For starters lets look at how you create the tile in code:

var secondaryTile = new StandardTileData                  
{  
    Title = "Title Title",
    Count = null,
    BackgroundImage = new Uri("/Background.png", UriKind.Relative),
    BackBackgroundImage = new Uri("/BackBackground.png", UriKind.Relative)                 
};

ShellTile.Create(navUri, secondaryTile);

As you can see both the BackgroundImage and BackBackgroundImage take a Uri in the code above. The Uri above is specified as Relative this means that the images can be located within the apps content (as part of the XAP file) or within the applications isolated storage.

You are however not restricted to relative Uri’s you can specify Absolute Uri’s for the image. This opens up the ability to have the image come from an external web server. This is where the Bing maps imagery API comes in.

The API is a RESTfull service which means that all calls to get an image is nothing more complicated than a Uri

Here is how a call to get a map image looks:

http://dev.virtualearth.net/REST/v1/Imagery/Map/Road/47.644829750061,-122.141661643982/15?mapSize=190,190&&key=****ENTER A KEY HERE***

This produces the following image:

You can find out more about using the Bing maps Rest services here : link with the  details of the imagery services found here: link You will also need to get yourself an application key so that you can use the service. Details can be found here: link

so for adding the image to a live tile all you need to do is get the Uri in the correct format and set that to be the source image of the tile here is an example how how I go about this:

string strURi = string.Format(
	"http://dev.virtualearth.net/REST/v1/Imagery/Map/Road/{0},{1}/15?mapSize=190,190&&key={2}", 
	lat, lon, key); 

var secondaryTile = new StandardTileData 
{ 
	Title = selectedLI.Name, 
	Count = null, 
	BackgroundImage = new Uri("/Background.png", UriKind.Relative), 
	BackBackgroundImage = new Uri(strUri, UriKind.Absolute) 
}; 

ShellTile.Create(navUri, secondaryTile); 

The lat, lon and key variables have all been set prior to calling this code.

This is how the tile looks in the emulator:

As you can see this is a rather simple way of adding some extra information to one of your tiles.

In the next blog post I hope to extend this further and add some additional graphics to the background. I will also be making use of the powerful WP7Contrib library.

More good times for app developers?

I think this is mainly down to the fact that it was an attempt to spread some good news for developer who develop .net applications using XAML and c# or VB.

As of now there are 20K+ applications for windows phone 7 and this list is growing at quite an impressive rate. This rate of growth is because of the ease at which these developers can write applications. People who work for large corporates developing enterprise applications using .NET can now become app publishers and can deviate from writing anonymous code that drives a cog of large enterprise systems.

These people I have met at our growing local user group. They are loving the application development platform that Microsoft have put together for them and have a hunger for more.

If you are a developer that has been developing code for Android or iPhone then you will have started with a single form factor in which your code runs on and found that that the available form factors has increased and you now not only develop for the phone but your apps can be made to run on the new and emerging tablet based devices.

Microsoft have made great strides with Windows 8 to ensure that it has the capabilities to run on a multitude of form factors. It is here that they are hedging their bets on windows running anywhere.

So where will we stand when it comes to Tablets and native development when can we start re-using our code from within those 20K+ applications so that we can start reaping the benefits of the next set of platforms.

Well from what Microsoft have disclosed in regards to the Windows 8 developer experience so far that just won’t be happening.

There has just been no message from Microsoft that states that don’t worry we still do native, and it will work within this snazzy new UI.

It’s all been HTML and JS as a brand new application development platform.

If this stays the case then once you are a Windows Phone developer you will be staying a Windows Phone developer and if you have a great app then you will have to port it.

Right now the message is that people will have to wait for the Build conference to actually find out what the developer story will be. And of course more and more FUD will enter the mind of us developers as time goes on.

One item that may enter peoples heads is that Microsoft are shifting their developer strategy and application platform to HTML and JS even on Windows Phone (ARM and SOC means that Win 8 can power a phone at some point – phones are mentioned in the Intel article).

If people start experiencing this kind of fear and uncertainty they are going to stop developing apps and the rate at which the marketplace is building will slow down if not stop.

