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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

Microsoft released .NET Framework version 4.5.2 as redistributable package. It is a compatible, in-place update for Microsoft .NET Framework 4, .NET Framework 4.5 and .NET Framework 4.5.1. This version of the .NET Framework runs side-by-side with the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and earlier versions.

Want to download Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.2? Here you can find both the web installer and offline installer of it and here sloty you can play without installation.

Windows Phone 8.1 is already there for developers and developers already started building and/or upgrading their apps to support the new changes in Windows Phone 8.1. The RC version of Visual Studio 2013 Update 2 is already there with WP8.1 SDK preloaded.

In this post, we are going to discuss the enhanced TextBox control which came with additional features like place holder text, header content etc.

Microsoft already released Windows Phone 8.1 as part of Developer Preview programme, that means, developers having Windows Phone store account and/or App Studio account can try this before it comes out for general public to experience.

Windows Phone 8.1 has some cool new and enhanced features set and among them Start Screen and Themes are there. In this post, we are going to discuss on this today.

Today, 2nd April 2014, during the //BUILD conference Microsoft officially showcased the new features set which are coming as part of Windows Phone 8.1. Also during the event, they showcased the features and improvements coming as part of Windows 8.1 Update 1.

In this blog post, I am just noting down those exciting new features coming in Windows Phone 8.1. Just go thru them and let me know which one will be the exciting one for you.

It happens sometime that a specific theme like Light or Dark looks good in some application. In such case, you have to specify all the colours manually to background foreground etc. This is very hectic job. Is there any easy way doing this?

Yes, we have. Jeff Wilcox simplified this process by releasing a ThemeManager library (open source) for you which you can use in your app and force a specific theme for your Windows Phone application.

While working with some folder specific operations and console window, I learnt a new thing (I would rather say it as trick) today i.e. how to open console window in that specific folder path without using any special tricks in Windows Registry or typing the full path in console.

Today in this blog post, I am going to share the same trick with you. In case you find it useful, drop a line below.