trooper11 63 Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Well the keynote for the first day of Build just finished and they certainly laid out a lot of stuff regarding WP 8.1 and its place among other windows devices. I think there was quite a bit there for anyone working on the MB WP app and also the idea of creating a single app core that you adjust a bit in the UI to work on a Windows tablet or pc. They also laid out how they are trying to make it easy for a developer to migrate an existing 8.0 app to take advantage of new features as needed, not to mention a heavy emphasis on reducing certification time for submissions. Cortana was one of the big announcements though and it certainly seemed like an impression showing. They are rolling it out as a beta first in order to get the 'learning process' for the system in full swing in the hands of users. They also showed how developers have full access to Cortana in order for the service to tap into any app you create. I think the addition of smart voice controls could be great for the MB app. I can imagine scenarios where I would want to call up MB to take me to a specific piece of media, play that media, or maybe take me to a list of new media recently added. I hope that the developer side of this service is fairly easy to tap into and the MB developers give it a try. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkadius 219 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Taking a user interface designed for a certain form factor and forcing it onto another is not a good idea. I think MS took the idea too literally. Rather than focusing on making it feel the same, they set out to make it exactly the same, and in my opinion that was a big mistake. Sharing of technology and development libraries is a separate topic, and yes, that's always a very good thing. Yup, Microsoft is definitely reading this thread Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37250 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Yea they've made some good moves today, no doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkadius 219 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Windows Phone/Windows will be FREE for devices with screens smaller than 9inches. Source 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkadius 219 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 (edited) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_YL5S2NwkE A preview of Cortana in action. I have to say I am looking forward to this, hopefully they can get Jen Taylor (Voice of Cortana in Halo series) to do MORE of the voice snippets. It seems that the generic phrases are using the default female voice. I particularly like how it does seem as if Cortana has a personality. Update: Sync All Your Screens with the new Windows 8.1 Your Microsoft Account allows Windows and Windows Phone to work together in amazing ways. Windows Phone 8.1 furthers the integration between phone and PC. If you change your theme color, that change will sync across all your Windows devices. If you buy an in-app purchase in some of the newer apps written for Windows Phone and Windows 8.1, the purchase works on your phone AND your PC. And other settings like your home Wi-Fi password will also sync. And finally with Internet Explorer 11 for Windows Phone, you will be able to see all the open tabs you have on all your Windows devices and all your Favorites too. Plus the new Internet Explorer gives you InPrivate browsing, password caching, and a super-handy reading mode. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqmwFAIb4G8 Edited April 2, 2014 by Starkadius 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7illusions 1249 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 I must say that what Microsoft has done with universal apps are brilliant. I just clicked "Add Windows Phone Support" to the win8 app just to test and moved ALL code into the shared source and built the app. The win8 just started working, without any changes. The WP version complained a bit about some nuget packages that needs to be rebuilt, buy that's about it. Of course it will need some more, but it's pretty cool 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkadius 219 Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Microsoft open sources a big chunk of .NET Perhaps the highlight of the announcement today was that the company will be releasing its Roslyn compiler stack as open source under the Apache 2.0 license. Roslyn includes a C# and Visual Basic.NET compiler, offering what Microsoft calls a "compiler as a service."... This new Microsoft has not only removed the problematic restrictions on its licenses, but also worked with Xamarin to solicit design feedback, and published documentation under a Creative Commons license so that it can be redistributed. Redmond also gave Xamarin its internal .NET test suite so that Xamarin could validate its code using Microsoft's tests. The .NET Foundation and open sourcing of software such as Roslyn is the next step in the evolution of this new, more open Microsoft. As Roslyn finalizes and becomes stable, Xamarin will integrate it into its own tools. Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swhitmore 781 Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 (edited) I must say that what Microsoft has done with universal apps are brilliant. I just clicked "Add Windows Phone Support" to the win8 app just to test and moved ALL code into the shared source and built the app. The win8 just started working, without any changes. The WP version complained a bit about some nuget packages that needs to be rebuilt, buy that's about it. Of course it will need some more, but it's pretty cool That's pretty cool. So what does this mean for the WP app? Are you thinking about making a new one, integrating them together, or just leaving the current one as the offical app? Edited April 4, 2014 by swhitmore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkadius 219 Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 That's pretty cool. So what does this mean for the WP app? Are you thinking about making a new one, integrating them together, or just leaving the current one as the offical app? I was wondering this myself. Will there be a collaboration or possibly have two versions of the MB app? Possibly porting the WP app to Windows and the Windows app to WP? Maybe they should be kept separate apps in their own respective devices as they are currently thus allowing each developer to continue working on their preferred platform. I don't know but I really like both apps and would find it very difficult to have to choose one over the other :\... