Awesome Feature: See Your Estimated Data Usage in Windows 8

April 17, 2013 — 1 Comment

This is a fourth blog post of my Windows 8 Awesome Feature series.

Estimated Data Usage

You can see your Estimated Data Usage easily in Windows 8.

Here’s how you can enable this feature:

First press Win key + C on your keyboard to bring up the charms menu and then click on Settings.

Charms Menu

Now Click on your Network Connections.

Settings

This will bring up the list of Networks you are currently connected to.

List of Networks

If you “right click: on any wireless network you will be able to “Show Estimated Data Usage”.

Show Estimated Data Usage

Now you will be able to see how much data you have used for the current session. It also show how long you have been connected to the wireless network for:

Data Usage

In Windows 8, Windows 8 Awesome Features
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Install Windows Phone 7.8 SDK Offline

January 23, 2013 — 1 Comment

Windows Phone 7.8 SDK in now available to download. You will only find the Web Installers online. Offline Installers are not available to download like Windows Phone 7.5 and Windows Phone 8 SDKs.

But you can download the SDK for offline install easily like we did with Visual Studio 2012 Update 1.

You simply need to download the Web Installer.

Create a local copy of the web installer than open command prompt at that location and you can run the exe with /layout switch:

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This will launch the installer in download mode and you can download all of the packages.

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Choose your download location and than click DOWNLOAD.

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when the download completes you can install the Windows Phone 7.8 SDK Update offline.

Cheers!

In Windows Phone
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Awesome Feature: Power User Menu

January 22, 2013 — Leave a comment

This is a third blog post of my Windows 8 Awesome Feature series.

Windows 8 includes a new menu called the Power User Menu that allows you to quickly access the power user functions in Windows. This menu can be accessed from any screen. This menu included options such as Control Panel, Power Options, Elevated Command Prompt, Task Manager e.t.c.

To access the Power User new you have to hover over your mouse to the lower left corner of the screen as I shown you in the Screenshot below:

Power-User Menu

You can also press Windows Key + X from any screen to access this menu

In Windows 8, Windows 8 Awesome Features
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Microsoft Windows Live Messenger is going to Die [Updated]

January 10, 2013 — Leave a comment

Microsoft Windows Live Messenger Services are going to Expire on October 13th, 2013

It is now confirmed that Microsoft is retiring Windows Live Messenger Instant Messaging in the favor of Skype. Windows Live Messenger will live on in China, with no announced termination date for the service there. Microsoft has already started to motivate people to merge their Windows Live IDs with Skype so they can chat with their messenger on Skype. In a post on the skype blog, Tony Bates, Microsoft President of Skype Division said that Messenger would be retired for all users in the first quarter of 2013, with the only exception being mainland China.

Microsoft has started migrating WLM users to Skype with release of Skype 6.0 few weeks ago. In that addition users could keep to sign in to Skype with with their Microsoft Account.

Also, Brian Hall shares the same message about Messenger’s end on the final post of the Inside Windows Live blog. In it, he addressed Messenger’s 12-year history and users’ subsequent transition away from IM to SMS, as well as social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. “Skype,” says Hall, “became the best way to have video and voice calls (in addition to also letting you IM).” Hall also teases some forthcoming Outlook.com integration, saying, “we will enable Skype to work better with Outlook.com than Messenger ever has too.

 

UPDATE:

Microsoft is only terminating Windows Live Messenger Client for PC/MAC and the Windows Live IM will work on all 3rd party IM apps and with official Messaging app for Windows 8 and Windows Phone.

In General, Microsoft
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Windows Phone Store now allows users to install Apps manually from their Phone SD Card

December 1, 2012 — 1 Comment

Today Microsoft bring update to Windows Phone Store which allows users to download .xap file directly from Windows Phone Store and than install them manually from their Windows Phone SD Card.

via-WM-POWER-USER

Users simply need to download the .xap file from the Windows Phone Store and than they can easily install them via their SD cards.

image

The feature may be useful for keeping a number of apps on your card to be installed as needed, rather than cluttering up your app list, or for easily passing along apps to friends and family.

Note: Free apps can be used immediately, paid apps with trials will install as trials and paid apps without trials will need to be purchased first.

For more information visit WindowsPhone.com

Source WMPoweruser

In General, Windows Phone
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Awesome Feature: Start Page groups on Windows 8

November 16, 2012 — Leave a comment

This is a second blog-post of my Windows 8 Awesome Feature Series. You can read my previous post from here.

When you see Windows 8 Start Screen it consists of a simple base group standard applications, plus some desktop applications (if you upgraded) or Office Apps (If you are using Microsoft Surface RT),

Here’s how you can make groups of applications on your Start Screen:

On the Start Page, use Semantic Zoom to zoom out and get a higher-level view of your groups. If a touch screen or multi-touch pad, use a pinch gesture to invoke semantic zoom. If using a mouse or older style touch pad, move to the bottom right corner and click the "-" you see next to the scroll bar.

click-here-on-your-start-screen

What you’ll then see is the zoomed-out view of your start page. Note that semantic zoom works in many apps, like the People app and photos apps.

