“Time and Tide wait for none” – seriously, how the year passed through and a new journey is going to start with fresh hope, fresh expectation by forgetting the past and thinking ahead. Thanks to all my friends, family members, blog followers and other known/unknown persons with whom I am connected virtually.

 

The year 2014 is over. We did many things in 2014 and let us do more in the coming year and deliver our best to our work. Thanks for all your support and feedback to my articles.

Published by on under Greetings |

Is your Internet Explorer crashing when you are trying to debug your Silverlight application from Visual Studio but runs perfectly when running without debug option set? This might be due to an update that Microsoft pushed recently via Windows Update service.

 

If you faced the same, this post will guide you to resolve it at the earliest. Continue reading to learn about the trick to resolve this. Share it with your friends. This might help them too.

Published by on under InternetExplorer | Silverlight

Did you explore the latest of C# 6.0? It brought another new feature called “Expression-bodied function members” which will allow you to write expression bodies for properties, methods etc. instead of writing statement blocks. Thus reducing the code.

 

Today in this post, we will discuss about the new feature “Expression-bodied function members”. Read more to learn about it. Don’t forget to share the feature links in your network.

Published by on under .Net | C# 6.0

Microsoft released a new beta app named “Gestures Beta” for Lumia Windows Phone devices which enables you to interact with your phone device in different useful ways. If activated, you can gesture to manage your calls and silence your alarms.

 

In this post, sharing more information about the app and the link to download the app from the Windows Phone Store. Use it and share your feedback to Microsoft.

Published by on under DZone | Lumia

C# 6.0 brought another great new feature named “Exception Filters” along with Visual Studio 2015 and .NET 4.6. If you didn’t try yet the preview version of the new IDE, go and grab it to get your hands dirty with the new features before it actually releases.

 

Today in this post, we will discuss about the new feature “Exception Filters”. Read more to learn about it. Don’t forget to share the feature links in your network.

Published by on under .Net | C# 6.0

Team JetBrains released the RTM version of ReSharper 9.0, a very popular productivity tool for the developers using Visual Studio IDE. The new release supports Visual Studio 2015 Preview and C# 6.0, along with many other new features and improvements.

 

In this post, going to share the 30-day trial version link which you can download to try the new bits. Also sharing the link towards the features. Continue to read more.

Published by on under .Net | CSharp

C# 6.0 brought a set of most useful features with Visual Studio 2015 Preview and .NET 4.6. If you didn’t yet explore the features, check out the embedded links within this post to learn what’s coming with it. Download the preview to get your hands dirty before you use in production.

 

Today in this blog post, we will discuss about a new feature called “null-conditional operators”, which will actually improve your productivity. Let’s start with it.

Published by on under .Net | C# 6.0

Visual Studio 2015, .NET 4.6 and C# 6.0 came up with lot many features. If you didn’t try the new IDE, download the preview version in a non-production environment to get your hands dirty with it. You will definitely love the new features.

 

Today in this post we will learn about another new feature called “nameof” expression which will surely solve most of the problems a developer faces when playing with properties and notifications.

Published by on under .Net | C# 6.0

Did you download the new Visual Studio 2015 IDE? If not, try the preview version before it actually releases and start improving your coding skills with the forthcoming IDE from Microsoft. Today we are going to explore another new feature of C# 6.0 coming with this release.

 

Let’s continue the series “What’s new in C# 6.0?” and show you what’s coming with C# 6.0 in terms of string interpolation/string concatenation.

Published by on under .Net | C# 6.0

Did you try the new Visual Studio 2015 and .NET 4.6? At the time of writing this blog post, it’s still in “Preview” release for the developers to try and report issues. .NET 4.6 comes with C# 6.0 with additional new features expected by developers to improve their coding productivity.

 

We are now going to describe the new features introduced in C# 6.0. Today in this blog post, we are going to see how to initialize/set default values to auto properties introduced in C# 6.0. Keep reading.

Published by on under .Net | C# 6.0

Questpond has launched a full step by step course on  ASP.NET MVC. This course from Shivprasad Koirala will help you to learn MVC (Model view controller) step by step in 2 days ( i.e in 16 hours) right from basics to a professional level.

 

This is a Sponsored post and in this post, the first video will show you how to display a simple Hello world in ASP.NET MVC. Also, check out the complete syllabus for details.

Published by on under .Net | GuestPost

Microsoft Ad Mediator”, recently released by Microsoft to maximize your ad monetization – we already talked about it last day. If you don’t know about it, read the said post, download the Visual Studio 2013 extension before continuing with this post.

 

Today, we will discuss how to integrate “Ad Mediator” in your Windows Store and Windows Phone applications. As it currently supports only Windows Phone apps, so we will continue with that.

