1. What's new in WP8
Andrea Boschin – Most Valuable Professional (XAML)
Windows Phone 8 overview

2.  meet new aspects of Windows Phone
8
 be in touch with changes from 7.x
 explore new features
Talk goals

3.  what about old apps?
 the 120000 apps in the store still works!
 "quirks mode" ensure 100% compatibility
 do i need to recompile?
 existing apps works without any action
 conversion requires to re-compile
 after conversion "quirk mode" is not available anymore
 be careful of breaking changes
 http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/windowsphone/develop/jj206947(v=vs.105).aspx
 pay attention to multi-core environments when moving
from 7 to 8
 wp7 does not requires attention but wp8 does.
legacy apps compatibility

4.  business apps means:
 publish to a private set of users
 full control over deployment
 protect intellectual property
 Windows Phone 7.x
 business scenario is almost impossible
 Windows Phone 8.0
 business scenario is fully supported!
business scenario

5.  how to?
 register a Microsoft account (company-only)
 buy a Symantec certificate (299$ approx)
 generate an Application Token (.aetx)
 distribute token to devices
 sign the apps with the token
 then
 only token-enabled devices run the signed apps
 side-loading is enabled without MS Company Store
 also
 create your own company-hub to manage content and apps from a single point.
business scenario

6.  windows phone 7.x
 based on windows ce kernel
 completely distinct platform from desktop
o.s.
 windows phone 8
 based on common windows 8 architecture
 shares a common kernel with pcs and
tablets
architecture

7.  what's does it mean?
 low level functions & driver model
 shared between win8 and wp8
 shared api
 about 2800 member over 11000 in w8
 600 additional members for wp8
shared kernel

8.  what's the problem?
 precompilation takes long time
 on mobile these waiting are awful
 recap: wp7 application startup is really slow
 JIT: how do it works?
 members are compiled before the use
 when application is closed precompilation is discarted
 how can we do?
 NGEN assemblies before download?
 precompilation when download happens, is too slow
 what wp8 does?
 compile in the cloud!
 assemblies are pre-compiled before the download
 a mdil file is prepared
 MDIL = machine dependent intermediale language
 it is something like a template with holes to fill
 after download, mdil is converted to ngen
 holes are filled. now it runs natively!
compilation model

9.  why coding native?
 reusability
 use of existing code you don't want to write again
 portability
 use code in different platforms
 skills
 use existing skills in C++
 performances
 the last of the problems... often not a good reason
native C++ code

10.  how-to
 create a WinRT component
 All your code is wrapped into the component
 write code using specific conventions
 classes must be "ref" and "sealed"
 use compatible WinRT types
 reference component by a C# project
 fully native apps does not exists!
 use the classes in the component from C#
 all the magic is made by the WinRT projection layer
native C++ code

11.  Windows Phone 7.x
 only 480 x 800 resolution allowed
 Windows Phone 8.0
 supports different sizes and resolutions
 virtually you work always with 480x800 (or 853)
multiple screen resolutions
WVGA 720p WXGA
true resolution 480x800 720x1280 768x1280
virtual resolution 480x800 480x853 480x800
aspect ratio 15:9 16:9 15:9
platform Windows
Phone 7.x/8.0
Windows Phone
8.0
Windows Phone
8.0
scale 100 150 160
var width = Application.Current.Host.Content.ActualWidth;
var height = Application.Current.Host.Content.ActualHeight;

12. multiple screen resolutions
 multiple sizes = much more attention
 always pretend screen = 480 x 800
 draw apps without size constraints
 avoid absolute positioning
 prefer "vector" to "raster"
 provide large images or different scales
 large images are scaled gracefully
 with different scales: choose the better size
 you can also:
 disable specific resolution in manifest
 this means to forget a particular segment of the market

13.  Windows Phone 7.x
 G&L is made by tricks
 Windows Phone 8.0
 easy & effective
 project automatically prepared for G&L
 localization works by Binding to resx
 support for multiple languages
 problems
 ApplicationBar still doesn't support Binding 
 AppTitle localization requires Win32 resources
globalization & localization

14.  new concept of Contact Store
 every app has its own store
 can add and remove contacts silently
 can prevent deletion from the its store
 when uninstalled, contact store goes away
 Notes
 a contact store is an isolated sandbox
 similar contacts in different stores are merged
 Security
 guaranteed by Windows Store Certification
 if check fails, you can simply delete the app...
contact stores

