Category Archives: Windows Phone App

Windows Phone apps

Russ Fustino, Xamarin Developer Evangelist!

Hello all! I am happy to announce I am the new Developer Evangelist for Xamarin! I am so excited about this next chapter in my career. I am looking forward to learning and teaching one of the hottest set of software products on this planet, which will help the lives of many fellow geeks! It is a very rewarding position indeed and I am on cloud 9. Everyone I have met at Xamarin is awesome and I look forward getting to know the entire team.

For those that unfamiliar on what Xamarin does… we produce software for programmers which facilitates creating the same mobile app, natively, on multiple platforms such as Windows Phone,  Android and iOS. It is a ‘must have’ tool in the industry with some incredible recent announcements on the new version Xamarin 3.

xamarin

Xamarin

I will be traveling up to the Boston Xamarin office on occasion and I look forward to seeing all the “Shed Heads” back home. So, New England crew, get those lobsters ready!

And of course, I will be hitting up all the conferences for speaking engagements in and around Florida and all over the country. Drop me an email if you are interested in having me speak at your user group or conference. My new email at Xamarin is russell.fustino@xamarin.com .

I also setup a new twitter @RussFustino with my actual name (about time huh?). Please follow! I will have more details on my Xamarin blog once it gets set up. Stay tuned and follow me on twitter. Thanks!

 

Gary Fustino Nominated for Good Burger Award. Please vote!

Gary has been nominated for the Good Burger award in St. Pete for “Cool Companies – Small” as Design For Communication. He has contributed much in the community including being an active member of our user groups and design for several Windows Phone and Windows 8 apps.

good burger

Gary is spreading the word to vote for him to become a winner in the St Pete’s Chamber Good Burger Award contest! And this a quite an honor. Voting starts today and runs thru July 17 and we would appreciate your support.

Go to: www.stpete.com/goodburger and cast your vote. “Design For Communication” is in the category “Cool Companies – Small”. It only takes a few seconds to vote.

Thank you for all you do in the community, too.

Also, please joins us on Aug 28 at Jannus Live for the award party from 6-9pm with 5 bands. Non-Member Attendee = $20.

Gary Fustino

· St Pete Chamber & Midstate Chamber – Ambassador

· Bluffs Business Association – eServices Director

· Member of Tampa Bay Computer Society

· Member/Participant of Visual Design League, Tampa Bay Win Dev, Win Phone 8, DevUp, Tampa & Sarasota BarCamp/CodeCamp, Xamarin MeetUp

· Former Employee of the New York State Council on the Arts

· Buffalo Art Directors Club

Windows Phone User Group Tampa May 20, 2014

 

May 20, 2014 5:30PM – Resolving the last 10 percent.

Nick Randolf – MVP

Kevin Wolf – MVP

Kelvin McDaniel – AgileThought

Register at: http://wpugtampa20140520.eventbrite.com

Kevin’s goal for 2014 is to figure out how to reduce/eliminate the “last-mile” syndrome when building a mobile apps…basically you get to the 90% mark and think you are ready to publish, but then spend 90% of the time churning on the last 10%. See a presentation on tips/tricks for reducing the churn… These two are really tied together.

SPECIAL THANKS to KForce for providing the food!

Build it Beta is now public for Windows Phone app developers, but what is Build it Beta? Well it’s all about Windows Phone Application Testing. There are a number of existing mechanisms available to Windows Phone application developers but none of them offer the simplicity and ease of deployment as say TestFlight. Build it Beta
fills that gap, providing a mechanism to allow any Windows Phone application to be deployed for testing to any Windows Phone 8 device*.

Firstly, why the name?

Well it’s a bit of a play on words – we’re always looking to build better apps and of course during development we often release “beta” versions of the app. Hence the origin of “Build it Better Beta”.

Next, how does it work?

Windows Phone 8 included the ability to deploy applications within the enterprise without going through the Windows Phone Store. This is referred to as enterprise deployment and involves signing an application (ie the packaged application file .xap) with a signing certificate. The same certificate needs to be distributed to the devices that the application is to be tested on. Then the signed xap can be installed on the devices either via code or by distributing the application to the device via email or via a url link. Build it Beta uses this mechanism to deliver a testing tool which eliminates the complexity for both developers and testers.

Attend this session and learn how to get started! A simple set of setup instructions that will be reviewed and get you up and running in no time at all. Download Build it Beta from the Windows Phone Store.