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Right-click to select a group (or pull-down if touch screen). You’ll see a checkmark appear on the selected group The app bar should automatically appear, but you can also pull it up by swiping up from the bottom or right-clicking on the page.

Screenshot-7

Click or tap the "name group" button on the bottom left. In this case, I’m going to name the group "Kids" because it’s a set of games and apps for when my kids sit with me in my office.

Screenshot-8

Repeat for each group you want to name (you don’t need to name all of them). Now you have named groups.

Screenshot-9

In Windows 8, Windows 8 Awesome Features
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Microsoft Reactive Extensions are now Open Source

November 7, 2012 — Leave a comment

Reactions Extensions (RX) are the set of libraries that makes asynchronous programming a lot easier, As a developer I use Reactive Extensions for my Composite Applications in the Cloud.

The Good News is Today Microsoft Open Technologies is Open Sourcing Reactive Extensions which means that now you can grab the Source Code, Make Changes and than Commit them on Github.

Happy Coding!

In Open Source
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Manage your Passwords easily with 1Password

October 26, 2012 — Leave a comment

I am playing with this Awesome Utility called “1Password” because I heard from my friends and fellows that 1Password is an excellent Utility to Save and Manage your Passwords.

1Password

This utility is available for Windows, Mac and Mobile Devices such as Android, iPhone, and iPads.

You have to pay $69.99 to get this awesome utility but first give it a try.

In Reviews
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What’s in your Laptop Bag?

September 9, 2012 — Leave a comment

The Computer

I travel with my Two Laptops because I don’t want any worst thing to be happen during the Presentation, One Laptop has always the latest backups of my Source Codes, Projects and Presentations.

I-know-that-This-Picture-is-Photoshopped

My main Computer is Sony VAIO VPCEH3AEG which is use for Presentations and   Software Development and second one is HP G61 which have all of the latest backups and in the case any bad thin happen to my laptop I always have secondary machine which I can boot for Presentation. Dear Reader! Always backup your precious stuff who knows when any disaster can happen with us.

The Bag

Mostly I use the default bag that came with my VAIO but for when I need to travel for presentations I need something big in which I can fit all of my required Geeky Stuff along with the laptop. So, I ended with Targus Drifter II Backpack. It is the bad that suits for all of my required needs.

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It has big pockets to store things like USB Flash Drive, External Hard Disks e.t.c.

Converters

Each of the computers also needs an HDMI converter.

Converters_thumb5

The Mouse

First, I carry a mouse with me.  There are some that will live and die by their track pads, but the moment I can use a mouse again, I’m happy.  I’ve traditionally been a trackball user, but trackballs aren’t generally small in size, and since I’m not using any of this equipment for 8-10 hours a day, a mouse is sufficient. I carry two mouse with me first is A4Tech G7-400N,

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and second mouse which I carry and my Favorite now a days is Microsoft Touch Mouse.

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Thumb Drive

I always travel with two Kingston 16 gb Flash drive although some files can be emailed, but those technologies does not match for a trusty flash drive on your side.

The Batteries

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I don’t go anywhere without six triple-A and six double-A batteries. I also make sure that I put fresh batteries into my mouse and laser pointer before I leave on a trip. You can buy batteries on any street corner; unless you need them, in which case there are none to be had.

USB Hub

I always carry a USB Hub with me because sometimes I need to connect 7-8 USB Peripheral Devices and they cannot be connected with a laptop they requires USB Hub.

Chargers and Power cords

Last thing is chargers and Power cords and make sure you carry everything you need for your presentation and while travelling.

In Reviews
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Lets start Windows 8 Development

September 9, 2012 — 2 Comments

So, I am digging in to Windows 8 Development since the last //BUILD Conference, Yup! That’s true I am hacking around Windows 8 story since the first Developer Preview version come out, Now I am running Windows 8 Pro (RTM) on my All machines because I am in love with it. Currently, I am porting my Matchem Poker game and Sound Recorder application for Windows Phone to Windows 8. I am using a smart program called “MonoGame”. It is a program which you can use to port your XNA Windows Phone Game to Windows 8 Metro.

I will post my full porting story to my Blog Soon.

Basics

Download Windows 8 RTM and Visual Studio 2012 – in this scenario, you will download an install Windows 8 on your machine (or a VM), and run it as your operating system.

30 To Launch – Your App.  Your Idea.  In 30 Days.  Microsoft has set up an amazing program for aspiring app developers to not only keep their app motivation going, but also to help you make your app awesome.  Design consultations, tech reviews, and expert help in Microsoft App Excellence Labs.

Resources to Learn From

Windows 8 Code Samples – a huge array of Windows 8 sample code for almost everything you can think to do in a Win8 app.  Most of the samples include code using C#, Javascript, C++, or Visual Basic.  You can also download the entire set here.

Windows 8 Dev Camp in a Box – a huge pile of presentations, sample code, and hands-on labs for you to use as you start learning about Windows 8 development.

 

Cool Stuff to Checkout

Windows 8 productivity: Who moved my cheese? Oh, there it is.

HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Metro App Building on Windows 8 Part 1

Getting Started with Windows 8 Development?

In Metro, Programming, Visual Studio, Windows 8
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