Nokia Official on DVLUP

Attend Publish Boston & Win Big

Fri, 18 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Since the prizes are really awesome for this event (May 17th), I’m going to start off with them. We will be rewarding the best student, best individual, and best company in each of the categories below:

Top Windows 8.1 app
- Trip to the 2014 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix in Austin, TX.
- 9 runner-up Nokia Lumia 1520 prizes
Top Windows Phone app
- $10,000 to build your own “Dev Cave”
- 9 Runner-up Nokia Lumia 1520 prizes
Top Cross Platform app
- MakerBot 3D printer
- 9 Runner-up Nokia Lumia 1520 prizes
Breakthrough in App Innovation and Design
- MakerBot 3D printer
- 9 Runner-up Nokia Lumia 1520 prizes

But wait, there’s more! I will be giving away these prizes at the end of the day…

Build 2014 Videos

Sun, 06 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This year’s Microsoft Build conference was jam packed with Windows Phone goodness. In fact, there is too much to take in at once. So what I’ve done for you is break it down into sections so that you can bookmark this page and come back at your leisure.

These videos are in no particular order, so review them all before you choose, enjoy!

Windows Phone Development

Windows and Windows Phone Design related

DVLUPday NYC Highlights

Sun, 23 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000

12 hours, 250 developers, 150 feet of Subway, 68 pizzas… one awesome day, priceless.

At the beginning of the day, I performed the developer equivalent of crowd surfing… the Vine surf

Photos

There lots of pictures taken and shared, you can see all of them here at #DVLUPday photos

Here are some of my favorites:

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Make An App Dev Happy Day

Fri, 07 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000

The Windows Phone developer community is amazing in and of itself, but what happens when you add something like #makeAnAppDevHappyDay ? You get pure awesomeness. What is #makeAnAppDevHappyDay? Nokia DVLUP added fuel to an idea started by Dan Colasanti for developers to help them get the word out about their apps and generate app reviews.

Post your app’s name and link to the store on twitter with the #makeAnAppDevHappyDay, other devs will download your app and leave a review. you do the same for them (It’s also a great way for you to find new apps). Here is an example:

Nokia DVLUP Day

Mon, 28 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Registration has ended!

UPDATE Registration is closed, the hard deadline for stragglers was 12:00 PM 11-16-2013. Thank you for making this one of the highest registered events I’ve ever held at 90% of max building capacity!

IMPORTANT: Make sure you are present at the welcome presentation at 10 AM on the 4th floor. You will learn the answer to a secret question that proves you attended.

Event Description

Learn to make amazing Windows Phone apps at Boston Nokia DVLUP Day and win big prizes just for participating. Nokia Ambassadors, Lance McCarthy and Nick Landry, will provide hands-on Windows Phone development training. Whether you’re a seasoned dev or don’t know a line of code, you will walk away with the ability to write an app.

Redeeming a Nokia Premium Developer Program token

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

There have been many questions recently about how to properly redeem your shiny new Nokia Premium Developer Program. What better way than to record a video for you? Without further ado, here is how to redeem the token, as well as how to get at the Telerik goodness in the center.

After doing this, you’ll know how to get the Microsoft DevCenter token as well as the Buddy.com token because it is the same process to retrieve the individual tokens.

Make an Awesome Video for Your App

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Nokia has gone to great lengths to make it easy for developers to create promotional materials for their Windows Phone apps. This quick video shows you how to do it.

Steps to make your own

Got to the Marketing Toolkit main page (you’ll need to be signed in)
Select the checkbox under “Promotional Video”
Paste in the Store URL to your app
Select the platform of your choice (I chose Lumia 920)
Select a language
Click “Continue”

On the next page:

Hackathon Winners

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I will be writing a more in-depth blog post (with videos and event pictures) on the Telerik website when all the media is done being edited. For now, I wanted to quickly get a post up to show the winners of The Boston Hackathon . There were over 40 apps created, submitted and presented! Every developer who went through my grueling training schedule on day one, built their app, got it in by 3:30PM on day two and had the courage to present to the audience, earned a Nokia Premium Developer Program token ($1,500 value)! They will all be able to publish their apps to the Windows Phone Store.

Rewarding Quality

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Offer ends Feb 11th, 2013 5:00 PM PST

So you’ve published an app and you’ve worked hard to keep its rating at 4+ stars. You’ve had at least 50 ratings, proving that it’s not a fluke. Now what? Let me bring you into the fold of the elite.

