Cross-Platform XNA App

In today’s development world being able to target multiple platforms from the same game codebase is a rarity. Often times the same game project needs be re-written to run on a different platform causing a lot of headache, frustration and lost time. This is where XNA Game Studio comes in. XNA Game Studio is a set of tools which Microsoft has built that makes the process of developing a game easy and fun…. Continue to full article tutorial that I wrote for Dzone.com.

Considering that Elop, formly of Microsoft, is announcing a partnership with Microsoft, it’s likely that we’ll see some big announcements this Friday at the company’s Capital Markets Day.

Included below are snippets from the memo:

• “…there is intense heat coming from our competitors, more rapidly than we ever expected. Apple disrupted the market by redefining the smartphone and attracting developers to a closed, but very powerful ecosystem.”
• “They changed the game, and today, Apple owns the high-end range.”
• “Google has become a gravitational force, drawing much of the industry’s innovation to its core.”
• “We have some brilliant sources of innovation inside Nokia, but we are not bringing it to market fast enough. We thought MeeGo would be a platform for winning high-end smartphones. However, at this rate, by the end of 2011, we might have only one MeeGo product in the market.”
• “…Symbian is proving to be an increasingly difficult environment in which to develop to meet the continuously expanding consumer requirements…”
• “Our competitors aren’t taking our market share with devices; they are taking our market share with an entire ecosystem.”
• “We poured gasoline on our own burning platform. I believe we have lacked accountability and leadership to align and direct the company through these disruptive times. We had a series of misses. We haven’t been delivering innovation fast enough. We’re not collaborating internally. Nokia, our platform is burning.”

What impact will this have for WP7 should Nokia choose that route? Well, based on Silicon Alley’s Chart of the Day from February 4th, it means a large jump in marketshare. This is big news and most-welcoming news for Microsoft which has been avoiding reporting sell-through sales figures for WP7.

Source: SAI Business Insider

Now, if Nokia decides to move to the Android platform, that will spell big trouble for Windows Phone 7, not to mention it’ll put Apple, amd RIM out of the race. It’ll be an interesting week.

For additional comments on Nokia and the full memo, please see Engadget’s article Nokia CEO Stephen Elop rallies troops in brutally honest ‘burning platform’ memo? (update: it’s real!) by Chris Ziegler.

Rift: Planes of Telara is a new MMORPGs available in March from Trion and featured at the NBCU CES 2011 booth, and although Rift has little to no relation to Windows Phone 7, we couldn’t resist getting a photo with Asha. We got a tour of the booth and it looks like NBC has developed a few a few apps available for Blackberry (a full version of the CNBC channel for $24.99), iPhone/iPad, and Android, but the Microsoft partner —they jointly run www.msnbc.com— does not have an app for the WP7.  Maybe this is understandable since Microsoft and NBC relations had soured in 2005 over their joint media project MSNBC.

Microsoft played it safe. From incremental technologies to some amazingly cool chips, to “there’s not much new to discuss here”, they covered almost everything but cloud tech.

Among some of the things announced:

• AvatarKinect for Xbox. Free for Xbox Live Gold Members, the new avatars recognize facial expressions and interact with each other via Kinect. You can move your eyebrows, talk with your friends, and do it in 14 engaging environments. Ballmer also covered some of the more interesting sales statistics: over 50 million Xbox consoles sold, 8 million Kinect sensors sold in the first 60 days, and 30 million Xbox live members, making Xbox a billion dollar business on it’s own.
• Windows Phone 7. Liz Sloan enthusiastically demoed the Windows Phone 7, utilizing the voice activated cut & paste feature (coming soon), showcasing the camera, sharing, home tiles, hubs, and office. There are several new games, including Fable coin golf that allows point collection on the phone with the ability to transfer currency to the Xbox console via Xbox Live. The only stats Microsoft was willing to divulge include: over 5,500 applications now available on Marketplace, over half the customers purchase 1 app per day, and there are over 2o,000 developers registered and counting. No numbers regarding Windows Phone 7 sales.
• Windows PC/Tablet. We had mentioned that we wanted to hear more about Microsoft’s tablet strategy earlier this week, and while they didn’t focus on a strategy, they did show some pretty cool tablets. The Samsung slider is a dual screen PC that weighs 1 kilo and transforms into a tablet via a screen that slides under the first.  Acer has a Tablet PC has some killer looks, and multi-touch pen and finger. Most of these PCs were running on the new Intel core processors, multi-core CPU/GPU for 20% increased graphics performance. We would have liked to see Windows Phone 7 on tablets but sadly, it wasn’t in the cards this year.

• Next version of Windows. This is probably the most exciting announcement. System on Chip (pictured above) puts an entire computer in the palm of your hand. They demoed SoC running on ARM systems from NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments. More from Microsoft’s press release:

SoC architectures consolidate the major components of a computing device onto a single package of silicon. This consolidation enables smaller, thinner devices while reducing the amount of power required for the device, increasing battery life and making possible always-on and always-connected functionality. With support of SoC in the next version of the Windows client, Microsoft is enabling industry partners to design and deliver the widest range of hardware ever.

