Well.. I feel stupid :) – I’ve been complaining to one of my developers that there’s a bug in the code for capturing image from the camera in our new Windows Phone app. He’s been searching for where the error was and  could not find any errors… Well… the fault was mine (or ours, ut not code wise)…. Sorry for doubting your code Nabish :)

Image borrowed Jeff Prosie's blog (http://www.wintellect.com/CS/blogs/jprosise/default.aspx)

Usually you connect your Windows Phone to the computer, the Zune software stars and you got connection. Then you run your app with the debugger. Everything works fine…. For some reason that doesn’t work when you want to debug the camera or photo chooser of  Windows Phone. To debug that you need to create USB connection outside of the Zune software through a command line tool called WPConnect.exe.

What was weird/stupid was that I didn’t get any feedback in Visual Studio that i couldn’t debug these features. – What I experienced was that when i called upon the camera or photo chooser, the app would just light up for a second. Code wise what happened was that when you are not using WPConnect the CameraCaptureTask.Completed event get’s fired immediately and returns TaskResult.Cancel as if  you manually canceled the workflow.  Unless you automagically know this its time for google :)

A guide was published on MSDN on March 22. 2012 (a bit late??) but anyhow here is how you do it:

Prerequisites:

• You must have the SDK installed (but you of course already have that since you are looking to debug an app).
• You also must have the Zune software installed, but not running.
• The device you are testing on must be a registered developer device.

Here’s how:

1. Connect your phone to the computer.
2. Verify that Zune has recognized your phone.
3. Quit Zune
4. Open a command prompt and change directory to either “Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows Phone\v7.1\Tools\WPConnect” or “Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows Phone\v7.1\Tools\WPConnect”
5. Choose either the x86 or x64 folder.
6. type WPConnect.exe and hit enter.
7. Your phone will now connect and you’ll get a confirmation in the command windows.
8. Run and debug your project from Visual Studio on your Connected Device

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The iOS device UDID identifier is a 40 digit and letter identifier that uniquely identifies your Apple iOS device. This is an identifier you’ll need if you plan to develop software, or take part in testing of software with your iPhone, iPod or iPad. If you think that long KID account numbers are hard, this will be even harder to type… Luckily you can copy it to your computer clipboard with some finger gymnastics

Here’s how:

1. Plug your iOS device into your computer and launch iTunes.
2. Select your device and go to the summary tab.
3. Next to the image of your device you see its name, capacity, Software version and serial number.
4. click on the serial number number and you cycle through the identifiers stored on the device. The items should be Serial number, Identifier (UDID), Celluar data number, IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) and ICCID (Integrated Circuit Card Identifier)
5. Cycle the numbers until you have the Identifier (UDID).
6. Click the left mouse button on the UDID string.
7. While holding the left mouse button down,  press cmd-C/ctrl-C on your keyboard.

You now have the identifier string in your clipboard and it can be pasted anywhere you need it.

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The accessories eco-system for iOS devices is huge.  That is one of the few things i miss about not having an iPhone. Need to play music somewhere, someone always has a dock to connect your phone. With Android and Windows Phone there is no accessories specifically targeted the device/OS – At best you get a mini-jack plug you can use on a portable speaker. I envy iOS device owners a bit there.

But not any more :)

The ultimate accessory for Windows Phone is finally here! Project Detroit

The Project Detroit

Remote controlling cars has been around for a while but never this stylish before!

Ford Mustang West Coast Custom(ized)

Some features:

• Windows Phone Integration: Although the Mustang’s design makes the car easy to spot, you can keep tabs on the car’s location even when it is out of sight. Locate, unlock, and start the car all from the Viper SmartStart app for Windows Phone.
• Built-in WIFI: To help ensure the Mustang is always online and connected to the cloud, the vehicle has a built-in 4G wireless network that supports multiple devices.
• Digital Instrument Cluster: Swipe the touch-screen instrument cluster and toggle between different dashboard skins including a 1967 Mustang, a 2012 Mustang and a Windows 8 Metro design style version.
• Customizable Rear Windshield: While driving, the rear windshield can serve as a customizable display system that can play video, show images and display custom messages, like “Stop tailgating me please” or something more, umm, colorful.
• Kinect Integration: Front and rear Kinect cameras provide a live video feed of surrounding pedestrians and objects. You can even watch and listen to the live audio and video stream from the Kinects remotely using a Windows Phone and send a message (see below) to the external audio system like “Hey skateboarders: stay away from my car.”
• Heads Up Display: Similar to what’s found in fighter jets, the windshield contains a driver side and passenger side heads-up display (HUD) highlighting telemetry and Bing Maps information directly on the windshield. View nearby restaurants, shopping centers and gas stations all without taking an eye off the road.  A passenger can play Xbox on his/her side of the windshield without distracting the driver.

