Summary Windows Phone 8 in Action is a comprehensive guide to developing apps for the WP8 platform. It covers the Windows Phone Runtime and .NET APIs used to work with a phone's sensors and hardware, including the accelerometer, camera, gyroscope, GPS, and microphone. You will learn to write code to dial the phone, write emails, send text messages, and recognize speech. The book also teaches you to build applications that use location and push notification. About this Book With 10 million (and climbing) active handsets, Windows Phone 8 has become a real alternative to Android and iOS. WP users are hungry for great apps, so it's time for you to start creating them! Windows Phone 8 in Action teaches you how to design, build, and sell WP8 apps. In it, you'll learn to use the WP Runtime and .NET APIs to control key features like the accelerometer, camera, GPS, and microphone. This example-driven book also shows you how to write applications that use location and push notification, enhanced navigation services, and WP8's deep multimedia capabilities. You'll need a working knowledge of C#. No experience with Windows Phone or XAML is required. Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications. What's Inside Build your first phone app Master the Windows Phone 8 interface How to sell on the Windows Phone Store Use features like voice recognition and media About the Authors Tim Binkley-Jones has worked with XAML since the first releases of WPF and Silverlight. Adam Benoit is an independent developer with more than a dozen apps in the Windows Phone Store. Massimo Perga is an engineer at Microsoft. Michael Sync is a web and WP architect. Table of Contents PART 1 INTRODUCING WINDOWS PHONE A new phone, a new operating system Creating your first Windows Phone application PART 2 CORE WINDOWS PHONE Fast application switching and resume Scheduled actions Launching tasks and choosers Contacts and calendars Storing data Working with the camera Integrating with the Photos and Music + Videos Hubs Using sensors Network communication with push notifications Using the Speech API PART 3 XAML FOR WINDOWS PHONE ApplicationBar and context menus Panorama and pivot controls Building a media player Using Maps Building HTML applications Releasing and monetizing apps

Windows Phone 8 Recipes is a problem-solution based guide to the Windows Phone 8 platform. Recipes are grouped according to features of the platform and ways of interacting with the device. Solutions are given in C# and XAML, so you can take your existing .NET skills and apply them to this exciting new venture. Not sure how to get started? No need to worry, there’s a recipe for that! Always wondered what it takes to add cool features like gesture support, maps integration, or speech recognition into your app? We've got it covered! Already have a portfolio of Windows Phone 7 apps that needs to be upgraded? We have a recipe for that too! The book starts by guiding you through the setup of your development environment, including links to useful tools and resources. Core chapters range from coding live tiles and notifications to interacting with the camera and location sensor. Later chapters cover external services including Windows Azure Mobile Services, the Live SDK, and the Microsoft Advertising SDK, so you can take your app to a professional level. Finally, you'll find out how to publish and maintain your app in the Windows Phone Store. Whether you're migrating from Windows Phone 7 or starting from scratch, Windows Phone 8 Recipes has the code you need to bring your app idea to life. What you’ll learn Set up your development environment with the Windows Phone 8 SDK. Upgrade your existing Windows Phone 7 apps to Windows Phone 8. Meet and try out the new features provided in the Windows Phone 8 SDK. Bring your apps to life with live tiles, notifications, and cloud services. Discover the easy steps to setting up your own Windows Phone Store account. Learn how to submit your apps for publication to the Windows Phone Store. Who this book is for Windows Phone 8 Recipes is for the developer who has a .NET background, is familiar with C# and either WPF or Silverlight, and is ready to tap into a new and exciting market in mobile app development. Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction to the Windows Phone SDK Chapter 2: Multi-Resolution Support and Basic User Interface Components Chapter 3: Gestures Chapter 4: Live Tiles and Lock Screen Chapter 5: Background Agents and Notifications Chapter 6: Appointments and Contacts Chapter 7: Camera, Photos, and Media Chapter 8: Maps, Location, and Routing Chapter 9: Communications and Speech Chapter 10: Launching and Resuming Apps Chapter 11: Data Storage Chapter 12: Windows Azure Mobile Services Chapter 13: Using the Microsoft Live SDK Chapter 14: Publishing your App

This is the complete guide to programming the entire breakthrough Windows Mobile 8 platform. It focuses on helping readers get started fast, and delivers highly competitive applications

Build and optimize Windows Phone 8 apps for performance and security Drill into Windows Phone 8 design and architecture, and learn best practices for building phone apps for consumers and the enterprise. Written by two senior members of the core Windows Phone Developer Platform team, this hands-on book gets you up to speed on the Windows 8 core features and application model, and shows you how to build apps with managed code in C# and native code in C++. You’ll also learn how to incorporate Windows Phone 8 features such as speech, the Wallet, and in-app purchase. Discover how to: Create UIs with unique layouts, controls, and gesture support Manage databinding with the Model View ViewModel pattern Build apps that target Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 7 Use built-in sensors, including the accelerometer and camera Consume web services and connect to social media apps Share code across Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 apps Build and deploy company hub apps for the enterprise Start developing games using Direct3D Test your app and submit it to the Windows Phone Store

Essential Windows Phone 8 is the definitive guide to creating powerful, visually compelling mobile applications that take full advantage of Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 platform. Nine-time Microsoft MVP Shawn Wildermuth draws on his extensive experience teaching Windows Phone developers, helping you to get started fast and master techniques that lead to truly outstanding apps. Expanded and updated with 30% new coverage, this conversational, authoritative guide covers the essentials and a whole lot more. Wildermuth begins with a solid "foundation building" introduction to Windows Phone 8 development and Windows Phone 8 hardware, introducing design, language, hardware specifications, patterns, the application lifecycle, out-of-the-box services, Live Tiles, and the Windows Marketplace. Once you have that foundation, Wildermuth dives into hands-on development, emphasizing best practices and realistic code examples. You'll develop a complete application from start to finish, then build on your skills with increasingly sophisticated techniques. Coverage includes: Designing your app's look and feel Implementing email, calling, search, Web browsing, and camera support Interacting with users Choosing the right app paradigm and functionality Incorporating touch, vibration, motion, sound, and other forms of input Working with hubs and tiles Building location-based services Storing data Multitasking Integrating external data Preparing apps for the Marketplace And much more

This book provides a soup-to-nuts guide to developing applications for Windows Phone and publishing them to the Windows Marketplace, covering the latest Windows 8 updates.

If you are a native mobile developer, with some familiarity with the common web technologies of JavaScript, CSS, and HTML, or if you are a web developer, then this learning guide will add great value and impact to your work. Learning how to develop mobile applications using Apache Cordova is of particular importance if you are looking to develop applications on a variety of different platforms efficiently.