• Surface 2. The next generation of Surface is a table-sized tablet with a touch screen. Every pixel in display acts as a camera. It’s made of  Gorilla Glass which is virtually unbreakable (it can resist a bottle dropping from 18 inches).

Overall, it wasn’t too disappointing. There wasn’t any mention of cloud tech but it looks like Microsoft is betting on Windows, which isn’t a big surprise given it’s their cash cow. In the end, Ballmer wrapped it up by telling the crowd “Whatever device you use, Windows will be there.” It’s no Apple event, but it’ll do.

Overall, the theme to CES 2011 will be mobile devices and staying connected (last year it was supposed to be about green tech, but 3D TVs kept making their way into the forefront). With over half a million iPhones and Android phones selling each day, and the recent successes of the iPad and Android tablets, Ballmer has a lot to consider. So what is Microsoft’s mobile device strategy? Currently, there really isn’t one. Perhaps that will change in couple days, but until then here’s what we’d like to see: a unified 360 mobile device strategy.

It would be nice to take the Windows Phone 7 operating platform, expand the feature set for greater utility, and move it to tablets. This will allow for easier adoption, reduced learning curves, a single application purchasing system, and a uniform standard for developers. Google’s doing it, and well, Apple pretty much designed their business around seamless integration of service on all devices. Oh, and they do it with style too.

We’re not the only ones talking about a unified tablet strategy. Check out this pseudo product announcement from another developer blog.

Microsoft will have a few announcements this week, including a new Windows ARM chip for tablets as reported by Bloomberg.

Stay tuned for more CES coverage January 6th through the 9th at www.thedirtydeveloper.com or follow us @DirtyDeveloper.

FULL DISCLOSURE: We are WP7 developers and so our post may have some bias but we’ll try to remain objective to a degree.

Personally, we’d like to know where Microsoft would like to be with WP7. With the XBOX, they wanted to be the central device in the living room, and they beat out the-then top console PS2. Most folks thought Microsoft was out of their minds but today, it’s looking like a reality.

With the Zune, a Microsoft employee once communicated to us that Microsoft wasn’t interested in capturing the dominant share of the market – and they didn’t really feel it was possible anyway as their services weren’t as streamlined as Apple. And today Zune continues to be a sad story.

With WP7, it seems as if Microsoft wants to be a real contender in the smart phone arena particularly with games and enterprise. If that’s the case, we believe they’ll throw money and resources at it until they get to where they want to be.

We like to think of the world tech consumption as segmented (because it is). There are those that want the controlled, aesthetic environment such as the one offered by the iPhone. The pros are a seamless user experience supported by the specs of a single device. Of course you will give up some freedom to have the convenience of a controlled interface.

Then, there are those that crave the open source, unfiltered environment that Android can provide. It’s great until you discover that what works on one device, doesn’t work or look the same on another. The lack of consistency likely makes it difficult for enterprise adoption as well (although we haven’t researched this).

Then, there are those of us that want a little of both, which is what we feel WP7 offers. Microsoft has placed enough emphasis on the development and manufacturing standards of the phone without limiting who can offer the phone or who can manufacture it. These standards add a level of control and security which is a plus for security-sensitive enterprise organizations.

WP7 also has XBOX live integration. We’re starting to see some really interesting gaming apps, which is of course, the biggest source of revenue for app stores. A study in September by Nielsen revealed that of 4,000 smart phone users, 91% would pay for games. Gaming is probably not the value proposition that Microsoft wants to exploit (which is why we think it’s been left out of their advertising) but it is a core competency nonetheless.

Now remember, the smart phone market is booming NOW (not two years ago as Dan’s article suggests). Sure lots of media coverage made it look like two years ago was the time to have a phone out there but we were still somewhat on the left side of the adoption chasm. Could we sell half a million smart phones a day two years ago? Probably not. Were their multiple carriers with “iPhone-like” operating systems? Just barely. But this year, we feel we’ve seen the crossing of the chasm— and we hardly think that makes WP7 toast.

But facts don’t lie, with only 1.5M phones shipped and no sell-through number the current outlook isn’t exactly glamorous. Even still, it’s a little early to call it quits.

Just take a peek at the official Windows Phone 7 Apps page. Sure there are a few utility and entertainment apps in the featured section, and a few in the free section, but all the top apps in the paid section are GAMES.

This comes as no surprise since the WP7 is designed for gaming, some utility, but mostly gaming. What is surprising is the marketing campaign that Microsoft has chosen to push. If people pay mostly for games, and you have one of the best gaming platforms available in the world, then why push the utility? Perhaps it’s because the utility of the phone isn’t obvious, but something tells me, people simply don’t care. If it makes calls, perfect. If it has free utility apps, awesome. But above all, it better give me some games and entertainment.

In a recent report by Nielsen of 4,000 smart phone users, 91% claimed they would be willing to pay for an app if it was a game. And users are putting their money where their mouth is. Over half the top paid apps for iPhone have been games and virtually all the top paid apps on Android are games. Logically, it would follow that Windows Phone 7 is seeing similar results. Perhaps sales for WP7 would improve if people knew the epic quality of gaming on the WP7. What do you think?