Published by on under Ad Mediator | Win8Dev

If you are using Windows Phone 8 Lumia devices and wondering whether you will get the next big update of the OS or not, here’s the good news. Microsoft confirms to few consumers over Twitter about availability of Windows 10 in future updates.

 

That’s definitely a good news for the consumers using Windows Phone 8 Lumia devices and everyone will get a big relief.

Published by on under Lumia | News

If you are a Windows Insider and already in the Fast update channel, you might have already got the new update for Windows 10 Technical Preview build version: 9879. In this release, Microsoft had provided options to show/hide the Task View and Search icons present in the Task Bar.

 

If you feel them annoyed in your Task Bar eating more icons space, you can now easily hide them from your Task bar. Let’s see how to do that. Continue reading to know about it.

Published by on under Tips | Win10Tips

Along with Visual Studio 2015 Preview and .NET 4.6, Microsoft released another version of Visual Studio on 12th November 2014. They named it as “Visual Studio Community 2013” which comes as Free for individual developers, students, open source contributors and small teams.

 

This IED is now available not only for Windows developers but for Android and iOS devs too. If you are one of them, continue reading to know more about the new edition of the IDE and to grab the link.

Published by on under News | Visual Studio 2013

A big day for the Visual Studio community. Today Microsoft released the preview version of next version of Visual Studio named “Visual Studio 2015”, along with “.NET 4.6 Preview”. It came up with lots of new features and tools for the developers including the open source community.

 

This release does not come with Go Live license, but if you want to try out it and want to check what’s new in Visual Studio 2015 Preview, follow this post.

Published by on under .Net | News

On 7th November 2014, Microsoft released a new extension for the Windows and Windows Phone developers to increase their ad revenues by combining multiple ads network in a single channel following just few simple steps.

 

In this post, we are going to discuss about the Ad Mediator, link to download the Visual Studio plugin and later in a different post we will discuss how to integrate it. Keep reading and don’t forget to share.

Published by on under Ad Mediator | News

Windows 10, which is now in Technical Preview Release, coming up with Data Sense and Battery Saver settings. If you are a Windows Insider and already set your system in “Fast” channel to get the quick preview builds, you might already have installed the build version 9860.

 

Data Sense and Battery Saver settings pushed into this build with no functionalities actually, but confirms their availabilities in coming builds. Let’s go thru the overview of those which we might get in future.

Published by on under Tips | Win10Tips

Microsoft Windows 10, currently under Technical Preview, came with a new Home Screen when you launch the File Explorer. It pins all your favourite icons, frequent folders, recent files and more to help you easily launch the frequent files/folders from a single place.

 

Today in this post, we will discuss how to configure the Home screen, add or remove icons, organize the tiles properly.

Published by on under Tips | Win10Tips

Finally virtual desktops were added natively in Windows. If you are using Windows 10, you will be able to use it directly. Though all the functionalities not yet available, but it’s good to see it  by default in Microsoft Windows operating system.

 

In this post, today we will be describing more about Virtual Desktop feature and guide you to understand how to work with it. Continue reading and share your thoughts.

Published by on under Tips | Win10Tips

Windows 10 – all you heard about it. Microsoft recently released a Technical Preview version of it to the Windows Insiders opted for it. In this release, there is an option to play with some new features coming into Console Window.

 

Today in this post, we will go thru them and understand what these options actually means. Continue reading and share your views about those cool new features.

Published by on under Tips | Win10Tips

Those who have already installed the Windows 10 Technical Preview might noticed that the Start Screen is no more there by default. Rather, Microsoft placed the old Start menu with additional features like adding Live Tiles into it.

 

In this Tips & Tricks post about Windows 10, we will discuss how to switch between Start menu and Start screen. If you love the Windows 8 like Start screen, you will be able to bring it back.

Published by on under Tips | Win10Tips

Another October for me. The golden moment of my life when I first received the MVP award from Microsoft in the year 2010 and since then continuing it. It’s the 5th continuous year when I received the award from Microsoft for the contributions I have done for the developer community.

 

First three years I was Silverlight MVP, last year it changed to Client Development MVP and this year it changed to Windows Platform Development MVP.

Published by on under Achievements | Awards

Who don’t want to put a link in the apps/games to provide feedback directly to the developer via email? To do this in Windows Phone Silverlight applications was pretty easy. We just had to create the instance of the EmailComposeTask and call the Show() method.

 

But this has been changed a bit in Windows Phone 8.1 RT applications. In this post, we are going to discuss this along with comparison to what has been changed.

Published by on under Windows Phone | Windows Phone 8.1

A big news just shared by Microsoft today for all the developers in Windows Platform. Yes, it’s for both Windows Phone and Windows developers. Dev Center account is now a life time membership and that means, you don’t have to renew your account every year.

 

If you are a dev, you don’t want to miss this opportunity to build for any or both the Windows platforms. Read to find out more on this topic.

