Dr. Z's Blog
Bits and Bytes that Matter to Developers
Resources for iOS Developers to Create Windows Apps
Set up dev environment on your Mac. You can create a virtualization solution for cross-platform...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 02/01/2013
Creating Windows Store Apps with Windows Azure Notification Hubs
Service Bus Notification Hubs are Service Bus entities that allow a user to send push notifications...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 01/24/2013
How to Send Live Tile Notifications in Windows Store Apps
Working with Tile notifications in Windows Store apps is pretty easy. Check out this blog post and...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 01/24/2013
Windows Azure Media Services Available NOW
With Windows Azure Media Services, you can stream video to HTML5, Flash, Silverlight, Windows 8,...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 01/22/2013
Finding Things Around You with Nokia City Lens for Windows Phone
The app makes finding what’s around you rather easy. Nokia explains on its web site: City Lens uses...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 01/21/2013
Fresh Paint – A Wonderful Digital Painting Tool on Windows 8
If you, your family or friends like painting, you’ve got to try this wonderful Windows 8 app (free)....
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 01/21/2013
Publish an App 12/28/2012-2/28/2013 and Get Free Windows Store or Windows Phone Store Account and More…
Publish your app(s) to the Windows Store and/or Windows Phone Store between December 20,...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 01/18/2013
Creating Windows Store Apps Using Store Ready Templates
A Microsoft team in India has created fabulous fifty Windows Store app templates. These templates...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 01/18/2013
Creating A Virtual Windows Store App Development Environment
If you’d like to create a Windows Store App but don’t have access to a Windows 8 computer, you can...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 01/18/2013
Developer Series: Building Windows Store Applications with Dr. “Z”
At this series of free, in-person developer events at Microsoft Store at Mall of America, you will...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 01/15/2013
Instructions on How to Install Windows 8 and Developer Tools on Mac
You can install Windows 8 on your Mac with two options below. Run Windows 8 in a virtual environment...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 01/12/2013
Creating Apps for Education – Sign up for SLC’s Silicon Valley Camp and Codeathon
The Shared Learning Collaborative (SLC) is holding a contest for the two best open source apps that...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 01/01/2013
Windows Azure Training Kit December 2012 Refresh
The December 2012 Refresh of the Windows Azure Training Kit includes two new demos from the BUILD...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 12/26/2012
Test Your Windows Store Apps Using the Windows App Certification Kit (ACK)
The Windows App Certification Kit (ACK) available in the Windows SDK helps developers test...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 12/18/2012
Creating Windows Applications Using the Blue Button Service for U.S. Veterans
Available in October 2010, Blue Button is a federal program that allows Veterans to download their...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 12/17/2012
Mayo Clinic’s Windows Store App Makes the Journey of Pregnancy Informative
Mayo Clinic, a leading medical practice and research institution in the world, publishes thousands...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 12/14/2012
MarkedUp - A Service that Helps You See How Users Are Using Your Windows 8 Apps
The service is provided by MarkedUp LLC, a startup founded by Aaron Stannard, a former Microsoft...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 12/13/2012
Secure Web Services on Windows Azure Web Sites for Windows Store Applications
This blog post discusses how to secure web services on Windows Azure Web Sites for Windows Store...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 12/13/2012
Windows Store App Development for iOS Developers Live at Ch9 (12/13-12/14)
To sign up for a free 90day Windows Azure trial account, click here. Day...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 12/13/2012
Adding Push Notifications to your iOS Apps with Windows Azure Mobile Services
The Windows Azure Mobile Services provides full support for iOS developers with a number of...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 12/13/2012
Free Two-Day Windows App Development Training for iOS Developers
Join other iOS developers around the world at the FREE Windows Store app development training live...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 12/07/2012
Create Apps on All Your Mobile Devices with TouchDevelop
The Microsoft Research team has created a programming environment called TouchDevelop that enables...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 12/05/2012
Can You Predict Weather Yourself? Yes, with this Cloud Service on Windows Azure
Open your browser, and navigate to the cloud service at https://weatherservice.cloudapp.net. All you...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/30/2012
Resources for iOS Developers
