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Marc Holmes

The Unauthorised Autobiography of Marc Holmes

Microsoftie thinking about dialogue with developers. Brit in Seattle. Windswept and Interesting.


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Filed under: phone

OK, so I wrote a #wp7 app...

Having seen even the contestants on The Apprentice build an app (sorta) then I figured I might be the only person in the entire technical world who hasn’t built an app. (Though, as with everyone else I’ve had tons of ideas...)

Inspiration to finally put one out there came in the form of the excellent book: 101 Windows Phone 7 Apps by Adam Nathan which is actually the first volume so actually contains 50 complete apps. Amazing effort – pragmatic and intelligent and almost forces you to start coding.

Anyway, I released 2 apps for $1 each:
  • The first was Baby Shake-A-Name which is basically just Adam’s code, but with a few extensions and gave me the opportunity to remember how to code and understand the development and marketplace process.
  • The other is Goggle Eyes which is “all my own work” albeit utilising what I learned from the book. You can add some Googly Eyes to a photo, resize and shake ‘em. Tons of extension potential and the only “googly eye”-based app I could find in the marketplace...
I suppose the thing that struck me about releasing an app to marketplace is the power of the distribution mechanism. This is something I already understood conceptually, but it’s a whole different feeling as you release your own app wondering if anyone will think it’s worth a dollar (or the equivalent in your local currency), what feedback you might get and so on. Then you start to think “hmm... maybe I should take this seriously...” as you realise that there is very little barrier to building a successful app given the right idea.

My next plan is to write another paid app (little bit more involved) but also try out something ad-supported. Just need to think of the right thing for that. OccasionalGamer has a ton of info on indie game development and ad-revenues.

Anyway, you should do the same – it’s a lot of fun. And I’m confident Goggle Eyes will present you with at least a dollar’s worth of fun. My daughter laughed a lot anyway.

Note to my friends and colleagues: there’s absolutely no reason to sabotage my burgeoning app development career with those rogue reviews. You know who you are ;)

(download)

That Mango Thing

Today we made some announcements about the next version of Windows Phone (codename “Mango”) and you can watch the press conference here. In word association terms, Mango makes me think only of Fruit Ninja which I am one achievement away from 100% completion (the “lovely bunch in Zen mode” one which annoyingly hasn’t cropped up for me yet).

Anyway, beyond gaming, this is an interesting looking app for British Airways that some UK colleagues have been working on.

Telegraph preview of #wp7

I’m slightly delayed on this (trust me – it’s been a busy week) but an interesting preview from the Telegraph who seem to like what they see with Windows Phone 7.

Windows phone 7 could signal a return to form for Microsoft who for years have struggled with the unpopular and unwieldy Windows Mobile….   During a short hands-on test it was clear immediately that Microsoft might have a genuine chance at challenging Apple. 
Worth a read.

 

Bing Maps in Windows Phone 7 #wp7

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If you’re a Microsoft watcher, you’ll probably know that last week was a big internal meeting in Hotlanta. There’s no kidding on that nickname either – it was blisteringly hot and humid for the week. The Black Eyed Peas look liked they were about to pass out – it was a bad night to wear skin tight leather and big metal shoulderpads (Me not them. I’m just kidding. No I’m not.)

Anyway, like Steve, one of my favourite tech demos was Joe Belfiore and his Windows Phone 7 schtick. I saw him present at MIX so apart from the fluidity of this demo, it was great to see the developments over that time.

One of the things he talked about was the cool Bing integration into WP7. You can see a good blog post on that here.

Nokia Wit

 

The key function on any Nokia device is its ability to make phone calls. After all, that’s why we know them universally as mobile phones (or smart phones, feature phones or mobile computers – though the same grip styles work for those, too). One of the main things we’ve found about the 1 billion plus Nokia devices that are in use today is that when making a phone call, people generally tend to hold their phone like a…. well, like a phone. Providing a wide range of methods and grips for people to hold their phones, without interfering with the antennae, has been an essential feature of every device Nokia has built.

Boom! Magical.
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