Microsoft Announces Windows Startup Challenge
Microsoft has announced Windows Startup Challenge. a joint effort between Startup Weekend, DEMO and Microsoft Windows. The top 5 teams winning this challenge will receive a promo package which includes banners, marketing and PR support from Microsoft. Also the top team will get the opportunity to launch their app at DEMO Mobile stage in front of top tier seed investors, VCs, and tech press.
If you are just starting out as a Windows Store app developer, this challenge will test your ability to prototype a business idea and bring your app to life. The winning team will receive a spot at DEMO Mobile to launch their app on April 17th in San Francisco.
The challenge has two stages:
- Windows Store app prototype
Submit a 2-minute video (or a presentation) that shows a prototype of your app.
Deadline: January 29th - App design and development
If your entry is selected, work with an assigned expert to develop your prototyped app and get it ready for launch.
Deadline: March 1st
Source: Microsoft via Microsoft News
App Review: TwinkleMap
I’ve always loved hearing peoples opinions, whether its on the social networks or on news sites or other, its always amazing that no matter how bizzarre, or off an idea sounds, there will always be the people who are for it and the one’s against it. That is where the idea for TwinkleMap came about. Developing a platform for people to share their ideas, create polls, debate about practically anything they see fit from Entertainment to Lifestyle to News and Sports, but it will have a social touch, a social feel for people to come and debate. Then the idea came for being able to share opinions without fear of stigma or anything of that sort. They will be able to post not using their real names but pseudo names assigned to the user by the system. What i like to call “Zeke Id”(Don’t ask how i came up with the name). The platform will be about questions, opinions, ideas and not about the people posting them and still have that social feel, that connection. Think of social without being social. Then i thought about making it Location based where you will only be served with the questions arising from News around your preferred location(Only a few countries are served for now). Where someone from England will view questions based on United Kingdom and not bother about those in the United States if he wasn’t interested. The idea was conceived sometime last year and i was thinking of a Windows 8 app to publish. I loved the platform and i wanted my first published Windows 8 app to be something big. Something i would look back and say to myself. ” I did a good job”. So I got to work. It was challenging and fun along the way but in the end it was worth it, after hours and hours and hours of coding(I wouldn’t say how long it took me. Just that it didn’t take so long and it didn’t take so short either) . This was supposed to be a review of TwinkleMap but i guess I’m the wrong person to review my app. I wouldn’t really do justice and i will obviously rate it the best(Its actually the best) since I’m the developer but do download and rate and review if you love or hate it. Its free….for now(In Bane’s voice)
Download TwinkleMap for Windows 8.
Windows Store Now Open For All Developers In 120 Markets
This will surely be good news for a lot of developers out there. I knew it would manifest but i didn’t expect it so soon. If you haven’t started writing windows 8 apps, you should really start now because Microsoft has announced that the Windows Store, the app store for the company’s upcoming Windows 8 release, is now open for app submissions from all developers, including individuals in 120 markets. Now you know what that means, No Yalla Apps(for many in Middle East and Africa), no third party proxy, You control your content, you are the app publisher. This is simply the best opportunity for developers. Go to the msdn site to check if your country is listed and good luck developing
Visual Studio 2012 Professional released to students through DreamSpark
You remember DreamSpark right? The platform from Microsoft that puts some of the Worlds most powerful software in the hands of students for free(Visual Studio 2010 Professional, Expression Studio 4 Ultimate to name a few). Well Visual Studio 2012 Professional has now been added to the mix. So if you are a student, head over there to take advantage of this opportunity, You will need to get verified that you are a student of course. Happy Coding
Windows 8 RTM, Visual Studio 2012 released for MSDN subscribers
Microsoft has released Windows 8 (RTM) for MSDN subscribers. For those who are Windows 8 developers but not subscribers, Microsoft has also released a 90 day evaluation version of Windows 8. It is is still slated for release on October 26th for “normal” consumers
A few notes about the 90 day evaluation copy is that it can not be upgraded and, obviously, will expire. To upgrade, you’ll need to uninstall the evaluation copy and a non-evaluation version of Windows 8 must be installed.
