Evernote 5 for Windows is ready for download, looks very good!
Even though I mostly use OneNote, I keep Evernote around for snapped business cards. The Windows version of the desktop client just had a major update to version 5, which looks very nice and handles very fast.
Have a look at the official blog post about the release for a lot of details.
Now I am only hoping for an updated Windows 8 store app version to make the Windows Evernote clients just perfect.
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.
Halo: Spartan Assault in the Store for Windows 8, coming soon to Windows Phone 8
Halo: Spartan Assault is the first touch-optimized game set in the HALO universe. It plays on any Windows 8 system, but really shines on a tablet.
Even though the controls are touch-based and very easy to master, the game feels very dense and immerses the player in the Halo universe.
Set between the events of “Halo 3” and “Halo 4,” “Halo: Spartan Assault” is a new chapter of the award-winning “Halo” universe that explores the first missions of the Spartan Ops program and dives deeper into the backstory of Human-Covenant wars. Play through the eyes of either Commander Sarah Palmer or Spartan Davis stationed aboard the UNSC Infinity as they fight never-before-seen battles against Covenant forces.
Visit the official site for screenshots and gameplay videos.
Download Halo: Spartan Assault from the Windows 8 store. The soundtrack is available from Amazon.
My Celtic Cross Tarot for Windows 8 is now available in the Store as a free download.
One of my recent pet projects I have been working on in my spare time (to put the new Surface Pro to good use…) was to create an implementation of the classic “Celtic Cross” Tarot that would guide the user step by step through a reading, even for users that have no previous knowledge of Tarot readings.
The app makes use of the “Sharing Charm” in Windows 8 to allow the user to share the result so it can be kept it for further reference.
I added some visual effects but left out sound so the app wouldn’t seem too much like a game.
It uses the classic Rider-Waite deck and way of interpreting the major Tarot Arcana, including the differentiation between normal and reversed cards.
The app can be downloaded for free here, if you want to give it a try: http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/celtic-cross-tarot/1d584f86-3e18-44e7-bade-179f7b89585f
Begin the reading by asking your question.
See the meaning of each card while you select it from the deck.
After all ten cards has been selected, each card is revealed and its reading is presented.
In the end, the full reading is summarized.
You can share the question and the reading using Windows 8’s share charm.
OneNote Windows 8 app updated with finger drawing support – Neowin
It’s only been a few weeks since Microsoft has released an update for the free OneNote app for Windows 8. Today, the company released yet another update that adds a feature that will please many users who access OneNote on touchscreen devices like the Surface.
As described on the official Office blog, the new version now allows anyone to draw on the app just with their finger on a touchscreen, instead of using a pen or stylus. To access the feature, users simply tap on the app’s radial menu and select the Draw option.
via OneNote Windows 8 app updated with finger drawing support – Neowin.
Surface Pro coming to Switzerland before the end of May
Surface Pro will launch before the end of May in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Surface Pro will launch in Korea, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, and Thailand before the end of June.Surface Pro is currently available in the U.S., Canada, and China.
via Expanding Surface Pro and Surface RT Availability.
This is great news!
Zombies!!! Or my journey into the next generation of the social board game.
I have been a long time fan of the board game Zombies!!! where players have to escape a Zombie infested town. it’s an interesting mix of competing to reach a heli-pad first and co-operating to handle the crazy amounts of Zombies.
The downside of this game is the huge amount of material you need to play it and the time it takes to set up / tear down.
Now this game has been ported to a Windows 8 Store App that has all the aspects of the full board game and adds very atmospheric sound and graphics of the town, that can be viewed and zoomed in real time. It also adds very cool animations to the Zombie fight sequences which adds a lot to the overall atmosphere.
It still doesn’t alter the gameplay experience of the board game and we recently played it with 5 people on one tablet and had a great time in a epic battle that lasted for over three hours.
Computer opponents can of course take the place of missing players.
The downside is that the game is meant to be passed from player to player as the current player’s card hand is shown over the entire screen when activated, so it has to be concealed from the other players.
The player’s card hand.
Also, this would play real nice on a large tablet, seeing the action was sometimes a bit hard for all five of us as my 11-inch tablet was a bit small in the center of the table.
Adding new parts to the ever growing town.
A fully laid out town, Helicopter waiting on the far left in this case
A player plotting his move.
Fighting a Zombie with the fire axe from the fire station. Our winner was using this tool for this victory….
Coding4Fun Toolkit v2 http://coding4fun.codeplex.com released! New items and the start of Windows Store support! The same XAML / APIs will work against either platform.
The Coding4Fun toolkit is a set of API wrappers and XAML UI controls for building Windows 8 & Windows Phone apps. Keeping with a Coding4Fun tradition of making hard things simple, complex APIs are as simple as Start and Stop and controls all have a system-level polish to them. The new version’s target was to give same API/Control works against Windows Store and Windows Phone applications. Write once, deploy anywhere.
Download from http://coding4fun.codeplex.com/
I have used the toolkit myself for my Sphero Control app. http://www.windowsphone.com/s?appid=35cd9766-6888-4bfa-b515-13ed5fc9fed5
![clip_image002[4]](https://techpreacher.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/clip_image0024.gif "clip_image002[4]")
Varous Color Picker controls for Windows Phone 8 and for Windows 8.
Windows 8 & Windows Phone Cross Platform Development Resources
With development of apps for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 getting much closer but still not being the same, there are some good resources out there in regards to creating projects that share a maximum amount of code between the two platforms.
The cornerstone of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 cross platform development are portable class libraries and MVVM pattern that help separate UI and logic.
The main area on the topic on MSDN including articles and code samples is here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/jj714089(v=vs.105).aspx
There is also a section on the “Microsoft Virtual Academy” called “Building Apps for Windows Phone 8” https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/building-apps-for-windows-phone-8-jump-start that has a Module (#19) on this.
You can sign up to the Microsoft Virtual Academy for free using any Microsoft ID.
Furthermore, the following sessions on the topic were presented at the Build conference last fall in Seattle:
“How to Leverage your Code across WP8 and Windows 8”: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/3-043
Link provided by Stuart Lodge: “Create Cross-platform Apps using Portable Class Libraries”: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/3-004
Happy coding (and code reusing)!
“MINE for facebook” looks like a Windows 8 store Facebook client with a lot of potential.
“MINE for facebook” is a new Facebook client that can be found in the Windows 8 store. It seems to do everything right at first sight and above all, it has really great looks.
At first glance, I noticed it can run as a background app with notifications to the lock screen, it can show the full news feed as well as customizable feeds, the personal profile, notifications, friend lists, groups and events. It registers itself as a sharing target, so text or pictures can easily be uploaded to Facebook without ever leaving the new Windows UI. The search charm works as well, implementing the regular Facebook search page.
This app looks VERY promising and certainly gets a top position on my Windows tablet. Thanks, Marvin Apps!
Sascha Corti aka. TechPreacher 
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