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37250 Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 My opinion is that we take advantage of the universal architecture and have a unified platform for windows phone, windows 8/RT and xbox. All using the same code, but each with their own presentation. It's just a matter of who will step up and lead that, but with @@ScottIsAFool, @@7illusions and @@Aphid, we've got plenty of capable team members, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottIsAFool 517 Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Makes sense to do this going forward. I guess starting from the win8.1 code base is going to be best, although we could bring in some of the stuff from my app that's not in 8.1. I'll have a chat with @@7illusions about this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swhitmore 781 Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Makes sense to do this going forward. I guess starting from the win8.1 code base is going to be best, although we could bring in some of the stuff from my app that's not in 8.1. I'll have a chat with @@7illusions about this. Great to hear. And vice versa? It would be nice to see some of the features from the WP app in the Win8 app e.g. local trailers. As a heavy user of both, this makes me really excited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper11 63 Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 Sounds like the wheels are already turning for the developer team, so that is great to hear. I guess another point to consider is purchasing. Is it feasible to offer end users a single purchase that works across all of these devices? The MB developers certainly deserve proper support via sales and creating a single app that you can access across all of these screens would certainly cut down on some individual sales, but hopefully that would be short term and offset by growing platforms. I certainly don't want to short change anyone for their hard work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper11 63 Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 Some more info for WP developers regarding the backend (certification, interacting with users, etc): http://www.wpcentral.com/microsoft-enabling-developers-reply-store-reviews-unifying-app-data Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37250 Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Sales model is not even worth discussing at this juncture. Too far down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swhitmore 781 Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Microsoft is now officially taking universal app submissions: http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/buildingapps/archive/2014/04/14/dev-center-now-open-for-windows-phone-8-1-and-universal-windows-app-submissions.aspx Plus the article covers a lot that is being changed/improved for developers. Strangely the article doesn't mention the Xbox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper11 63 Posted April 15, 2014 Author Share Posted April 15, 2014 (edited) Microsoft is now officially taking universal app submissions: http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/buildingapps/archive/2014/04/14/dev-center-now-open-for-windows-phone-8-1-and-universal-windows-app-submissions.aspx Plus the article covers a lot that is being changed/improved for developers. Edited April 14, 2014 by trooper11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper11 63 Posted April 15, 2014 Author Share Posted April 15, 2014 Strangely the article doesn't mention the Xbox Well I don't think the Xbox portion has been integrated into the store backend yet. My guess is that it is requiring the most work to tie in, just from the store standpoint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swhitmore 781 Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 The Media Browser tiles work well with the new layout. I'm loving 8.1. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottIsAFool 517 Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Is that a collection you have pinned underneath MetroTube? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swhitmore 781 Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Is that a collection you have pinned underneath MetroTube? Nah, that's Tapatalk pinned with the MB forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottIsAFool 517 Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Ah good, got me worried, it looks crap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee 205 Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 More to the point what's mediabrowser remote?????????? Sent by my HTC8X using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottIsAFool 517 Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 @@Lee how do you not know what MB Remote is?! It's how you can use the WP app as a remote for things like MBC you can get to it from the app bar on the main screen, then pin from the remote page. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee 205 Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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