Top 10 Microsoft Online Learning Videos in Switzerland
Here is the list of the top 10 free online learning videos from Microsoft published on Channel 9 by views in Switzerland.
So if you want to get a head start on know-how in Microsoft technology, this is a great place to start.
And if you watch one of these trainings until March 31, you have a chance to win prizes every day! Check it out on http://aka.ms/learnandwin
Swiss //Publish/ event on Friday, May 16 – bring your project and join the hackathon!
Date:
Geneva, Switzerland / May 16, 2014
Location:
blue-infinity SA
Route des Jeunes 35
Geneva, 1227 Switzerland
Agenda:
10:00 AM -10:30 AM Registration/Event Welcome
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM Keynote – new features, converged apps…
11:30 AM – 13:00 AM Open Coding Session with Expert(-s) Support
13:00 PM – 14:00 PM Lunch/Webcast
14:00 PM – 17:30 PM Open Coding Session with Expert(-s) Support
17:30 PM – 18:00 PM App Showcase/Judging & Awards
18:00 PM – 19:00 PM Dinner/ Webcast
19:00 PM – 22:00 PM Open Coding Session with Expert(-s) Support
Registration:
https://publishwindows.com/view/705a4018c335408f97cf0bdddca3e1f9
Bring your existing app and game projects to Microsoft’s //publish/ event to code with developers from around the world. Collaborate and get help with app design, performance, testing, publishing, porting from Unity – you name it.
Receive onsite support from community experts to remove blockers and add the finishing touches to your project.
Join a testing group of your peers and try your app out on a range of devices.
Connect online with developers and Microsoft product specialists from all over the globe in simultaneous worldwide events. Show off your completed project at the App Showcase.
Some nice facts on how Windows Phone 8.1 handles files.
One of the new features of Windows Phone 8.1 is sharing, very much like the share charm in Windows 8, and the new file picker.
The share contract allows apps to share freely with no limitations on the content type. Text, links, HTML, images, files, or even custom file types.
The new file picker goes a step further. Apps can use it to open and save files in the phone’s storage, SD card, or OneDrive.
If an app wants to load pictures, the user will be presented with the photos app. But if you need to get to a photo in another location (like your SD card or OneDrive), you can select ‘Choose location’ on the Photos app’s app bar and access the file picker.
A very nice twist: custom apps can be file providers too and allow their files/data to be accessed by the user using other apps.
This works in both Windows Runtime apps (i.e. Universal Apps) and Silverlight 8.1 apps.
To learn more on the topic, have a look at The Build 2014 session: “Contracts and Pickers: Building Apps that Work Together on Windows”
Also, Internet Explorer 11 now allows to download/save files when tapping on a link on a webpage.
You can then immediately access the downloaded file using IE:
…or you can connect your phone to your computer, access it’s folders and find a new subfolder “Downloads” containing the downloaded files.
Also, the newly available “Field Medic” App, a premier diagnostic application for Windows Phone that allows easy collection of device information and ETW logs right from your device, adds its own, user accessible folder where collected logs are stored.
Very nice, indeed!
Hands-On Lab: Building your first App for Windows 8.1 and publishing it to the Windows Store.
I recently created this hands-on lab and ran it in an on-site event here at Microsoft Switzerland. People gave me very good feedback so I decided to publish it in full.
The lab contains everything you need to complete the exercise, including a detailed, 50 page step-by-step manual as Word- or PDF document. Every step is well explained so you don’t need prior Windows App development experience.
In it, you will be creating a YouTube video player app from scratch (File, new Project) for a specific YouTube channel and publish it to the Microsoft store. The final app will look something like the following, but you can tailor it to your YouTube channel of choice.
The lab also makes use of some of the new Windows 8.1 controls like the Hub and the Microsoft Player Framework to play back streaming video.
Windows 8 features like the App bar, asynchronous programming and sharing videos through the Share Charm are all covered.
Also, all the sometimes confusing publishing steps are explained in detail, including how to optimally create properly sized screen-shots using the simulator in Visual Studio 2013…
…how to properly describe the app select the right category and markets…
…and test the app using the “Windows App Certification Kit”, so publishing is as smooth as possible.
Prerequisites
All you need to complete the lab is a computer running Windows 8.1 and a version of Visual Studio 2013, that can create XAML/C# based Windows store apps. The free “Visual Studio Express 2013 for Windows” edition will do just fine.
To publish the lab, you will need an active Windows Store account, details how to sign up can be found here and here. Pricing per year is CHF 17 for individuals and CHF 90 for companies
Give me the Files!
You can download the whole lab from: http://corti.ch/w81-store-hol
MS Virtual Academy Live event: Porting Unity games to Windows 8.1 & Windows Phone
Microsoft Virtual Academy Live events presents a fast-paced live virtual session on “Porting Unity games to Windows 8.1 & Windows Phone” for developers, free of charge.
Basic knowledge of the Unity editor and engine is recommended.