Published by on under News | WinDev

You might already know that, Windows Phone 8.1 SDK came with few API changes targeting the Windows Runtime. If you are a developer and looking to launch the phone dialler from your app, this post will help you to know the changes.

 

In this post we are going to discuss “How to programmatically do a Phone Call in Windows Phone 8.1” with a comparison between the API changes.

Published by on under Windows Phone | Windows Phone 8.1

It was the big day for the Kolkata developers and IT Pros, when we organized the first successful event in the city of Kolkata targeting the IT Pros as the audience. Thanks to these vast audience for attending the event and make it successful.

 

Today, I am going to share some snaps and little bit of recap of the event. It was our great pleasure to have Biplab Paul (Program Manager, South Asia MVP Community) among ourselves.

Published by on under Azure | Events

If you don’t have any Wi-Fi router but still want to connect all your devices like laptops, tablets phones etc. to the internet, you can make your laptop a virtual Wi-Fi hotspot and connect all those devices via it. This way you can save your money purchasing a hardware device.

 

In this post, I am going to share a way to create a virtual Wi-Fi hotspot using Connectify. Though a paid version of this exists, but you can use the free version with limited functionalities.

Published by on under Connectify | Tips

Windows Phone 8.1 SDK came with slight changes in it’s API and among them, few changes I already blogged earlier with a comparison to the previous SDK version. If you are looking for Screen Orientation changes, this post will help you.

 

In this post we are going to discuss “How to set the Supported Orientation and Screen Orientation in Windows Phone 8.1” with a comparison between the API changes.

Published by on under CodeProject | DZone

Kolkata Geeks proudly announces “Community Day, Kolkata – August 2014”. It’s an initiative taken by global MVP communities. Like other cities, we are also organizing the event in Kolkata, but In-Person. So, if you are in or near Kolkata, don’t forget to join us.

 

In this post, I am just sharing the agenda, venue and the event details. Join us on the event day to know more about Windows Phone app development.

Published by on under Events | MVP

Few months ago, I wrote a small helper class for all my Windows Phone Silverlight applications, which helped me a lot to store and retrieve data to and from IsolatedStorageSettings. Thus I thought to share the same with you, in case you find it useful.

 

Read more to  find out the code, which you can use freely. Here the only catch is: it works only with the Silverlight type applications.

Published by on under Silverlight | Silverlight5

Windows Phone 8.1 Update (GDR 1) is already there for Windows Phone developers as part of the “Preview for Developers” program. It brought some new features like Live Folders, Apps Corner, Multi-SMS selection and more to empower your daily needs.

 

In this post, sharing about “Apps Corner” in detail to give you a brief on what is coming up next in your Windows Phone 8.1 device, once Microsoft starts rolling out to consumers.

Published by on under Windows Phone | Windows Phone 8.1

Microsoft already started rolling out Windows Phone 8.1 Update (GDR 1) this Monday to the Windows Phone Developers via a preview program called “Preview for Developers”. With this, they also released the new SDK for developers to try out the latest bits in their apps/games.

 

In this post, I am going to share the link to download the Windows Phone 8.1 Update (GDR 1) SDK and the new emulator images.

Published by on under Windows Phone | Windows Phone 8.1

Today Microsoft started rolling out Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 (aka. GDR 1) only for the developers to try out the latest bits of the upcoming updates. Those who have the “Preview for Developers” bit installed, will only get this update.

 

Read further to know about the latest bits. If you didn’t yet register for this update, it will help you to setup the preview in your device.

Published by on under News | Windows Phone

Sometime we need to export data as Excel report. This can be a plain Console application or a high end desktop and/or web application. You can of course do this using plugins/add-ons but what if you don’t have permission to use any 3rd party assemblies in your application?

 

Okay, in this post we are going to discuss this with help of a simple Silverlight & C# application but logic will be same in other platforms/technologies too. Keep reading.

Published by on under .Net | CodeProject

Microsoft reveals the news… the first update is coming up for Windows Phone 8.1 preview users next week with new features along with Cortana in new markets. This update will be rolling out to users who activated the preview updates in their devices.

 

In this post, sharing some insights about the new features and new markets where Cortana will be available. Read out the post for more details.

Published by on under News | Windows Phone

It happens sometime when we want to schedule shutdown or hibernate our Windows OS after a specific time of interval. If you are an advanced user, you must be aware of schedule shutdown option from a command line.

 

But how to schedule hibernate? In this small tips & trick post, I am going to share you the way to do this from command prompt itself. Continue reading to know the trick.

Published by on under Tips | Windows

Microsoft started rolling out another update to their most awaited phone OS i.e. Windows Phone 8.1 having a build no. 12400 released as Developer Preview. If you did not receive the update notification yet, go to phone settings and force a phone update.

 

Start enjoying the major improvements and functionalities available in Windows Phone 8.1 OS, if you already have WP8 hardware device.