Also Released is Visual Studio 2012 for MSDN subscribers and an evaluation copy for 90 days. So head over to the MSDN site and get the tools to start building your Windows 8 apps.
NB: To those who are interested in getting the evaluation copy, upgrading to Windows 8 is $39.99 and if you purchase an eligible Windows 7 PC today, you will be able to purchase the upgrade for $14.99 through the Windows Upgrade offer
Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 Released to Manufacturing!!!
Yes that’s right. Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 have been Released to Manufacturing. This means They are fully ready. Windows 8 has started to roll out to Microsoft’s OEM partners today. Windows president Steven Sinofsky authored a great blog post announcing this engineering milestone. Congratulations to the Windows and Windows Server teams for creating such amazing products. Windows 8 should be out for consumers on October 2012. So for developers, get your apps ready, its going to be one year to remember
via Channel 9
Recapping Windows Phone 8 developer news
OK there was the revelation that Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 are built on a single shared code(wow), and that Windows Phone 8 will support C++ and C, it will be enterprise ready, improved multitasking, have in-app purchase service, marketplace expansion(major wow) and a whole lot more..In short just check the full recap and have fun developing.
Windows Phone Geek Developer Marketplace now open to all
Windows Phone Geek have finally made their Developer Marketplace open to all. It was previously released in beta to a select few. The Marketplace enables Windows Phone developers to pick up (or sell) components, tools, templates, frameworks, and more.
The scheduled month to open up the Marketplace to all developers was September 2012, but with increasing interest Windows Phone Geek have decided to bring the release date forward a few months. Boryana Miloshevska, Founder and CEO, had the following to add in the press release.
“Previously, we announced that the private beta was expected to continue until September 2012. I am pleased to announce that, due to the huge interest, we are starting the public beta two months earlier! Starting today, our component marketplace is open to everyone.”
Should you be interested to share any supported projects to the community, you can either give items away for free or publish a price tag to fund some beers. Be sure to check out the Marketplace regardless as the purpose of such a place is for developers to create better quality apps for consumers.
Source: Windows Phone Geek
Microsoft officially announces Windows Phone 8
On June 20 2012, Microsoft announced details of the upcoming Windows Phone 8 operating system codenamed “Apollo”.
Microsoft is continuing down the path of “Mango” and building for the next generation of hardware. As detailed by Joe Belfiore during a keynote speech, Windows Phone 8 is due out “this fall” and will contain many new features both for developers and consumers.
Details on new device resolutions, multi-core CPU support, near-field communications (NFC) and native C++ development were given during the Microsoft sponsored Windows Phone Summit. While the software-development kit (SDK) was not released for developers, one is expected to be delivered by the end of summer where more technical guidance will also be granted.
The big focus for this morning is on the new architecture, the NT kernel, for Windows Phone and what it means for developers, OEMs and IT professionals. With Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 desktop based on the same core, developers can more easily leverage their apps by sharing overlapping code between the two platforms. Such a move should great enhance app development on Windows Phone as desktop developers will have to only engage in minor coding fixes to port their app to the new mobile OS.
Moreover, applications for Windows Phone 7.x will automatically run on Windows Phone 8 with little or no changes to the code of the app. Apps coded on Windows Phone 8 will conversely run on Windows Phone 7.x as well so long as they don’t use native coding (apps coded with native C++ won’t run on Windows Phone 7.x since they use different APIs).
While plenty was shown off there is still plenty more that will come later
Microsoft Anglophone West Africa presents Developer Introduction Camp for Windows 8
Good news for devs in Lagos, Nigeria. There will be a Developer Introduction camp on Windows 8 on the 19th of June 2012. The conference is the first of its kind, an event focused on Windows 8 development. The event itself is open to all developers of all skill ranges and will have three areas of focus.
- Introduce Windows 8 and Metro to developers
- Show how developers can create Metro experiences with the Windows 8 platforms quickly and easily.
- Show developers how they will make money selling apps in the Windows Store.
You can register at EventBrite. I will be there at the event, so if you’re an attending developer with an interesting idea, be sure to meet so I can look to help with app promotion and reach, as well as possible interviews and reviews.
UPDATE: Venue is at the Civic Center Lagos