These are just some of the specs, but it is a whole lot of awesomeness!  Check out the rest over at Channel 9.

Me? I’m starting a savings account for this car!

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As a test to see if I can fill this site with even more content about what is happening around mobile technology I invite everyone that has anything to say, to submit their own articles.

If you’ve tested some software for Android, Windows Phone or IOS you’d like to recommend and/tell the world about, development how-tos or just comments on what is happening in the mobile industry.

You can write your article here.

You won’t be doing this for the fortune, more for the fame :)

By submitting your article you agree that you give Agile Mobility a non-exclusive right to publish your article on http://agilemobility.net and/or as part of smarphone and/or tablet apps that AgileMobility publishes or is published through a partner.

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(File)Size does matter!

More and more people rely on tablets for work and productivity. The new iPad doesn’t just bring new predicaments for the app developers, it also introduce a new conundrums for the professional users too.

Bright shining images

Here at Appaloosa AS we create apps and magazines for both smartphones and tablets. We use our devices in customer meetings hooked up to a projector to show presentations using Keynote or for inspirational use show how things can be done and has been done  by others. As a result my 64GB iPad is now more or less filled with Keynote presentations, Pages documents and Numbers spreadsheets, Mind map meeting notes, iMockup app and web sketches not to forget the other ton of apps and magazines I’ve got installed. It’s also filled with research papers and reports stored in iBooks and/or GoodReader, stuff I like to take with me to read anywhere I go or when i need to look up something.

Up until now everything has been fine and 64GB has been enough space to allow me also to have a small collection of music and space enough to purchase or rent a movie through iTunes for when I’m off traveling. For me it is a real problem that apps like Keynote, Pages and Numbers grow 120%  - 180% in file size, or like iMovie that grows 500%. Even a “small” app like Tweetbot gew from 9MB to 25Mb. If each and every of my 150 installed apps grow between 100% and 300% in size I’ll have to start to prioritize apps and uninstall apps that I need to have on it. The rule of thumb is that the more customized the user interface is of an app, the larger it will grow in proportion to it’s original, pre new iPad size.

What does the new iPad bring? Bling! That’s it – It’s got a faster CPU, and a GB of internal memory. This extra CPU and memory is there to make the new iPad render this “blingy”, shiny new graphics a bit faster than the graphics rendered on the old iPad (iPad 2 that is). In my opinion the old iPad was fast enough, I’d rather have an iPad with more storage space than one with shinier graphics because I won’t be able to see this new cool graphics once my iPad is connected to a projector or presentation screen in a meeting room. Another problematic issue will be to see how good my old keynote presentations will be looking when I just show it off the iPad screen with its low-rez graphics snipped from the web?

I haven’t seen/touched the new iPad yet but sadly I have to buy one as soon as I can to verify how our old magazines and work look on it – Will our magazines, created for the old iPad be as beautiful as when we did them? Will the new iPad expose us and our design flaws with pixellated graphics?

In the future, when everything is stored by default on (i)Cloud and networking is guaranteed 24/7/365 anywhere then we might not need more than 64GB.

Because most external screens that you will be using won’t be able to take advantage of the extra resolution and depth that the retina gives I’d  go for, and recommend the professional user to go for the old iPad.

Since I wrote about the “possible problem” of running out of disk space a week ago I’ve read a lot of follow-up articles that pin point the same problem and i still wonder what Jobs’ view would have been. Go for the bling?

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Not quite yet! Nokia presented their 808 Pure View smartphone at the WMC and shocker was twofolded … firstly a crazy 41 mega-pixel smartphone camera that will produce photos that you’ve never seen before, and secondly… It’s running Symbian – or as it is called now “Nokia Belle”.

Such a small camera this amazing is just plain mad :)

Why they chose Symbian over one of the two other  available smartphone os’ is weird. My guess is that they really wanted to make this phone, but that Windows Phone was not able to cope with the hardware, and to not piss of Microsoft they chose not to use Android. Instead they created a useless phone and a great camera. As a result they’ve my predictions is that this device won’t sell very much…. firstly that it won’t sell or be successful as a smartphone and  it won’t be a block buster as a camera either. People looking to buy cameras goes to different shops than those looking to buy phones.