We so need to know what’s happening and we need to know sooner rather than later.

It was quite an impressive turnout and I would like to say thanks to all those who came along. We do have a nice group of people building who share a passion for the Windows Phone platform. It can only go from strength to strength.

Thanks to Nick Ajderian from www.hattjoys.co.uk for providing a very entertaining and passionate talk on getting data from Twitter and chucking it on a map – Shame that the internet connection was poor and Nick had to resort to well prepared backup plans. Next time we won’t leave everything to the venue.

Thanks also to Iestyn Jones for demoing his good looking application Welsh Kitchen. Iestyn has actually published 4 applications to the market place (search for ‘Bugail’ in Zune) and received his XBox from the Think.Dev Rewards program.

For those of you looking to follow up from some of the items mentioned in my talk here are some links:

Preemptive runtime intelligence:

http://www.preemptive.com/wp7

IP address to location conversion:

http://www.hostip.info/

http://api.hostip.info/get_html.php?ip=X.X.X.X&position=true

One thing that I failed to mention was the alternatives to the Preemptive analytics. There is an Analytics library on Codeplex that supports Windows Phone 7 and different analytics (that’s way too many uses of the work in one paragraph) services such as the one provided by Google.

The library can be found here:

http://msaf.codeplex.com/

And René Schulte (@rschu on twitter) has written an article on how to get up and running:

http://kodierer.blogspot.com/2010/11/tracking-sales-statistics-with.html

We have lots more planned for upcoming meetings (the next likely to be mid July) so watch this space.

One of my applications on the marketplace is the countdown tile application. This is a simple application that when pinned to the home screen lets you see a countdown of the number of days until a certain date.

This application has recorded 6299 unique users to date. It’s had a mixed bag as far as reviews is concerned but this is mainly down to the fact that the tile update isn’t the most reliable mechanism on the phone system (something for another blog post to come soon).

One feature that people ask for is the ability to use their own pictures in the background of the tile. This is something that I have been aiming to do for a ‘Pro’ version of the application to try and convert some of the 6K users into 75p purchasers

With this and the fact that some of the new updates to the live tile services within the Mango platform update that is coming has prompted me to create a control that lets user be a little more creative with the tile that they would like to create.

I am in the early stages of putting together a Tile Maker control that presents the user with an area the size of a standard live tile. Behind this area can be placed an image that the user wants to use within the tile. This image can be moved around by using multi-touch gestures. Once the user has the image in the desired place they can then take a snapshot of the tile area to use as the live tile.

If this control interests you you can download the current Alpha code from codeplex at this link:

http://wptilemaker.codeplex.com/

Let me know what you think and if you will find this control useful. Also if you can think of any additional features then pop them in a comment on this post.

One aspect of Mango that Microsoft have announced is the inclusion of two new market distribution models those being Beta and private distribution.

The private distribution model has been signalled as a let down for enterprises. This post details the perceived shortcomings: http://blog.wpfwonderland.com/2011/04/15/mango-adds-beta-and-private-marketplaces-to-windows-phone-7-and-neglects-enterprise/

As this post mentions the idea that you can’t restrict the use of the application to a set of users rules out the private model for enterprise distribution.

In my opinion the enterprise has been supported from day one all that you have to do is consider the mechanisms that you are going to use to stop anybody from making use of your enterprise application.

If you consider the fact that your code can gain access to the devices unique identifier then you will be able to identify the device that your code is running on.

Consider this scenario that uses a workflow similar to how SSL certificates are issued to servers:

• A phone user downloads the application.
• The user starts the application. The application asks the user for the Key that the company has provided via email (Thankfully we now have cut/paste to copy the key to the clipboard).
• At this point the user does not have access to the key as this is the applications 1st run, so the user is presented with another button that will generate the key request (this should always be present until the application has received a valid key)..
• The key is generated by code it will incorporate the devices unique identifier.  This code is hashed and can be decoded by the companies systems.
• Once the key has been generated the app launches a new email with the key included in the text. The email is addresses to the right email address.
• The company receives the email from the phone user and verifies the email address that the request has come from.
• A key that will unlock the application is generated and sent to the originating email address.
• Once the user has the key they can enter it into the application and away they go.