Once you’ve completed the setup, all you need to do is to start sending your .xap files to upload @ builditbeta.com.

Bio’s:

Nick Randolph – (@BTRoam) Microsoft MVP – Windows Phone Development

Nick currently runs Built to Roam which focuses on building rich mobile applications. Nick has been identified as a Microsoft MVP in recognition of his work and expertise with the Microsoft mobile platforms. He is still an active contributor in the device application development space via his blog at http://nicksnettravels.builttoroam.com and Visual Studio Magazine (http://visualstudiomagazine.com/Articles/List/Mobile-Corner.aspx). Nick has been invited to present at a variety of events including Tech Ed Australia & NZ, MEDC and Code camp. He has also authored multiple books with the latest being Professional Visual Studio 2010 and Professional Development for Windows Phone, and helped judge multiple world finals for the Imagine Cup. Since the release of Windows Phone Nick has worked on numerous Windows Phone applications and has helped hundreds of developers build their own Windows Phone applications. Nick has been involved with Windows Phone applications for well-known brands such as Domain.com.au, ninemsn, AFL, NRL, Qantas, JB Hi-Fi and NAB.

Kevin Wolf – (aka @ByteMaster) Microsoft MVP – Windows Phone Development

Kevin Wolf is an independent software consultant and a Microsoft MVP with the expertise in Windows Phone Development from Tampa, FL. Kevin’s primary focus is delivering software on mobile devices. Kevin is active in the development user community where he speaks at user groups and hosts hacker rooms at Florida code camps. Kevin also holds an annual developer conference in Key West called SMUG Dev that attracts alpha geeks and technology leaders from all over the United States. With a background in Electrical Engineering Kevin has been pulled in to the latest Quadcopter craze and has built a custom flight controller board that runs the .NET Microframeworks. Kevin brews his own beer where he monitors his fermentation and kegerator temperatures on his Windows Phone. When he is not busy working on his computer or doting on his wife, Kevin enjoys going for runs, smoking cigars and taking his boat out.

Kelvin McDaniel @azarc3

McDaniel is a Senior Developer at AgileThought. He graduated with an MBA from Florida A&M University in 2000 and has experienced a range of fields, including insurance and finance. He had a love for the various mobile flavors of Windows since the early CE days. He acquired his first Windows-based PDA (a Philips Nino) in 1998 while working in New York City. Connect with Kelvin McDaniel on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Time: 5:30-8:00PM

Location: AgileThought Office (Tampa)

2502 N Rocky Point Dr Ste 900

Tampa, FL 33607

Several RussCam ComponentOne Unplugged Videos released

It was my pleasure to assist in producing these great technical sessions.

Great job to Roger Hobbs and Tommy Hodges at ComponentOne on editing and filming these episodes!

 

Russ Cam® Unplugged: Xamarin Real World Experiences with MVP Bill Reiss who shares some Xamarin real world experiences.

ComponentOne Unplugged: Getting Started with MVC 5 and Visual Studio 2013 with Thom Robbins in front of a packed house, shows MVC5 and Visual Studio 2014. Check out the full session.

Russ Cam® Unplugged: Rock Your Code with Visual Add-ins MVP David McCarter, a ComponentOne Influencer, shares his experience with add-ins for coding, debugging, profiling and more! So let’s check out that session right now as Russ Cam Unplugged presents Rock Your Code with Visual Add-Ins by David McCarter.

Russ Cam® Unplugged: App Studio, Then What? MVP Russ Fustino, ComponentOne Influencer, shows how easy and quick it is to make a Windows Phone app using App Studio!


Jethro Tull Endorses Apps Built by Fustino Brothers, Inc.

Caption: May 2014 – Fustino Brother’s (Gary left, Russ right) shown supporting plaque from the September 2012 Ian Anderson’s Jethro Tull tour at Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater FL with Rich (holding passes) celebrating apps endorsement. The three Fustino Brothers indicated- “It was an honor to be back stage for the meet ‘n’ greet (Anderson holding cup), and that was the spark.”