Getting started with Windows Store apps for iOS developers This getting started guide steps...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/28/2012
How to Get Your iTunes Music to Windows Phone 8
If you have a PC running Windows 8 or Windows 7 or a Mac, you can copy your iTunes music to your...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/28/2012
Windows Azure Training Kit - November 2012
You can download the latest training kit here. The November 2012 update of the Windows Azure...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/26/2012
Developer Resources for Building Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and Windows Azure Apps
Developers interested in building Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and Windows Azure apps can download and...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/17/2012
“Windows 8 Apps for Social Good” Contest Starting Nov. 5, 2012
Do you have an idea to help people better track their energy usage? Do you want to help...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/14/2012
SIM PIN and PIN Unlock Key (PUK) code on your Nokia Lumia 920
A SIM PIN is a four to eight digit code that is used to prevent unauthorized use of a SIM card. The...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/11/2012
My Favorite Apps and Features on Nokia Lumia 920 from AT&T
I bought a Nokia Lumia 920 from a local AT&T store the day when it was first available in the...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/11/2012
How to Set Up Visual Voicemail on Nokia Lumia 920 from AT&T
Nokia Lumia 920 available through AT&T only comes with Visual Voicemail, a feature that allows...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/09/2012
Shared Learning Collaborative (SLC) Camp Denver CO, Nov 17-18, 2012
It’s a two-day combination Codeathon and Tagathon event in Denver, CO. At the camp, SLC is...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/09/2012
Creating Django (Python) Web Sites on Windows Azure
Windows Azure Websites (currently in Preview) provides support for Django web sites. You can find...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/08/2012
Windows Azure SDK for .NET - October 2012
You can download and install it from here. It is recommended you use the automated one-click...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/07/2012
What Is ASP.NET Web API and How does it Work?
If you navigate to the ASP.NET site, you will find the following statement. ASP.NET Web API is a...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/07/2012
Sign up for the Windows Azure HDInsight Service Preview (Hadoop)
Microsoft has recently released Hadoop-based solutions for Windows Server and Windows Azure, now...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/07/2012
Windows Azure Poster for Download
You can download and print the poster from the public download on www.windowsazure.com. The poster...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/02/2012
TFS - Cloud-based Collaboration Platform for Software Development Teams
Team Foundation Service, a version of Team Foundation Server hosted on Windows Azure, “provides...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/02/2012
VoterHub–Free Election App for Windows Phone and Windows 8
With general election only a few days away, this is a just-in-time app for your Windows Phone...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/02/2012
New and Updated Windows Azure Services at a Glance
Satya Nadella, president of Microsoft's Server & Tools Business, introduced several Windows...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/01/2012
New Windows Store App for your Windows Phone 8 Device - My Windows Phone
My Windows Phone is the name of the Windows Store app. The app works for your Windows Phone 8 device...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 11/01/2012
Creating a Windows Phone 8 App Using Windows Azure Mobile Services
Windows Azure Mobile Services now supports Windows Phone 8 apps, in addition to Windows Store and...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 10/31/2012
Develop Applications to Integrate with Windows Azure Active Directory (AD)
Windows Azure Active Directory (Windows Azure AD), currently in Preview release, is a cloud-based,...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 10/31/2012
Windows Azure SQL Database Partition and Federation Code Examples
By default, Windows Azure SQL Database supports up to 150 databases in each SQL Database server,...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 10/31/2012
Best Practices for the Design of Large-Scale Services on Windows Azure Cloud Services
This MSDN article authored by Mark Simms and Michael Thomassy provides thoughtful guidance based on...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 10/30/2012
OData Client Tools for Windows Phone Apps
OData Client Tools for Windows Phone 8 brings OData V3 support to the Windows Phone platform. This...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 10/30/2012
Changing Service Administrator and Co-Administrator
Update May 20, 2016: For latest info on Manage Accounts, Subscriptions, and Administrative Roles,...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 10/30/2012
Windows Phone Toolkit Update For Windows Phone 8 and 7.x
Windows Phone Toolkit provides the developer community with new components, functionality, and an...
Author: Benjamin Xue Date: 10/30/2012