Published by on under News | Windows Phone

You might be already searching for it and landed to this post. If you started working on Windows Phone application/game development, you might want to add an option to rate your app/game in the store. The API has been changed a bit in WP8.1.

 

In this post we are going to discuss “How to launch the Rating & Review screen in Windows Phone 8.1” with a comparison between the API changes.

Published by on under Windows Phone | Windows Phone 8.1

This post is my personal view with reference to some rumors published in few websites regarding Windows v-Next code named as Windows Threshold (probably branded for consumers as Windows 9, can’t say until Microsoft officially announces it).

 

After reading few rumoured posts, I am expressing my views in this small blog post. Irrespective of that, I would be happy to hear your opinions too.

Published by on under Windows | Windows 9

In the last post “Windows Phone 8.1 Text-To-Speech - What’s changed for #WPDev?”, we discussed about the Text-To-Speech API changes in Windows Phone 8.1 in comparison to Windows Phone 8.0 APIs. We also covered the capability changes in WP8.1.

 

Today in this blog post we will learn about the API changes to retrieve all voices installed in the device as well as the way to set a specific voice. Continue to read further.

Published by on under Windows Phone | Windows Phone 8.1

If you are a WPDev, you might want to integrate the Text-To-Speech engine of WP8.x SDK in your application/game. Though it is not a new feature, but the API has been changed in Windows Phone 8.1 SDK which you might want to know before integrating.

 

In this blog post, I am going to share the API changes in Windows Phone 8.1 and do the comparison with WP8.0 APIs. Continue reading to know more about this.

Published by on under Windows Phone | Windows Phone 8.1

Few days ago, I shared a blog post “How to unlock AT&T Lumia device without inserting SIM?” that talks about a way to unlock your Lumia handset of AT&T models without inserting SIM card. The steps are easy but a little bit tricky while pressing the star (*) button.

 

Today in this post, I am going to share you another simple, effective way to unlock the device without inserting any SIM cards into it.

Published by on under Lumia | Tips

If you have already started working on Windows Phone 8.1 app/game, you might have observed that, unlike to the older versions of Windows Phone, every XAML page starts with a Page tag instead of PhoneApplicationPage and thus, you are not able to show/hide the StatusBar control in that page.

 

So, what’s needs to be done in order to show or hide the Status Bar of Windows Phone 8.1 based on the requirement of your app? In this small post, we will discuss about it.

Published by on under Windows Phone | Windows Phone 8.1

Sometime for some security reason, developer might want to restrict his/her Windows Phone application to be deployed in SD cards. There might be different reasons too. So, how can you prevent your user to deploy the app in the SD card of their device?

 

Let’s discuss the No-Code way to prevent this deployment. Remember that, it is only applicable for Windows Phone 8.0 or higher apps.

Published by on under Windows Phone | WP8

This blog post is more of a bookmark for me. Also, this will help you to unlock your AT&T Lumia devices without inserting SIM. I am not sure about other AT&T handsets, but it works on Lumia devices smoothly without any issues.

 

It’s not as easy to get a micro SIM or a mini SIM in all over the world and thus unlocking a device is quite difficult. This small post will help you to unlock the device in case you don’t have the SIM.

Published by on under Lumia | Tips

For last couple of days, only one event was trending over the Microsoft developer community and that was global //Publish/Satellite event happening all over the world on the same day May 16th – May 17th, 2014. Like other cities in India, we also had the opportunity to organize this event in Kolkata.

 

Great community, great devs and great apps. Let’s have a small recap of the entire Kolkata event for those who missed to join us.

Published by on under Events | News

Almost everyone uses 3rd party controls to reduce the burden building them from scratch and when it is Telerik control libraries, it’s pretty awesome! Telerik announces an offer to help the Microsoft developer community to use their product for Free.

 

It’s a very limited time offer. So, don’t be fool. Claim your free license of Windows Phone, Windows Store control libraries and save some money to use in other good things.

Published by on under News | Telerik

Microsoft released Visual Studio 2013 Update 2 RTM, which will now allow you to develop applications for Windows Phone 8.1 and Universal Windows platforms. Using Universal Windows Apps templates, you will be able to build apps that targets both the platform from a single solution.

 

In this blog post, I am going to share you the links to download Visual Studio 2013 Update 2. This includes both the web installer and the offline/standalone installer (ISO image).

Published by on under News | Visual Studio 2013

After the last post on “What’s new in Windows Phone 8.1 - First look to Start Screen, Theme”, I wanted to share another new feature that’s coming as part of Windows Phone 8.1 within few days. If you are a developer, you might have already experiences the new phone OS.

 

Okay, let’s come to the point. This time I will be talking about Internet Explorer In-Private browsing, part of IE11 in Windows Phone, which will help you to securely browse internet.

Published by on under Windows Phone | Windows Phone 8.1