I will buy one of these just for the camera and if someone would please create an underwater house for this I’d be very happy :) Would be really fun to be able to take this down with me while scuba diving. Maybe I’ll create a diving computer app for it too? :)

Some specs:

• Size: 123.9 x 60.2 x 13.9 mm (17.95 mm at camera)
• Weight (with battery): 169 g
• Volume: 95.5 cc
• 16 GB internal user memory
• Support for up to 48 GB with an external microSD memory card
• Use as USB mass memory device for storing photos, documents and more.
• Screen size: 4″
• Resolution: 16:9 nHD (640 x 360 pixels) AMOLED
• 16.7 million colours
• ClearBlack display
• Corning® Gorilla® Glass2.5 D curved glass
• Capacitive touch screen
• Orientation sensor (Accelerometer)
• Compass (magnetometer)
• Proximity sensor
• Ambient light detector
• GPRS/EDGE class B, multislot class 33
• HSDPA Cat10, maximum speed up to 14.4 Mbps, HSUPA Cat6 5.76 Mbps
• GSM CS data class 33, GSM EGPRS data class 33, DTM 32
• WLAN IEEE802.11 b/g/n with UPnP supportTCP/IP support
• Capability to serve as data modem
• Support for MS Outlook synchronisation of contacts, calendar and notes.

Gizmondo has written their thoughts on the 808 Pure View here: http://gizmodo.com/5888503/nokia-808-pure-view-phone-has-a-41+megapixel-camera-forty+one-actual-megapixels/gallery/1 and you can read more about features, specifications etc here: http://europe.nokia.com/find-products/devices/nokia-808-pureview 

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Swiss watch manufacturer Tag Heuer that is mostly known for their luxury watches inspired by motor car racing and golfing has created what looks like a monster of a smartphone. Inspired by GT Racing cars it looks like the biggest and heaviest phone ever created….  Here are some more specs.

• Shockproof like a Tag Heuer watch
• Stainless Steel Body is high quality anti- corrosion ( type 361L ).
• The screen glass is kind of very strong Gorilla Glass
• There is a leather crocodile / lizard high quality
• Android OS
• High Speed Processor
• 256 MB internal memory plus microSD
• Gorilla Glass Screen 3.5 inch (800 × 480, 16 million colors)
• Stereo Bluetooth
• WiFi and GPS
• Camera 5 MP
• Battery 1400 mAh

It’s starting price is around $3600/€2800 and will be available from July 2012 if you are mad enough…..

Sign up for more information about the phone here: http://racer.tagheuer.com/

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I just read an article in Norwegian MacWorld that told me a couple of things that got me a bit “worried”. Both as a developer and a user of iPads… I don’t know if this is in-fact a real world problem yet, but Its something i need to look into. What struck me while reading was: Could adding a high res retina display to the iPad without adding more storage space be the baddest idea ever for the iPad?

I haven’t seen a lot of apps that is ready for Retina iPad 3 yet, but a few clues to the (possible) problem can be found with the existing Apple software that has been updated….

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While browsing i found this really cool images showing a conceptual design for a Windows 8 based Nokia tablet pc. If this is what we’re waiting for I’ll be first in line with a sleeping bag to secure me one :)

This nice design would in my mind kick some serious iPad butt :)

Admit it! It does look good on the coffee table :)

Read more about the images here: http://mynokiablog.com/2012/02/05/my-dream-nokia-43-nokia-lumia-coffee-tab-windows-8-concept/

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A press release from norwegian carrier Netcom shows an interesting new “twist”.  The fourth most sold smartphone in Norway, based on sales volume is the Nokia Lumia 800 running Windows Phone.

It is also interesting to notice how long ZTE Blade has stayed in the top ten list. I think it was introduced about a year ago, and peaked on the list as the second most sold smartphone in Norway through Netcom in April 2011. The HTC Sensation that left the top ten list in january has also been a stayer from its introduction in July 2011.

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Just came by a really cool concept video presenting what could (hopefully) be the technological future of the iPad and tablets. If this is what we’re moving towards I’m going to be very, very happy :)

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Today VisionMobile released an interesting report  named “Cross-Platform Tools 2012″. Tho the year of 2012 is still young  the report summarize the different platforms and concludes that “it is smart”

Obvious, cross-platform development has always been smart and will always be smart both from customer and developer point of view.  Its less bugs at a lower cost and a benefit for us all. If you need arguments for why you should use cross-platform frameworks  you can read an earlier post I wrote on the topic.

The report can be downloaded for free from the VisionMobile website.

Cross-Platform Developer Tools 2012 is the seminal report on the landscape of 100+ cross-platform developer tools with an analysis of key vendors and the metrics of developer experience.

Cross-Platform Tools 2012 is the first major report that analyses the complex cross-platform tools landscape, presents the key tools vendors and maps out the trends in one of the hottest markets in mobile. This report presents developer perceptions about a wide range of key issues, from incentives and deterrents to cross-platform tool use to the most-wanted tool features. Our research profiles 15 well-known cross-platform vendors and tools with regard to their technology, positioning and market traction.

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One of the major food brands in Norway launched a huge advertising campaign for their new and “tough”  sandwich spread. Embedded in the ads that is plastered all over Oslo city, on billboards and public transport they have 3D images that can be (or should I say could have been) seen through a specially developed AR (Augmented Reality) app for iPhones (and iPad) that uses technology from String.

