and in such case we need to know the shortcut keys of those sites. In this non-technical blog post, I will share the shortcut keys of Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
During TechEd 2012, Telerik announced their first commercial library for building Windows 8 Metro applications. This control library is a set of controls for XAML and HTML apps. User can chose the language of their own choice and deliver a high end Windows 8 enterprise and consumer applications using these controls.
In this blog post, I will describe more about the controls and guide you to kick start with your Metro application development using the Telerik RadControls. The controls set is neither yet released nor available publicly to download. In case you want a special early adopter access, this blog post will help you to get one too.
Nokia announced that, they are coming up with a new Software Update for Lumia 710 and Lumia 800 in June – July timeframe. According to their announcement, this will be available in US and China from 22nd June and all other countries will get the update during July. You can get this update through Zune software. According to Nokia this update will be required for the new applications to work in Lumia 710 and 800.
Among the software updates, the most important update will be the Camera Extras which will include “Smart Group Shots”, “Action Shots”, “Panorama” and “Self-Timer” showcased for Windows Phone 8. Continue reading to know more about the Camera Extras.
Yesterday in Windows Phone Summit, Microsoft announced the new features of Windows Phone 8 consists of some interesting stuffs those coming in the way. Microsoft also announced that the existing devices running Windows Phone 7.x will not get the update of WP8, but there will be a update for those devices which will call as “Windows Phone 7.8”. Check out the post “Can we Upgrade our WP7 Device to Support WP8?” for more details about WP7.8 update.
Many of you might attended the Summit In-Person or Live from web. In this post, I will share the points on “What’s New in WP8” for you to bookmark for future. If you missed the event, this post will give you brief idea about what is coming next in Windows Phone 8. Continue reading.
Today in the Windows Phone Summit, Microsoft clearly mentioned that, there will not be any kind of upgrades of Windows Phone 8 in Windows Phone 7.x devices. Instead of that, they will throw a upgrade to WP7.8 for all the WP7.x handsets to fulfill the transitions between Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 8.
This post will cover the new interesting stuff (from the Windows Phone Summit) that Windows Phone 7.8 will have to give you a look & feel of Windows Phone 8.
If you are seeking for the information on the same topic, this post will tell you whether you need to install Silverlight separately and if it already comes with Silverlight, what are the versions that it supports. Continue reading and share to those who might find it useful.
Today morning, 19th June 2012 Indian Standard Time, Microsoft announced their all new Tablet PC running with Windows 8 operating system. Steve Ballmer (CEO, Microsoft) showcased the new Microsoft branded Tablet PC for the next generation named as Microsoft Surface tablet.
The tablet PC will be available in two different version named “Surface for Windows RT” and “Surface for Windows 8 Pro”. Both will have different configuration. Though the price details are not available yet, continue reading the post to watch a video demonstration of the Surface tablet, screenshots and system specific information.
On 27th May 2012, I kick started a Giveaway contest and mentioned that at the end of the contest I will raffle two (2) “Telerik Ultimate Collection License worth $1999 each” to the contest attendees. Initially the end date of the giveaway was decided as 8th June but on popular demand, I extended it up to 15th June 2012.
The contest is over now and it’s time to declare the Winners name. Cross your finger as it’s time to see whether your name is there in the winners list. Continue reading to see the winners name.
If you have installed Windows 8 Release Preview and Visual Studio 2012 RC, you might want to develop your first Windows 8 Metro Style Application. Unlike other version of Visual Studio, you need a Developer License to build your Win8 Metro apps. Without a developer license you won’t be able to deploy the app in your Windows 8 machine or Windows 8 simulator.
This blog post will help you to understand it better and will guide you to get a Free Developer License for Windows 8 Metro application development. Continue reading to get your developer license.
Microsoft released Visual Studio 2012 RC (Release Candidate) on 31st May 2012. This is the pre-release versions of the next release of Visual Studio.
In this blog post, I will share the installation experience of Visual Studio 2012 with you. The UI and installation steps changed drastically. Just go with it if you haven’t already installed this new IDE yet and try out the new Metro Style Application development.
In this post, I will share you the direct download link from where you can get the trial version of the product. If you have a license, you can get the full version from your Telerik account. Also, in this post I will share what are the new controls available in this release.
