Paneque's Technology Blog

Just recently updated a couple of apps. Loan Calculator Reversi (both Free and Full editions) Loan Calculator First the small "Loan Calculator" app, got a small update. The UI was simplified and some small glitches were addressed. Is hard to improve an app that is already quite useful yet simple. However new versions will improve it even more and not just cosmetic changes. Reversi Reversi got an "almost major" update, with an improved UI (at least over the previous one) and also a new feature that allows the user to see the possibles moves (hints), which of course, you can turn on/off. Hints are available and optional In addition to these improvements in the user interface, the internals were also improved a lot, the new game is quite faster than the previous versions and also plays better. Fixing an issue introduced with version 1.2 when the AI was... not so smart. For next versions... Sounds Statistics board All levels available ...

Popular wisdom says "things happen for a reason". However experience has proved me that when it comes to programmers, that is not always true. Things can just happen for no reason at all. That's why we require feedback, here is one and I assure you is in good spirit. So let's me write about something I found when building an app for iOS using Xamarin/Mono. The invisible property. Ranging from windows forms (desktop or Windows Mobile) to WPF, Silverlight/XAML on the web or windows phone. ASP.NET Web Forms or Razor, MVC or classic. One thing I can say for sure: any visual element  has a way to check for its visual status. Call it "Visible" in windows forms, "Visibility" in Silverlight/WPF. There is always an intuitive, simple and trivial way to know if something - that might be visible - it is visible at a particular moment or not. You can't imagine my surprise when I realized that the UIViewController in iOS does not provide such mecha...

DISCLAIMER: This is not about iPhone vs WP7 devices; its about development tools. If you think you can enter into a device fight here, or you like to listen to Justin Bieber, you should leave the page now. I like programming, and that's it. Well...no. I LOVE programming. No matter the platform, OS, framework or  language; I find that programming is a rewarding experience. Of course as with anything in life, you want that experience to be as smooth as possible. And that's why I am so picky with development tools... They are supposed to make my work easier. And this entry is about that, comparing the development tools used to create apps for iOS (iPhone) and Windows Phone. Recently I had the opportunity to develop the same mobile app for two platforms: Windows Phone and iOS. While I have developed for these platforms before, I rarely have coded the same app (and a complex one) for the two of them. And this is a good chance to perform a comparison, beca...

Crazy cars, the new game Recently added a new game to my list of apps for Microsoft Windows Phone, a game, and is called "Crazy cars" can be downloaded  here . The game have been download thousands of times and very short time! Check out the new UI created in Silverlight. Hidden Pics The app for hiding photos on you phone also get a new UI, more styled design and several bug fixes. Check out the new look. New updates are coming for this app, including encrypted photo sharing, fake passwords, bogus tiles and more.

App is the new black, everyone talks about downloading, buying or selling apps, advertising about them is everywhere. The phone manufacturers have marketplaces and stores where phone users can get get those "apps". We all know the term app is short from application. If this term was coined because was easier or because of a marketing strategy I don't know. But it is catchy, and so we will use it. But to be exact on term, int this case it means "mobile application". Otherwise any program would be an app right? But exactly what is an "app",  really ?  Third-party programs running on mobile is not something new at all, for  more than 10 years we had Java Midlets for almost any kind of cell phone, and I myself programmed for years for the Pocket PC and Windows Mobile, using either eVC, eVB, and later any .NET language like C# or VB.NET by using the .NET Compact Framework (.NET CF). And all those were actually apps . So, if is not new, why the boom...