 

Jethro Tull Endorses Apps Built by Fustino Brothers, Inc.
Release Date: 5/5/2014

TAMPA, FL – May 5, 2014 – Fustino Brothers, Inc, (FBI) a new startup App Building company, today announced their first “rock star legend” business agreement. FBI has gained endorsement status on Windows Phone Jethro Tull App and future cross-platform Jethro Tull Apps with permission to utilize Tull assets. Jethro Tull was one of the top 5 touring acts of the 1970′s and the favorite band of the Fustino Brothers. Continued next page…

 

…Fustino Brothers- Tull Apps Press Release Continued.

The Brothers have a deep passion and appreciation for Ian Anderson’s music, performances and genius. This includes the Jethro Tull band music and especially Ian Anderson’s solo works with approximately 50 CDs published spanning 6 decades. Also, Ian Anderson released a brand new CD in April 2014, Homo Erraticus. Ian’s band has just started a two year tour performing the new CD and the best of Jethro Tull. Get the free FBI App, to see the tour dates near you along with videos, photos and music information at your fingertips. Go to: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/tull-tribute/4b28de49-ca75-4b8f-9a95-403c9db5bad6

Russ Fustino (Russ’ Toolshed Network – New Port Richey FL) FBI’s President and CEO, a Microsoft MVP in client development, says, “We would love nothing more than to have Jethro Tull, in the pocket of fans worldwide, young and old. Tull has provided much entertainment in our family and this is our way of saying Thank You.”

Rich Fustino, FBI’s Chief Audio Engineer, founder of Steele Productions, teacher of 47+ years at Matt’s Music (Tonawanda NY) and Crossroads Music Center (Williamsville NY) says, “I was turned on to Tull listening to their 3rd album Benefit. I could not stop playing it, and then turned my brothers on to it. We all attended the Aqualung Tour as our first concert together. I am so happy to help ‘benefit’ Tull fans worldwide.”

Gary Fustino, FBI’s VP, an ambassador for both the Tampa Bay’s St. Pete Chamber and Midstate Chamber of Connecticut, eServices Director for Bluffs Business Association, dba: Design For Communication and founder of InBusinessLinks Network – says “The key to our success is to generate apps in the shortest period of time while yielding high quality standards. Tull’s fabulous album art and music have been a creative inspiration.”

In making this agreement happen, the Fustino Brothers were assisted by the outstanding efforts of their family lawyer Houston Putnam Lowry, F.C.I. ARB of Brown & Welsh. P.C. in CT. Houston was successful in guiding them through international legalize necessary to bridge the pond between America and Great Britian.

Fustino Brothers, Inc is an app generation company. FBI apps are entertaining educational apps for the Windows Phone Marketplace and Windows 8 Store. Additional platforms include Android and Apple iOS. FBI has a unique app engine architecture, creating data driven apps. FBI utilizes this engine by pulling in designer fonts, graphics, music, and video as well as instrumentation and globalization. FBI is only just starting to plan an experience of a lifetime!

Follow @FustinoBrothers on Twitter to stay ‘in tune’ with FBI announcements regarding Tull and please like FBI Facebook Page,
www.facebook.com/fustinobrothers

Jethro Tull and Ian Anderson names, logos, likeness, and music are registered and copyrighted by Ian Anderson Group of Companies, LTD.

END

WPUG Tampa MAY 2014 meetings

See details at the new site www.wp8ug.com

May 1, 2014 6:30PM, See Russ Fustino deliver a session on building an app with Unity. This is a special joint meeting with Tampa Bay Area Games For Windows Developers Guild and the Windows Phone User Group.

Register here

Location: Microsoft Building TAMPA-5426
5426 Bay Center Dr Ste 700, Tampa, FL (map)

Topic: Building a Match Game Using Unity2D [Russ Fustino]

Russ Fustino, MVP Client Dev, will cover building an Unity application from scratch, as well as a little about Unity and how this software is not just for games anymore. See Russ show several resources for building Unity Apps, including: certain tutorials, Unity Asset Store, the Unity Editor, migrating an Asset store template to an app, tips and tricks,  audio, adding properties that are arrays, debugging with Unity VS (a third party tool), and Building for Windows Phone and Windows Store 8 as well as other platforms.

 

Bio: Highly experienced software developer evangelist and Windows 8 and Phone 8 app developer. Passion for software development and tools thru conveying technology via live seminars, webcasts, blogs, photos and internet video productions. Russ is a Microsoft MVP in Client Dev. Russ is CEO of Fustino Brothers, Inc.

 

Enjoy this video on a backstage visit with Jethro Tull when they came to Clearwater on the last tour.

