That’s right.  You read the headline correctly.  The iPhone Developers Meetup is working with Microsoft in an effort to give our members the greatest opportunity to get their applications into the most marketplaces. We are partnering with Microsoft to give you the tools and resources you need to get your iOS applications into the Windows Store.

If you don’t have time to read the whole email now, remember this:

1. Access to software and hardware, including a Microsoft Surface device and Windows Phone device to test your applications on

2. Information on how to port iOS applications or start a new application from scratch

3. Access to the Microsoft development experts and the Twin Cities’ Microsoft Technology Center developer labs

This program is a partnership between the Twin Cities’ iPhone Developers Meetup and Microsoft to provide resources so our members can port or create applications for the Windows Store or the Windows Phone Store.  Between now and June 30^th, members will have access to the developer kit, Microsoft developer experts and programs, and the Microsoft Technology Center’s developer labs.

The developer kit contains a Microsoft Surface device, HTC 8x Windows Phone, Windows 8 Pro evaluation bits, and a USB drive with resources, install guides, etc. for running a Microsoft development environment on a Mac.  You can contact John Hibscher (john_hibscher at yahoo.com) to schedule use of the kit for up to five days at a time.  If our group can get 15 or more applications into the Windows Store by June 30th, we will be able to keep the kit and will raffle off the Microsoft Surface, the HTC 8x, and a copy of Windows 8 Pro to the members that get applications submitted and approved. 

The Microsoft Technology Center is one of the premier facilities for Microsoft development.  At the MTC, you will be able to schedule time in one of the Windows 8 developer labs where you can use PCs that are state-of-the-art for doing Windows development.  In addition, Microsoft development experts will be on hand to answer any of your questions while you are there.  The MTC developer labs are a great place to get an app started or push it that last mile to completion.

In addition to the resources that are in the kit, here are some additional links to help get you started.

- Windows 8 Resources for iOS developers - http://aka.ms/iOSTwinCities

- Port iOS Apps Video - http://aka.ms/videoTwinCities

- Windows 8 Developer Site – http://dev.windows.com

- Window Phone Developer Site – http://dev.windowsphone.com

- GenerationApp Site – http://aka.ms/30Days

- Games on Windows - http://aka.ms/gamesTwinCities

You can also contact our local Microsoft Developer representative, Adam Grocholski.   You can reach Adam via email (adgroc at microsoft.com), on Twitter (@codel8r) of find him around the Twin Cities when he is holding Office Hours (Adam's Office Hours)

With over 70M Windows 8 licenses in the marketplace, the Windows Store is growing rapidly but there are still opportunities to be a first mover.  The Windows Store is open to app builders in 120 markets and apps are sold in more than 200 markets.   The Store support paid, free and trial applications, in-app purchasing, advertising, and more.  Revenue sharing on applications is 70/30 for the first $25K, and then goes up to 80/20 once you have sold more than $25K.  You are also free to use your own advertising and/or in-app purchasing solution.  Some developers are already earning over $20K / month – you could be next!

Thanks and good luck coding!

When working with a Listview in Windows 8 applications using HTML and JavaScript, one of the challenges that is often faced is how to limit the number of items added to ListView control.  There are different reasons to limit the number of items, but the one I am going to focus is where you want to fill the vertical space of the ListView (using the ListLayout render function) with as many items as possible but without causing the ListView to scroll vertically.

This is a common ‘problem’ when building modern UI applications.  Because Windows 8 apps typically pan horizontally, the design guidelines state that you should not have vertically scrollable content.  Looking at the picture to the right, imagine that those “vertical” regions are displaying tweets from various users you are following.  You want to show as many tweets as possible for each user, but you do not want to show so many as to have the ListView enable scrolling.