You and your app will get:

Windows Phone Store Placement
App Highlights Placement (Nokia’s app that is preinstalled on all new Nokia Lumias)
NAX Credits for you to advertise your app in other apps

So if you meet the conditions (has minimum 50 ratings, is currently 4 stars or higher, and you’re DVLUP member or eligible to be) send me an email ext-lance.mccarthy@nokia.com

An Offer You Can't Refuse

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

One of my responsibilities as a Nokia Developer Ambassador is to help developers get started. I thought to myself, what better way to welcome new developers than give them a new phone and a DevCenter Token ($99 value) or a Nokia Premium Developer Program token ($1,500 value) for building your first Windows Phone app. I will knight you into the brotherhood of Windows Phone developers by giving you one of those sweet prizes and I made it as simple as possible to get one. If you are in my Ambassador area of coverage (see the bottom of the post for regions) send me an email to get started. Here are the three easy-breezy categories:

Developer Summit Awesomeness

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I just returned from the 2013 AT&T Developer Summit in Las Vegas, and boy can I say it was a good one! Approximately 50% of mobile apps submitted to the hackathon were Windows Phone apps and the #1 winner of it all was a… you guessed it, a Windows Phone app! The winner, Ruggero Scorcioni, took home a $30,000 prize for creating an app that uses brainwave readings to determine whether or not it is a good time to make or accept a phone call. We also had other winners who created awesome Windows Phone apps. I’ll write a future post on a list of the winners, for now, lets see some pictures.

Registering Extensions

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

With the entrance of Visual Studio 2012 we saw a new interface to edit your WMAppManifest file. This is a great tool to help you properly setup your app’s meta data. There is one limitation you should be aware of… there is no support for extensions. What are extensions? They are the added functionality that lets you tie your app into other parts of the OS and user experience. This blog post will cover the extensions for photos, but the process is the same for other extensions.

From The Ground Up

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

This post is to get you started on Windows Phone Development “from the ground up” and is targeted towards people who have no prior experience with the Windows Phone SDK. At any time you can refer to my resources page for additional links to WPDev assets, tutorials and example code.

Ok, let’s begin.

The first thing you should know is that is does not cost a penny to develop for Windows Phone! The SDK and the tools are free. The only time you will need to pay is when you sign up for your Microsoft DevCenter account. The DevCenter is your portal to the Windows Phone Store. It is where you will submit, update and track your apps. I can help mitigate those costs for you. If you are an Android or iOS Developer and are porting an app, or a true “from the ground up” developer, I will pay for your first year’s DevCenter fee. Contact me for details.

Denied?

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

So, you got an email from DVLUP stating that your challenge submission was denied. Why were you denied? What did you miss? I wanted to write this post to share the top reasons for denial and how to fix it… 90% of these are due to the fact you didn’t edit your WMAppManifest file.

Here are the top offenders:

Not all Live Tiles Sizes
No animated Tiles
Not all WP8 resolutions

#1- You need to have all three tile sizes enabled for your app. Here is a list of the tile sizes from the MSDN Documentation . To rectify this problem, simply toggle the “Support for large Tiles” property in your WMAppManifest file. See the image in answer #2 for more details.

Get a loaner Windows Phone 8 device

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Are you building a Windows Phone 8 app but don’t have a device to test your app on? Are you using the NFC or Bluetooth APIs and having a WP8 device would finalize your testing? There are 3 ways to get a device: Earn one with your rewards points, Trade up your current phone for a new one, or get a loaner device.

This post is about the third option, I can line you up with a loaner device from Nokia. Take the following steps (if you are already a DVLUP member, skip to step 2) and let’s get your app to market!

Getting Started: NAX and Windows Phone 8

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

[UPDATE]

NAX has been discontinued and rolled up into Inneractive accounts]

Original Post

The purpose of this post is to demonstrate how easy it is to get started using the Nokia Ad Exchange (NAX) SDK with your Windows Phone 8 (WP8) app. Although there is no specific SDK for WP8, the process is the same with only one difference. You need to manually check off the capabilities your app will use. Let’s get started.

You have apps and I have phones, let's MeetUp!

Sat, 10 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

If you’re going to be in the Boston area on Thursday December 6th, come on over to Microsoft Research & Development in Cambridge (NERD). I’m doing a 90 minute group explaining how Nokia’s new developer program (DVLUP) works and what it can do for you. I’ll also be introducing you to other the new stuff Nokia is providing for developers, most of it unprecedented and groundbreaking. Nokia fully believes in the fact that if you give developers the tools and resources, they will produce amazing apps.

Level Up with DVLUP!

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Got your developer hat on? Check. Got your gamer hat on? Check. Ready to earn awesome rewards for doing what you love? Check!

Great, then let’s get rolling! I am officially announcing the beginning of a brand new, groundbreaking program from Nokia for Windows Phone developers, DVLUP. You are formally invited to participate in this currently invite-only program where you earn points for your apps through completing challenges. Spend your XP on Xbox 360s, new Nokia Lumias and more.

Nokia Developer Ambassadorship

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I am officially announcing that I’ve joined Nokia as a Nokia Developer Ambassador! So, what does this mean for you?

If you are:

An experienced Windows Phone Developer (WPDev) with tons of published apps
Have dabbled in WPDev, but haven’t published yet
An experienced iOS or Android Developer with apps (published or not)
Just getting started on any platform and are thirsty for more
In school and don’t know your Int from your Long
You have great app ideas but don’t know a lick of code

…then you’re in luck. If you want to bring an app or an app idea to life, I am your man.

Resources, Resources, Resources!