Network Dashboard version 1.1 was submitted for Windows® Phone Marketplace certification today. The new version brings a much-requested feature: Start Screen Live Tile status support for Wi-Fi and Mobile Data tiles.

Start Screen Live Tile support allows the Live Tiles for Wi-Fi and Mobile Data to display the current state of those radios through a green or red square in the upper right corner, just like the tiles on the Network Dashboard screen. This support comes with a caveat though: in order for this feature to work reliably, the user must only use Network Dashboard to access the settings screen for Wi-Fi and Mobile Data. If the user uses the main Settings menu of Windows Phone to change Wi-Fi or Mobile Data radio state, the Live Tiles will be out of sync until Network Dashboard is run again.

There is a new Settings screen in Network Dashboard with a toggle for enabling and disabling the Start Screen Live Tile feature. An additional change is that the long-press context menu for pinning tiles now is aware of whether the user has already pinned the tile and will offer an option of unpinning if a tile already exists.

Providing there are no issues found during the certification process, I hope that version 1.1 will be in the Marketplace in a couple of days.

I’m proud to introduce our latest Windows® Phone application, Network Dashboard! Network Dashboard is now available for download via the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Network Dashboard provides a quick and easy way to see the current status of your Wi-Fi and Mobile Data features as well as one tap access to configuration options for Wi-Fi, Mobile Data, Bluetooth and Airplane Mode. There is an included status indicator for overall network availability as well. Read the rest of this entry »

This is a quick post to show some code around how to use a PhotoChooserTask for Windows Phone programming:

private BitmapImage OriginalImage = new BitmapImage();

private void OnCameraCaptureCompleted(object sender, PhotoResult e)
{
if (e.TaskResult == TaskResult.OK)
{
OriginalImage.SetSource(e.ChosenPhoto);
// You can then use OriginalImage as you like
}
}

In my view, this deal is all about buying brand awareness. Despite the fact that Microsoft have similar technology in their Live Messenger products for consumers, Live Messenger is not top of mind for consumers when they want to place a VOIP voice or video call. If Microsoft spent the time and money to integrate Live Messenger video/voice into their product lines such as Xbox and Windows Phone, they wouldn’t see the return on that because most people would just say “but all my friends are on Skype!” and would not use it.

By purchasing Skype, Microsoft can integrate it into all their products (including their business-focused Lync) and have a built-in user base and user mind-share. It will sell more products because people who already use Skype will consider purchasing an Xbox, Windows Phone, etc. because they’ll realize that they can use Skype to connect to all their friends and family by using it.

Additionally, when the LTE networks really start to come online and become the primary network being used by the operators, Microsoft will have a big hammer to swing as the owner of the most prevalent VOIP technology with the largest existing userbase. They can license that technology to the carriers for use as their VOIP technology that will be riding on top of LTE (and future networks).

All in all a very smart move in my opinion. It’s likely not a huge direct revenue generator, but a revenue enabler across their whole range of products and services.

I decided to wait a little while before I posted my thoughts on Microsoft’s announcement of Windows Phone 7 Series.  I wanted to give myself a little time to digest all the coverage.  I also wanted to gather my thoughts on what we know and what is still up in the air.

For those that haven’t seen the new interface yet (where have you been?), here’s a quick video intro:

I’m not going to go very in depth in this post because many other sites have covered what we know with extreme depth and clarity.  If you’re looking for an in depth article with very good analysis, see this Engadget article.  For my part, I’m simply going to cover things from my personal perspective, picking out the things that I really like or things that I think will really apply to my life.

Read the rest of this entry »