On 26th May 2012, we (KolkataGeeks) organized Developer Conference 2012 at Kolkata. The event was organized by Microsoft User Group Kolkata (KolkataGeeks). It is the premier technical event for technology professionals at Kolkata interested in learning, connecting and exploring latest Microsoft technologies.
In this event, I delivered one hour Technical Presentation and showcased Demos using Telerik Rad Controls for Windows Phone 7. In this blog post, I will share the slide of my WP7 session as well as few snaps from the Album. Continue reading for further details.
Microsoft released Windows 8 Release Preview (RP) on 31st May 2012. If you didn’t yet download the latest release of Windows 8, you can download it from here: Download Windows 8 Release Preview (All Languages, ISO/Offline/Standalone Installer).
I downloaded the latest release of Windows 8 (Release Preview) and installed it on my VMware Player. The installation experience improved a lot from the Windows 8 Consumer Preview and in this post, I will share the same experience with you. So, continue reading and share it to your connection and help them to understand it better.
Few days ago Gurmeet Kohli, Assistant Editor of Silicon India Network (www.siliconindia.com), took an interview of mine as a blogger to publish on their site. The interview is now available online for public view.
The interview covers the following points: Working Life Management, The Decisions That Mattered in my Life, My Role Models, My Job Profile, Degrees That Matter, Growth Strategy, Advice For New Professionals, Prized Accomplishment(s), The Journey So Far and My Plans For The Future. Continue reading the complete post to find out the link towards the interview page.
Windows 8 is coming at the door step. Microsoft already released the Release Preview version of Windows 8. There are many improvements and new features in this Windows 8 over Windows 7. Jason (Frugal Dad) published an infographic of the same and asked people not to hate Windows 8.
As per the request, I am sharing the same infographic in this blog post for my blog readers. Check it out and leave your feedback below for the original author.
Gaining better visibility in the search results has always been the main focus of the traditional search engine optimizer. It is very important to stay visible for the maximum percentage of time to the most correct buying audience. The website design and the layouts speak more and are the first thing to impress the visitor.
In this guest blog post, Kelly Marsh will help you to understand how to make your web pages communicate in a more effective way by following few tips. This blog post is targeted for all the readers. Do share and leave your feedback. If you have any queries, ask her in the below comments section and she will guide you.
Microsoft released Visual Studio 2012 RC (Release Candidate) on 31st May 2012. The available Visual Studio 2012 RC products and localizations are pre-release versions of the next release of Visual Studio.
This blog post will cover all the product details and the downloadable links to each product of Visual Studio 2012 including the web installer and ISO image link for offline installation.
In this blog entry, find out the links to download Windows 8 Release Preview. You can find the ISO images for all different languages, which you can download to install it offline.
The Telerik Q2 - 2012 Webinar Week is approaching! As always, Telerik is organizing this week-long event packed with hour-long webinar sessions to walk you through all the awesome things they have been working on during the past four months. If you’re eager to be among the first to learn how the Q2 bits can enhance your productivity, follow the post and book your seat now.
Webinar Week will be held June 18-22, 2012. And you know the drill, one lucky attendee at each webinar will win more than $2,000 worth of software. This time, as a token of appreciation Telerik is also granting each Webinar Week attendee with a discount code valid towards a next Telerik purchase, upgrade or renewal! For more details, read the complete post.
Today I am starting a new giveaway contest of Telerik Ultimate Collection License. The contest is starting on 28th May 2012 and will end on 8th 15th June 2012. At the end of the contest period I will raffle 2 Telerik Ultimate License worth $1999 each.
So, why are you waiting for? Take part in the contest, ask others to participate and win $1999 license for Free. As much as you share, the probability of winning will be high. For more details, check out the complete post.
JetBrains released a new Decompiler and Assembly Browser named “dotPeek” for .NET Application Developers. It is a FREE productivity tool which decompiles .NET 1.0 - .NET 4.5 assemblies to C# code and has support for .dll, .exe, .zip, .vsix, .nupkg, and .winmd files. It has many features like Quick jump, Effortless navigation, Support for downloading code from source servers and many more.
Continue reading the post to know details about the features and find the downloadable links. I have also embedded one video describing the features published by JetBrains.
Windows Phone 7 launchers and choosers enable users to perform common tasks in WP7 device by providing a consistent user experience throughout the Windows Phone application development platform. I already covered many of the Launchers and Choosers in my blog. On popular demand, I am sharing them in this single page post. I hope, this will be helpful for you to get started with the Windows Phone 7 launchers and choosers very quickly.