May 20, 2014 5:30PM -  Resolving the last 10 percent.

Nick Randolf – MVP

Kevin Wolf – MVP

Kelvin McDaniel – AgileThought

Kevin’s goal for 2014 is to figure out how to reduce/eliminate the “last-mile” syndrome when building a mobile apps…basically you get to the 90% mark and think you are ready to publish, but then spend 90% of the time churning on the last 10%.  See a presentation on tips/tricks for reducing the churn… These two are really tied together.

Build it Beta is now public for Windows Phone app developers, but what is Build it Beta? Well it’s all about Windows Phone Application Testing. There are a number of existing mechanisms available to Windows Phone application developers but none of them offer the simplicity and ease of deployment as say TestFlight. Build it Beta fills that gap, providing a mechanism to allow any Windows Phone application to be deployed for testing to any Windows Phone 8 device*.

Build it Beta

Firstly, why the name?

Well it’s a bit of a play on words – we’re always looking to build better apps and of course during development we often release “beta” versions of the app. Hence the origin of “Build it Better Beta”.

Next, how does it work?

Windows Phone 8 included the ability to deploy applications within the enterprise without going through the Windows Phone Store. This is referred to as enterprise deployment and involves signing an application (ie the packaged application file .xap) with a signing certificate. The same certificate needs to be distributed to the devices that the application is to be tested on. Then the signed xap can be installed on the devices either via code or by distributing the application to the device via email or via a url link. Build it Beta uses this mechanism to deliver a testing tool which eliminates the complexity for both developers and testers.

Attend this session and learn how to get started! A simple set of setup instructions that will be reviewed and get you up and running in no time at all. Download Build it Beta from the Windows Phone Store.

http://betabuild.cloudapp.net/Images/QRCode.jpg

Once you’ve completed the setup, all you need to do is to start sending your .xap files to upload @ builditbeta.com.

Bio’s:

Nick Randolph – (@BTRoam) Microsoft MVP – Windows Phone Development

Nick currently runs Built to Roam which focuses on building rich mobile applications. Nick has been identified as a Microsoft MVP in recognition of his work and expertise with the Microsoft mobile platforms. He is still an active contributor in the device application development space via his blog at http://nicksnettravels.builttoroam.com and Visual Studio Magazine (http://visualstudiomagazine.com/Articles/List/Mobile-Corner.aspx). Nick has been invited to present at a variety of events including Tech Ed Australia & NZ, MEDC and Code camp. He has also authored multiple books with the latest being Professional Visual Studio 2010 and Professional Development for Windows Phone, and helped judge multiple world finals for the Imagine Cup. Since the release of Windows Phone Nick has worked on numerous Windows Phone applications and has helped hundreds of developers build their own Windows Phone applications. Nick has been involved with Windows Phone applications for well-known brands such as Domain.com.au, ninemsn, AFL, NRL, Qantas, JB Hi-Fi and NAB.

Kevin Wolf – (aka @ByteMaster) Microsoft MVP – Windows Phone Development

Kevin Wolf is an independent software consultant and a Microsoft MVP with the expertise in Windows Phone Development from Tampa, FL. Kevin’s primary focus is delivering software on mobile devices. Kevin is active in the development user community where he speaks at user groups and hosts hacker rooms at Florida code camps. Kevin also holds an annual developer conference in Key West called SMUG Dev that attracts alpha geeks and technology leaders from all over the United States. With a background in Electrical Engineering Kevin has been pulled in to the latest Quadcopter craze and has built a custom flight controller board that runs the .NET Microframeworks. Kevin brews his own beer where he monitors his fermentation and kegerator temperatures on his Windows Phone. When he is not busy working on his computer or doting on his wife, Kevin enjoys going for runs, smoking cigars and taking his boat out.

Kelvin McDaniel @azarc3

McDaniel is a Senior Developer at AgileThought. He graduated with an MBA from Florida A&M University in 2000 and has experienced a range of fields, including insurance and finance. He had a love for the various mobile flavors of Windows since the early CE days. He acquired his first Windows-based PDA (a Philips Nino) in 1998 while working in New York City. Connect with Kelvin McDaniel on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Time: 5:30-8:00PM

Location: AgileThought Office (Tampa)

2502 N Rocky Point Dr Ste 900
Tampa, FL 33607

registration TBD