Microsoft Buys Part of Nokia

So the big news of the moment is that Nokia is selling it’s Devices & Services business to Microsoft.

The deal is “expected to close in the first quarter of 2014, subject to approval by Nokia shareholders, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions”.

After the deal has taken place (according to the press release) Nokia will focus on network infrastructure, mapping and location services and “Advanced Technologies”.

After the deal closes, it will mean about 32,000 people will transfer to Microsoft which includes about 4,700 people in Finland. Microsoft will own “all Nokia Devices & Services production facilities”.

Microsoft will also get a 10 year non-exclusive license to Nokia patents.

More...

SHARE:

50 Apps by Christmas: SilverKeys - Porting a Silverlight App to a Windows Store App

This article is part of the 50 Apps by Christmas series.

Graph of 50 app progress

I developed a Silverlight app a few years ago and I wanted to see how easy it would be to port to a Windows Store app. You can download free trial of SilverKeys for Windows 8.

The Original Silverlight App

Here’s a screenshot of the original Silverlight app:

Original Silverlight app screenshot

The app helps amateur composers try out different scales and also helps them understand what common chord progressions are often used.

More...

SHARE:

50 Apps By Christmas

So I thought I’d issue myself a challenge.

By Christmas (2013) I will have 50 apps in store. This will most likely be Windows Store apps, but also smattering of Windows Phone 8 apps for good measure.

Why?

  • To see if I can do it
  • To learn
  • To make some cool stuff

How?

  • Build a common library of useful code
  • Use portable class libraries wherever possible
  • Fully embrace releasing minimal functionality in V1 products

 

That’s it, sounds simple. I might not succeed but it will an interesting journey!

SHARE:

Getting Daily Emails with your Windows Store and Windows Phone App PubCenter Earnings

If you’re writing Windows Phone or Windows Store apps and you’re using Microsoft’s pubCenter to display adverts, you can schedule a daily email report of your earnings for that day.

Log in to pubCenter.

Go to the reports tab and choose Create report.

pcstep1

Expand Save report template.

pcstep2

Give your report a name, schedule, and email address for it to be sent to.

UPDATE: Make sure you tick the “Include report as e-mail attachment”.

Click Save Template.

Now you’ll receive a daily email with an attached CSV containing your revenue for the day. It would be nice if this was in the body of the email rather than as an attachment though.

You can also look at some of the advanced options :)

SHARE: