Panoramic Calc Pro updated to 2.0.4 for Windows Mobile Professional

Yes another update: this version continues on the improvements made in 2.0.3

Fixed:

Square screen support (drawing issue on the unit converter and currency converter)

New/Updated:

Improved button text display on square screen devices

Added ability to scale X & Y independently while graphing

It should be avaliable on http://www.panoramicsoft.com/ and http://www.wireless-apps.net/ by the end of the day.

Redfly Video Preview

As I mentioned a few days ago - Redfly is making a smartphone companion device which plugs into your Windows Mobile device and gives you a large 800x480 with an onscreen cursor and a touchpad.

Here's a Youtube video giving you a preview of how the device works, its a little dry but still interesting if this product is on your radar.

Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5HtetqGumU

Panoramic Calc Pro updated to v2.0.3 for Windows Mobile Professional

Calc Pro has been updated to version 2.0.3

The new version contains a handful of minor bug fixes and improvements. If 2.0.2 is running nicely you don't have to rush to grab the latest.

Fixed:

• No longer always starts in the standard calculator mode
• Now instantly changes calculator modes when leaving the options screen
• Fixed worksheets when the Expression calculator mode is selected

Improvements:

• Dynamically positions the "Point on Graph" text so its always on screen when graphing
• "Point on Graph" text now drawn using ClearType (you'll hardly notice)
• Changed Point on Graph text to say graph instead of function
  Improved appearance on some devices (iMate JAQ3)

Grab it here:
ttp://www.wireless-apps.net/desc.php?d=d1&id=238782

or here:
http://www.panoramicsoft.com/mobileapps/calcpro/Calcpro.php

Experia, Touch HD, Diamond and Diamond Pro Video

I think the title says it all. I'm personally in the market for a new Windows Mobile phone and this video covered the four phones that I'm interested in.

The video is about 8 minutes long and gives you a pretty good feel for the sizes of the devices.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAfrsZ1INV8

All four phones are Windows Mobile Professional Devices and all four have high resolution screens. The Touch HD and the Experia have a screen resolution of 480x800, the Diamond and Diamond Pro have a resolution of 480x640.

If you're shopping for these phones you may want to keep in mind that there is better software support for VGA devices (480x640) than the WVGA devices.

Also a key feature (or lack of) on the HTC HD is the lack of a directional pad. This means you're going to be controlling everything using the screen, it also means many games will be unplayable. However for a device this cool you may be willing to overlook it.

I'm currently leaning towards the HTC Touch Diamond - I'm ready for a small and "cool" phone.

As always, if you're looking for software for any of these phones check out
http://www.wireless-gaming.com & http://www.wireless-apps.net in the Windows Mobile Touch section.

Zune players in a nutshell

After playing with XNA I quickly learned I would need an actual Zune device (and likely a premium membership) to test and debug games and applications for the Zune.

After a quick search I confirmed that there currently is no Zune emulator. So the next trick is to learn the various models. My local retailers are selling; 4, 8, 16, 80 & 120 gig models and there appeared to be 2 form factors.

More searching and I discovered the following:

There is an older Zune 30 device which doesn't appear to be on the market
Also known as Zune V1
The Zune 4, 8, 16 are all based on the same hardware
Zune V2
The Zune 80 & 120 are based on the same hardware
Zune V3

So - 3 types of Zune so far.

All Zunes have 240x320 res screens
4, 8 & 16 are solid state drives - larger models have hard drives

Zune V1 has a 60Hz refresh rate, V2 & V3 are set to 30Hz (for battery life)
Zune V1 runs at 524Mhz
Zune V2 runs at 399Mhz
Zune V3 runs at 399Mhz

Time to go take one home

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zune

Developing XBOX 360 Games for the Live Marketplace

"Once you’re ready to begin developing Xbox 360 games, you will need to sign up for an XNA Creators Club Premium membership.

A Premium membership enables you to create and debug your games on Xbox 360. Also, it allows you to submit your creations for distribution on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

If you want to create games for Xbox 360, you will also need a computer running XNA Game Studio, an Xbox 360 console with hard drive, and an Xbox LIVE Gold or Silver account. The computer and the Xbox 360 console must be on the same network.

Once you sign in to the XNA Creators Club Online Web site, browse to the Membership page to sign up for a Premium membership, and, if necessary, an Xbox LIVE membership. You will be prompted to sign up for either a four-month Premium membership (49 USD) or annual (99 USD) membership. "

nuff said

http://creators.xna.com/en-US/create_detail#tour_three

Migrating to Visual Studio 2008

I wanted to take a look at the XNA Game Studio 3.0 - and it turns out it requires Visual Studio 2008. Since all of my current code is based on 2005 projects I've been avoiding the upgrade - no it looks like its time to take the plunge.

There is good news, apparently you can run multiple versions of Visual Studio side beside:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms246609.aspx

And more good news - XNA also works with C# 2008 Express. It looks like Microsoft has made things easy this time around.

Visual Studio 2008 Express: http://www.microsoft.com/express/download/#webInstall
XNA Game Studio 3.0: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=7D70D6ED-1EDD-4852-9883-9A33C0AD8FEE&displaylang=en

Happy Coding