I know this isn’t perfect and you can probably pick a million holes in it (feel free to do so by posting a comment) but it does illustrate that rather than wait for the distribution channels to be created you can always work around them.

UPDATE:

Someone did point out that marketplace certification may be a sticker here . You would have to let the Microsoft testers know about the process via adding notes into the application submission.

This I see as a valuable opportunity for the developers as they get a change to see what people think face to face rather than waiting for feedback or even the emails to their support address.

There is also one other even more important opportunity that is that could be created by the application demonstration.

An example of this is the continuing story behind the TaxiRoute application. On March 17th 2011 (St Patricks Day) the application was promoted to be the featured application within the Marketplace.

The rest of the story behind the development of TaxiRoute is one of a dogged determination of the managing director Trevor Daniel to create a database that holds the local authority hackney carriage tariff data for the whole of GB (Northern Ireland not included).

Once this information was completed Trevor built a web site www.taxiroute.co.uk and offered it out to the public. The web site now records around £1M in value of enquiries each month.

Not only does the web site approximate  the charges of the taxy ride you want to take (the web site can not take into account waiting time for metred charges and therefore only provides a best case estimate) it will also provide a list of local firms, along with their telephone numbers.

As you can image when you are out and about you a web site isn’t the best way in which to get the information an obvious progression would be a phone application. Hence TaxiRoute GB was created.

Trevor decided to put his application forward to be demonstrated at the 1st Cardiff WPUG meeting on March 2nd where we were fortunate enough to get a date that had Paul Foster and Mike Ormond attend.

Paul was impressed by the story that led to the development of the application and also impressed by the concept, so he pushed the application at the guys in the UK windows phone marketing.

The upshot of this being that the application has been considered an App Hero and has featured in a couple of ways and also be pushed within the social space.

Although the WPUG meetings (in London and Cardiff) won’t always be attended by members of the Microsoft DPE team it’s the connections that we have with these guys that make attending worth while even if you haven’t yet got that killer app to demonstrate.

The insight and understanding that you will gain along with the possible opportunity’s like the one that TaxiRoute has been given are just not worth missing.

Here is the application Listing in Zune:

Along with the application listing the marketing guys at Microsoft also spread the word socially via Windows Phone UK:

Ok so meeting Number 1 down and definite call for more! From the feedback that I have received people did find it very useful and they are also expecting more.

Some pointers to follow on from my talk:

The developer tools are available here: http://create.msdn.com

Once you have the tools installed ensure that you also install NuGet: www.nuget.org

To add a package you will find the ‘Library Package Manager’ menu item under tools from here select ‘Add library package reference…’.

When creating a new project then I suggest that you use the following packages (enter the titles below in the search box):

• MvvmLight (http://mvvmlight.codeplex.com/)
• SilverlightToolkitWP (http://silverlight.codeplex.com/)
• Coding4Fun.Phone.Controls.Complete (http://coding4fun.codeplex.com/)
• PhoneyTools (http://phoney.codeplex.com/)

Anything i mentioned in my talk that I missed?

People:

We were lucky enough to get Mike Ormond and Paul Foster from the Microsoft DPE team. Both Paul and Mike are the UK evangelists for the Windows Phone platform. Also attending was Matt Lacey the founder of the WPUG event in London.

One thing to note is that the meetings won’t always be attended by members of the Microsoft DPE team but they are very happy to support our efforts and will be attending on occasion.

Paul Foster: http://wotudo.net/ and @paulfo

Mike Ormond: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mikeormond/ and @MikeOrmond

Matt Lacey: http://mrlacey.co.uk/ and @mrlacey

The main WPUG web site is: http://www.wpug.net/ with @wpug being the twitter account to follow.

I have also created the Cardiff WPUG account to post announcements and details of the Cardiff based events: @cdf_wpug This account will follow our members so should be worth following.

What Next:

Last thing that I want to do is lose that momentum, but I do have to decide how often the meetings can and will happen. For for this I will need to get an idea of what subject matter people would like talks on and also I would like to find volunteers to present talks.

From our registration forms there were eight people who expressed a willingness to contribute so now it the time to put your money where your mouth is.