15.  tiles
 3 formats available to developers
 small: 159x159
 medium: 336x336
 wide: 691x336
 small & medium are required!
 new Templates
 TemplateFlip
 front & rear predefined content
 TemplateCycle
 up to 9 rolling tiles
 TemplateIconic
 automatically reflects WP design guidelines
 also supported in 7.8
 manually via reflection
 with Mangopollo project on codeplex
http://mangopollo.codeplex.com/
tiles & lock screen

16.  Iconic template: 110x110 & 220x220
tiles & lock screen

17.  lock screen
 when enabled reflects content from
tile
 User must enable app to lock screen
 settings can be launched with a
protocol
 LockScreenManager
 allow request authorization directly
tiles & lock screen
private async void OpenLockScreenSettings(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
await Windows.System.Launcher.LaunchUriAsync(
new Uri("ms-settings-lock:"));
}

18.  protocol association
 a protocol is registered (ex: myapp://)
 if someone launch the protocol the app in called
 the app receives the full uri
 parameters are passed in the uri
 file type association
 a file extension is registered (ex: *.myapp)
 when a file type is opened the app is called
 the app receives a reference to the file
 modification the original file require a copy.
 other info
 system protocol and types cannot be overriden (es: mp3, etc...)
 multiple association are allowed. the choice is up to the user.
 a file type supports an icon (3 sizes)
 to launch an association
 LaunchUriAsync  Protocols
 LaunchFileAsync  File Types
protocol & file association

19.  near field communication
 limited to short range (3-5 cm)
 supports
 custom string or binary messages
 via publish-subscribe
 use of known protocols
 launch apps by id or protocol association
 launch an url in the browser
 initiator for launching sockets
 bluetooh or wi-fi (developer choice)
 read or write tags
 write is limited
 api allows to
 set capability and requirements for app
 check if NFC is supported/enabled
bluetooth & NFC

20.  bluetooth
 Windows Phone 7.x
 bluetooth is supported
 no developer APIs
 Windows Phone 8.0
 bluetooth is extended (no HID profile)
 developer APIs are provided
 scenarios
 Phone to Device
 socket based
 pick one of paired devices
 your app is client to the device
 Phone to Phone
 socket based
 search for another instance of your app to pair
 your app is client & server
 Windows 8 to Windows Phone 8 is allowed
bluetooth & NFC

21.  text to speech
 supports different language inflections
 supports SSML (Speech Synth Markup
Language)
 speech to text
 supported two modes
 SpeechRecognizerUI uses default UI
 SpeechRecognizer allow speech recognition without UI
 allowed to use preloaded grammar to improve
recognition
 result
speech
SpeechSynthesizer tts = new SpeechSynthesizer();
await tts.SpeakTextAsync("Please hold on!");

22.  predefined sequences that matches an
action
start music player and play latin songs
and play latin songs
 result
 app music player is started
 app get "PlaySongs" command with 'latin' argument
voice commands
starts the app
optional
command command
dynamic
discarted argument

23. voice commands
<VoiceCommands xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/voicecommands/1.0">
<CommandSet xml:lang="en-US" Name="DefaultCommandSetEnglish">
<CommandPrefix>Music Player</CommandPrefix>
<Example>play some songs</Example>
<Command Name="PlaySongs">
<Example>play random songs</Example>
<ListenFor>[and] play {genre} songs</ListenFor>
<ListenFor>[and] play [some] songs</ListenFor>
<ListenFor>[and] play {mode} songs</ListenFor>
<Feedback>Playing music...</Feedback>
<Navigate Target="MusicPlayer.xaml" />
</Command>
<PhraseList Label="genre">
<Item>rock</Item>
<Item>latin</Item>
<Item>classic</Item>
<Item>funky</Item>
<Item>jazz</Item>
</PhraseList>
<PhraseList Label="mode">
<Item>all</Item>
<Item>random</Item>
<Item>favorite</Item>
</PhraseList>
</CommandSet>
</VoiceCommands>

24. feedback
10
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• http://xedotnet.org/feedback
• codice feedback:
• email: andrea@boschin.it
• twitter: @aboschin
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https://www.facebook.com/thelittlegrove
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feedback