Thursday, July 11, 2013

Course Highlight - Windows Phone 8


While Microsoft may not be winning the smartphone platform war today, it is slowly making inroads into the various markets previously dominated by iPhone and Android. Today's biggest news - Russia's largest wireless carrier has just dropped support for iPhone in favor of Windows Phone.

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In the smartphone war, apps play a pivotal role in determining the success or failure of a platform. While the quantity and quality of the apps in the Windows Phone Store are still no match to its competitors, it is slowly but surely attracting top app makers into making apps for it. Just this week, Viber has updated its Windows Phone app that is specifically designed for Windows Phone devices

Good News for Windows Phone Developers (or wannabe)!
For a limited time, the annual subscription fee for a Windows Phone Dev Center account has been reduced to $19 USD (or the equivalent in your local currency). Taxes, VAT, and other fees are excluded from this offer. This offer is valid beginning 6/26/2013 12:00 AM PST and ending 8/27/2013 12:00 AM PST in countries where the Windows Phone Dev Center registration is available (see Regional info). See the official terms of this offer for more details.

In Singapore, the reduced fee is now S$30. Go and register now!

Confirmed Windows Phone 8 Programming Courses This Month
In July, we have two confirmed courses for Windows Phone 8 development - Foundation of Windows Phone 8 Programming, and Advanced Windows Phone 8 Programming. In Sep, we have a brand new course on Windows Phone 8 NFC Programming. So, brush the dust off your Windows laptop and start your engine! 

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In the Foundation course, you will learn the basics of writing Windows Phone app - User Interfaces, choosers and launchers, states of an application, location-based services, file storage, web services, databases, maps, and more. 

In the Advanced course, you will dive deeper into the more advanced areas of Windows Phone programming - background agents, Bluetooth and sockets programming, security, push notifications, and more.

Windows Phone Challenge - Lumia 920 and Lumia 925
Microsoft Singapore and Nokia Singapore are teaming up for the next Windows Phone Challenge! All you need to do is to implement one (or more) of the challenges posted here and you will be able to win some cool Nokia Lumia devices. The challenges are applications based very much on the local (Singapore) context. This is a great idea for student projects and is a good time to put your knowledge to the test.

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