Gilde AR poster found on the subway in Oslo

String is a quite cool technology by itself, but what the marketing department or consultant what thinking when they did this campaign is beyond me, so many faults has been made in this that it should become curricular for all advertising people dealing with technology based advertising.

Here’s a few of the main points:

•  Creating a marketing campaign based on a technology that is only available on one mobile platform, iOS in a market divided almost equally in two (with Android in the lead) hardly doesn’t make common sense.. 

I know the demographic for the sandwich spread and iOS might at first glimpse somewhat match, but the well-educated 30-40s technology interested  male this is created for doesn’t know a lot about the technology they’re interested in, They’re just interested in how cool they look holding the gadget ;) According to NetCom  the top 4 list of sales in 2011 by mobile OS looks like this: 1: Android (54%), 2: iOS (40%), 3: Symbian (7%) 4: Windows Phone 7 (0,3%)

• How do you find this app?

I was riding the subway with a colleague when we decided to commit “social suicide”  and see what was behind these ads. According to the self-proclaimed mobile guru :) Geir Sand Nilsen you commit social suicide (blog post here in norwegian, use Google translate) when someone sees you or catch you in the act of scanning a QR Code, I guess that also includes AR (Augmented Reality) app usage? Nevertheless we were tired of our social life and went with it… first… get the app… the poster said “Download the app GILDE AR” next to it was a black sticker that said “Available on the App Store” I took out my HTC Titan and started my app store application and searched for Gilde AR…. No matches… Oh.. wait.. App Store, who has the trade mark for that term? It’s Apple of course. Took out my iPad 2  and opened the app store and searched for Gilde AR… No matches…. WTF? I searched for the app with Google and found a link for it on the iTunes web store. “This app is designed for both iPhone and iPad”. Right…  My colleague had no more luck than me with his Android or iPhone 4 phone. The app could not be found. When I got home I downloaded the app through iTunes, but when i tried to sync it to the iPad it just said that it wasn’t designed for my iPad 2, it needed a device that had camera autofocus… Gilde.. you lost me now, no matter how eager I am to view your stunning 3D effects… I’m just lost…  Why didn’t you just include a QR Code with direct link to the app on the poster?? Would have made a lot more sense.

• Asking users to download 26MB apps over 3G or Edge mobile networks is a no brainer

Come on? Did you really think that your advertising campaign was that interesting – so interesting in fact that I’d hang around it waiting for the download to finish? Or… just continue to ride the subway until the app was downloaded? (did I forget to mention that you more or less are offline while riding the sub in Oslo?)

These are just a few obvious errors done here by/for Gilde and it’s a bit sad because I think that the String technology is great and has a huge potential as long as it is used right. In the end i hope that It’s not technology that is to blame here for the faults of the implementors.  Better luck next time!

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Some days ago I was lucky enough to be invited to be a part of a closed beta test group for the iZettle chip card reader for iOS. Today the small black card reader arrived in the mail and I am so looking forward to testing this.

For small business this little accessory can make a whole lot of difference, making your iPhone or iPad your portable cash register. No need to struggle with pennies selling merch at a gig, trading stuff in flea markets or any other “personal” business that  usually involves cash transactions. iZettle will make this a whole lot easier.

Will post updates later in the mean time check out the iZettle blog and website

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Vertically scrolling grid list items are sorted in traditional western reading direction: left-to-right and top-down. When displaying the list, cut off the items in the bottom row to communicate that the user can scroll the list down to show additional items. Be sure to retain this scheme when the user rotates the screen.

Finally out… It took Google just 3+ years to get their official Android design guide lines out.

The new site covers everything you as an Android UI designer or developer needs to be aware of when you design and develop your application user interface.

The site is divided into different sections that cover their creative vision:

“Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) marks a major milestone for Android design. We touched nearly every pixel of the system as we expanded the new design approaches introduced in Honeycomb tablets to all types of mobile devices. Starting with the most basic elements, we introduced a new font, Roboto, designed for high-resolution displays. Other big changes include framework-level action bars on phones and support for new phones without physical buttons.”

These design principles were developed by and for the Android User Experience Team to keep users’ best interests in mind. Consider them as you apply your own creativity and design thinking. Deviate with purpose.

A good section on the site is the Building blocks section that gives you an overview of all the built in controls that you have  The only thing I am missing is a link to how to use these controls. That would have been useful.

The Patterns section gives you a nice overview on how you better can arrange your app, how gestures work, how to use notifications and how to make your app compatible with more devices and form factors.

Getting started? The Android Design site should be your first mandatory stop on your way to create an app.

http://developer.android.com/design/index.html

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