The event will be hosted by Michael “Mickey” Macdonald, a Microsoft Technical Evangelist @ScruffyFurn and Bryan Griffiths, Video Game Design Instructor at triOS College.
The live event will take place December 6, 2013 / 9:00am – 5:00pm (PST)
Details and registration at http://corti.ch/6bkoc
Windows Phone developers can now download WP8 Update 3
If you are a developer of Windows Phone apps, you can update your Windows Phone 8 device to the announced OS update titled “Update 3” or “GDR 3” now.
Requirements are that you (a) have an active Windows Phone Dev Center account; OR (b) have an active App Studio account; OR (c) be running a registered developer device (‘dev unlocked’ phone)
Note that You CANNOT REVERT to a previous OS version once you have taken an update via this program.
The tool itself is very simple, allowing you to opt-in or -out of pre-releases of the Phone OS with one click.
The download is available here: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/preview-for-developers/178ac8a1-6519-4a0b-960c-038393741e96
Microsoft PubCenter change requires developers to update their Ad Units.
Microsoft PubCenter has recently introduced targeting changes aimed at improving application/ad relevancy.
If you use PubCenter ads in your Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8 apps, make sure to update your Ad Units to reflect the store category of the app that the ad unit is used in.
Three Required Steps:
1. Associate your Mobile ad unit to a specific Application via the pubCenter’s setup tab.
2. Select Category and Subcategory (when available) for each Mobile ad unit. Your selection should match the same categories you’ve selected in Windows Phone Dev Center.
3. Save, and repeat for each Mobile ad unit.
You will need to update all your existing Windows Phone Ad units by September 12st, to continue receiving ads. Ad units not updated by Sep 12, 2013, will stop serving ads.
More details can be found in the blog post in the Advertising Community Blog.
Any Developer can now unlock and register 1 Windows Phone to side-load up to 2 Apps for free.
This is amazing news! With the recent announcement of the beta of the new app development tool, the Windows Phone App Studio that can help you create your app without coding, we are now offering every developer the possibility to unlock and register 1 phone to side-load up to 2 apps. Registered developers with Dev Center accounts continue to have the option to unlock up to 3 phones and upload up to 10 apps on each.
This means that it is now possible to develop and deploy your own software for testing on real phone hardware without paying for a Windows Phone Dev Center account.
Want to develop your apps using the full development tools or edit the projects you have generated online with the Windows Phone App Studio? No problem! The full developer tools are free for download, just grab the “Windows Phone 8.0 SDK” from http://dev.windowsphone.com/en-us/downloadsdk
Only if you want to publish your app to the store however, you will need the full account. But thanks to the $19 “Summer Break” limited-time Dev Center registration offer (through August 26, 2013). With this offer, the annual Dev Center registration is just $19 (or equivalent local currency). See official terms for more details.
Building a working QR Code from Lego Bricks.
During a recent holiday I had the idea of creating a working QR code from Lego bricks. This is how it turned out:
The Making of:
First, I created a URL QR code for my domain, http://corti.com on http://qrcode.kaywa.com/.
The next step was to port the black blocks to a grid – I used Excel for the task.
Next, I split the black areas into the largest possible Lego bricks available. The result looks as follows with the various colors representing different kinds of Lego bricks.
With the resulting number of required bricks, I headed over to Lego’s Pick a Brick and ordered the required amount of the flattest possible bricks called “plates”.
After a week I had all the parts I needed.
Putting everything together in the next pictures.
The last step was getting a fitting picture frame from Ikea.
And yes, I am missing one “pixel” which I will add as soon as I get my hands on another black 1*1 plate… :) The QR code still works thanks to error correction.
Windows 8.1 Resources for Developers
Windows 8.1 has been announced last week at the //build/ conference in San Francisco.
.jpg "Windows 8.1 Preview")
Now is the perfect time to get yourself up to speed on what is new in Windows 8.1 for developers, try the new Visual Studio 2013 preview and install the preview build of Windows 8.1.
The following, small collection of links hopefully helps you in getting your bearings in the matter.
Build 2013 Session Recordings
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2013
Windows 8.1 app samples
http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsapps/Windows-8-Modern-Style-App-Samples
Download Visual Studio 2013 Preview for Windows
http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/2013-downloads
Get the standalone Windows 8.1 SDK
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=294834
Download the Windows 8.1 samples pack
http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsapps/Windows-8-Modern-Style-App-Samples/file/60708/47/Windows%208%20app%20samples.zip
Windows App Certification Kit 3.0
http://msdn.microsoft.com/windows/apps/bg127575
Remote Tools for Visual Studio 2013 Preview
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkID=299013
Multilingual App Toolkit
http://msdn.microsoft.com/windows/apps/bg127574
Windows 8.1 New APIs and features
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/windows/apps/bg182410
Windows 8.1 Preview Product Guide for Developers
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=306678
Windows 8.1 Preview Product Guide (PDF Download)
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=302189
Migration guide for app builders
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=304117
Internet Explorer 11 Preview Guide for Developers
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ie/bg182636
Sascha Corti aka. TechPreacher 
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