Check out Need For Speed courtesy of Windows Mobile Power User

Take our poll and tell us what you’d pay for.

If you are looking to buy one of these suckers, the HTC Surround and Samsung Focus are both available from AT&T for $199 with a two-year contract. The HTC HD7 is available for the same price with a two-year contract with T-Mobile.

You can find all the phones available on Amazon and if your are one of those early adopters, Dell is now offering the Venue Pro at a nice price [UPDATE: This phone appears to be sold out, try your local Microsoft Store to purchase the Venue Pro].

While we are busy out buying our phone so we can officially review all the epic abilities (the developer phone is definitely not to spec although still cool), we want to know what YOU think of WP7. Take a few minutes and write a comment or make a post on our Facebook Fan Page (Yes, we’d love for you to “like” us). Looking forward to your thoughts, but just in case you don’t have plans to buy the phone just yet, check out these expert reviews:

Review from Gizmodo

Review from Engadget

Walt Mossberg’s (Wall Street Journal) Review

CNET’s review of the Dell Venue Pro; hint: This one will sell out quickly

SlashGear’s Video Review

Mobile TechReview’s Video Review

After a bit of messing around, I finally discovered a slick way to produce a staggered loading effect for my list boxes. I found the technique from my friend Andrej Tozon’s blog.

Basically, the technique is to use the Reactive framework to asynchronously call a change of the VisualStateManager BeforeItemLoaded and AfterItemLoaded states. The entire code can be summed up with this brief method below. Of course, the XAML for the states and style of the listbox is additional code which can be found here: Download Project Files.

private void ListBox_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
  {
      ((ListBox)sender).Opacity = 0;

      for (int i = 0; i < ((ListBox)sender).Items.Count; i++)
      {
          ListBoxItem item = (ListBoxItem)((ListBox)sender).ItemContainerGenerator.ContainerFromIndex(i);
          if (item != null)
          {
              VisualStateManager.GoToState(item, "BeforeLoaded", false);
          }
      }

      ((ListBox)sender).Opacity = 1.0;

      var observable = from t in Observable.Interval(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(300))
                               .TimeInterval().Take(((ListBox)sender).Items.Count)
                       select t.Value;

      observable.Subscribe(i => Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(() =>
          VisualStateManager.GoToState(
              (ListBoxItem)((ListBox)sender).ItemContainerGenerator
                  .ContainerFromIndex((int)i), "AfterLoaded", true)));
  }

Click here to download the turntable disc png

XAML Code (turntable.xaml)

<UserControl x:Class="PhoneControls.Turntable"

    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"

    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"

    xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"

    xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"

    mc:Ignorable="d" Height="293" Width="393">

    <Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="#FF1F1F1F" Height="296" Width="392">

        <Image x:Name="Background" Source="turntable.jpg" MouseMove="Circle_MouseMove" Margin="0,0,13,0"></Image>

        <Grid Height="293" x:Name="circHolder" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="290" Margin="32,0,0,0">

            <Image x:Name="Circle" Width="290" Height="292" Source="disc.png" MouseMove="Circle_MouseMove" 

MouseLeftButtonDown="Circle_MouseLeftButtonDown" MouseLeftButtonUp="Circle_MouseLeftButtonUp" 

Margin="-9,-4,9,5" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" Stretch="None">

                <Image.RenderTransform>

                    <RotateTransform x:Name="TurnTableRotation" />

                </Image.RenderTransform>

            </Image>

        </Grid>

        <TextBlock Height="24" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="306,260,0,0" Name="mousePositionText" 

Text="TextBlock" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="85" Foreground="Red" />

    </Grid>

</UserControl>

C# Code-behind (turntable.xaml.cs)

    public partial class Turntable : UserControl

    {

        Point start, center;

        double distance = 0;

        bool down = false;

        double initAngle = 0;

        public Turntable()

        {

            InitializeComponent();

            this.TurnTableRotation.CenterX =  145;

            this.TurnTableRotation.CenterY = 145;

        }

        private void Circle_MouseLeftButtonDown(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)

        {

            start = e.GetPosition(this.Circle);

            center = new Point(145, 145);

            down = true;

            initAngle = this.TurnTableRotation.Angle;

        }

        private void Circle_MouseMove(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)

        {

            mousePositionText.Text = e.GetPosition(this.Circle).ToString();

            if (down)

            {

                double a = calculateDistance(e.GetPosition(this.Circle), center);

                double b = calculateDistance(e.GetPosition(this.Circle), start);

                double c = calculateDistance(start, center);

                if (b == 0)

                    b = 1;

                this.TurnTableRotation.Angle = initAngle + calculateAngle(a, b, c);

            }

        }

        private double calculateDistance(Point pt1, Point pt2)

        {

            return Math.Sqrt(Math.Pow(pt2.X - pt1.X, 2) + Math.Pow(pt2.Y - pt1.Y, 2));

        }

        private double calculateAngle(double distA, double distB, double distC)

        {

            return Math.Acos((-distC * distC + distA * distA + distB * distB) / (2 * distA * distB)) * 60;

        }

        private void Circle_MouseLeftButtonUp(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)

        {

            down = false;

        }

    }