Let’s start discussing about launchers and choosers followed by links to all the launchers and choosers.
Telerik introduces a new component called “RadDiagnostics” in their Q1.2012 release. RadDiagnostics component enables an application developer to receive crash reports and other debugging information from the end user of the application.
As a WP7Dev, you may want to include a functionality in your application which will mail you the stack trace and other debugging information. This post will guide you to implement the same functionality in your Windows Phone app using the Telerik controls. Continue reading to learn more about it.
Kolkata Geeks are pleased to announce Developer Conference 2012 on Saturday, May 26th. Developer Conference is the premier technical event for technology professionals at Kolkata interested in learning, connecting and exploring latest Microsoft technologies.
This is an In-Person community event and is absolutely free, no registration charges required. Register now and be there, enjoy the flavor of cutting edge Microsoft technologies and win lots of prizes. Read out more to find about the session details.
I have two Windows Phone 7 devices, one of them is the HTC 7 Pro and the other one is the Nokia Lumia 800. I was using HTC 7 Pro for quite a long time but when I received Nokia Lumia 800 by participating in the Microsoft iUnlockJoy program, I am using that only.
Few people asked me to write a review on Windows mobile phones and hence I decided to write a small review on my current experience on Nokia Lumia 800. This post will cover specification of Nokia Lumia 800 and my review on that.
Currently I am working on a Windows Phone 7 application using the Telerik controls and learning a little more bit about the controls present in their library. So, I thought to share the same in my blog for next few days. If you are using these controls, it will help you to learn very quickly.
As a WP7Dev, you might want to build a stunning application with an animation to the page navigation or orientation changes. This article will help you to do so by using the Telerik RadControls for Windows Phone 7. Continue reading to learn more about the APIs and the implementation steps.
Here comes the “Monthly Summary” post of April 2012. Last month I published 14 blog posts, among them 12 was on “How to” series of my Windows Phone 7 Tutorial for developers.
In this summary post I am going to share them in a single page, so that, you can find them very easily. Continue reading to find out all the Windows Phone 7 tutorial series. Don’t forget to check out the API implementations of the SDK in the “How to” posts.
Continuing my Windows Phone 7 Tutorials on Launchers and Choosers. Today in this blog post we will discuss about the Windows Phone 7 class named “SaveRingtoneTask”. We will first describe about the internal class implementation of the SDK itself. Later we will see how to implement it in your application.
Continue reading to learn about the API and code implementation. Don’t forget to share your thoughts and feedbacks at the end in the comments section. Also, share this to your friends/colleagues who might feel it useful too.
Do you want to create an application or game for your Windows Phone 7 that can share links to various social networking sites of users choice? Then this post will help you to integrate the same in your application.
Continue reading the complete post to know more about the API, the internal implementation of the WP7 SDK and the way to include it in your application. Don’t forget to share your feedback and if you like the post, please share it to others as this might be helpful for them too.
Today I received a great offer from my blog partner who is giving away few eBooks on "Windows 7" for my blog readers. In this post, I am going to share 3 FREE eBooks on the same topic. You can request to download by clicking the "Request Now" button
Stay tuned to get more free eBook offers on various topics.
Today while debugging a Silverlight application, I noticed that, my Visual Studio 2010 was taking too much time to load the referenced assemblies and the browser was freezing for some time while loading the XAP. First I thought that it is due to the solution file but after doing some investigation I noticed that it is happening for all Silverlight application.
Finally I found the solution and thought to share with you. In case you come across same situation, this post will help you to resolve it easily.
Do you want to develop an application or game which will update your status or game result in some social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In and/or Windows Live? Then this post will help you to integrate such task in your app.
Using “ShareStatusTask” of the Windows Phone 7 SDK, you can update your status line on the social networking sites. Continue reading the post for more details of the API and the implementation steps.
In last few articles I was discussing on Launchers and Choosers of Windows Phone 7. In today’s blog post I am going to continue on that again. This time we will discuss on “SmsComposeTask” of the WP7 SDK, which you can use to create SMS from code.
SmsComposeTask launches the Messaging application with a new SMS message displayed and requires user intervention to send the message. Continue reading to learn in depth of the API implementation and uses of the API.