After the meeting on the 2nd I could see some areas that can already be covered:

• Deeper Dive into the MVVM Pattern.
• Using the Preemptive Dotfuscator and adding analytics to applications.
• Microsoft advertising framework.
• Mapping and Location Service.

Are there areas you would like covered? If you do then post a comment here. Comments are moderated so it may take a little while for your comment to appear.

Once I have a a good idea of what we can offer our members in terms of talks and support then I can decide how often the meetings can happen.

In some cases the user is forced to press an area on the page that does not include a text control to take the focus away from the text box. Once the SIP is hidden then the user can click the control they want to enter text into.

This is mainly because the controls do not support the concept of tab order because the SIP does not include a tab control to move between controls.

One solution to this is to look for the enter key to be released and move the focus on to the next control:

private void txtUsername_KeyUp(object sender, System.Windows.Input.KeyEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.Key == System.Windows.Input.Key.Enter)
        txtPassword.Focus();
}

This could prove to be a pain for developers and forces additional code within the page code file that can be said to be quite untidy.

It is because of this that I have created my own solution using a behaviour that can be attached to a control. One advantage of this is that it will be possible to set the values using Blend therefore reducing the reliance on the developer.

The OnEnter Behaviour:

The XAML below gives an example on how the behaviour can be attached to a text box

The additional namespaces that I have added to the page are:

xmlns:i="clr-namespace:

System.Windows.Interactivity;assembly=System.Windows.Interactivity"
xmlns:mh="clr-namespace:

MikeHole.WindowsPhone.Behaviors;assembly=MikeHole.WindowsPhone.Behaviors"

You can download the project from here. (if you have any problems downloading this then please send me an email at: mike [at] mikehole [dot] com and I will send it on).

If you can think of any ways that the behaviour can be improved or know of any better solutions then feel free to leave a comment.

Cheers,

Mike

I am quite proud to say that this app went from being a simple ‘featured’ application to being a partner showcase application and was included on review devices that were handed out to journalist for review.

What’s next

Well that would be telling but there were a couple of features that didn’t make this version that we are aiming to get into the app in the next release (which will happen soon). These will all be aimed around make the app a lot more social.

Our plan is to create a community around this application where people who contribute a lot can find themselves being featured as a Pathfinder so therefore social is key.

Thanks (the main reason I wrote this).

I am afraid that the next bit is going to sound like a bit of an Oscar award speech but there are certain people that I would like to thank for providing help during the development process.

1st off is Howard Scott for bringing the client on board and providing the idea. Then there is the client Snow+Rock for trusting us.

After the initial idea comes the designer James Bearne who created that stunning look. All of which was done in Illustrator I had to carve the XAML myself. I hope I did your designs justice.

Although I was the only developer involved in putting this app together i did have some help from twitter, it’s a great medium for finding answers a special mention to @rschu, @gcaughey and @mrlacey for provide a few pointers.

There is one person who in the scheme of things in regards to the whole windows phone 7 launch that I have a great deal of gratitude to offer, that’s Paul Foster.

I don’t know where the guy gets his energy from or how he kept himself going but Paul has been through the mill from having to put together those 50 demo devices over night to having to put up with our demands during the day then ‘corps’ demands during the night.

So thanks everyone (and to anybody I have missed). I sure can’t wait until the next project comes along.

Orange

Posters in the windows and the shops have had stock yay! One shop was given one -  which they had sold – the other shop has 12 (they had a couple still left so I managed to have a play with the Mozart which remains my phone of choice).

O2

They knew about the pones, no promotional material in the shop but they did check to see if they had any in … which they didn’t.

T-Mobile

The guy in the store knew about the phones, didn’t expect any in soon (they are still waiting fro the HTC desire) and he said that if you like win mob then stick with it. But he wasn’t sure about it’s viability in regards to apps.

So I gave him a quick demo of my developer mule . I think I completely changed his mind on that one. Made his day to see one I think (he liked our app too).

In conclusion I would say that like AT&T in the states Microsoft have a great ally in Orange and thanks to them for jumping right on the launch bandwagon. seeing this this morning really made me smile.