So solve this problem, use the createFiltered function on the Binding List you are using to put data into the ListView.  For example, I may have setup my ListView of tweets like this in my HTML:

<div id="tweets" data-win-control="WinJS.UI.ListView" 
     data-win-options="{itemTemplate:select('#tweetTemplate'),
                        layout:{type:WinJS.UI.ListLayout},
                        selectionMode:'none',
                        swipeBehavior:'none'}">
</div>

In my page.js file, I need to do a few things.  First, I need to get the height of my ListView.  So after my page has loaded (typically in the ready handler for my Page control), I do this:

var tweetList = document.getElementById('tweets');
var listHeight = tweetList.clientHeight;

with that, I can now setup my Binding List like this:

function displayTweets (tweetArray, listHeight) {
     var count = 0;
     var list = new WinJS.Binding.List(newTweets).createFiltered(
           function (item) {
                 count += 90;
                  return (count < listHeight
           }
     );
     tweets.winControl.itemDataSource = list.dataSource;
}

Now you will always get the correct number of items displayed in your ListView regardless of the screen size.

Next up in the Local App Spotlight is Space Weatherby Timothy Stewart.  While I don’t have a particular need to know if it is going to be partly cloudy with a chance of showers in space, I have to say, the Space Weather app is pretty cool.  Just take a look at the screen shot and you can see that all kinds of cool info is being provided.

Space weather is the concept of changing environmental conditions in near-Earth space or the space from the Sun's atmosphere to the Earth's atmosphere. Space weather affects our planet, our technology, and all living things in many different ways. Solar flares, geomagnetic storms, and solar radiation are a few ways space weather can wreak havoc on the earth. It can also create beautiful auroras can that be seen near the poles and sometimes much further.

Space Weather for Windows 8 includes real-time readings and images from NASA, NOAA, SDO, and web cams from around the world!

Have you ever been wishing you could see up to four web sites at once while surfing on your Surface?  Well, Mike McAllister’s QuadBrowser app is your ticket to surfing nirvana.  QuadBrowser enables viewing and manipulating 4 web sites at once. Each of the 4 web view panels has its own address bar and view history.

• 4 web sites in one view
• Touch or mouse control of 4 web sites at once
• Save a start-up URL for each quadrant

The local Microsoft DPE team will be hanging out every Monday at the Microsoft Store at the Mall of America to answer any questions you may have about developing applications for Windows 8, Windows Phone, Microsoft Azure, or the rest of the Microsoft dev platform.  Feel free to swing by anytime between 1pm and 3pm each Monday (excluding Monday, Jan 28th) to talk tech.

In this installment of local Windows 8 apps, welook at the Sunrise Clock & Alarm developed the gang over at NerdNot.

This is a cool app that allows you to gently wake to beautiful sunrises by slowly increasing the display brightness and alarm volume.  Ditch the bedside alarm clock and go with a nice Surface device!  Better yet, it has a feature list that includes everything except a nice cup of coffee when you wake up.

Features

• NEW! Multiple alarm support.
• NEW! 24-Hour clock support.
• Set multiple one-time or recurring alarms.
• Select the alarm sound, volume, and whether to use the sunrise feature.
• Select the duration of the sunrise to wake you gently and the snooze length.
• Select the image to display and music to play during the sunrise.
• Set the clock size, brightness, color, and font.
• Night mode for sleeping and Lamp mode for reading.
• Live tile that displays next alarm day and time.
• Snapped view support.
• Toast notification if application is not running.
• Watch for more features to come…
• Notes:
• - W8 doesn’t allow apps to control the device brightness or sound, so be sure to check you system levels.
• - W8 does not allow apps to sound an alarm if the app is not running in the foreground. If the clock is not displayed you will receive a "Toast" message notifying you of your alarm.
• - Sunrise Clock & Alarm prevents your device from going to sleep so please plug it in

Let’s kick off the New Year with the latest installment of the Local Application Spotlight.  Today, we take a look at the Instafeed app developed by Justin Kehoe (@LLAMA on Twitter).

As usual, the app’s description does an excellent job of telling you why you should be interested in Instafeed.

InstaFeed lets you dive into the Instagram world with all your feeds at your finger tips. You can now interact with the Instagram community right from Windows. You can easily comment on photos and mark the ones you Like

Features

• View photos from the people you follow
• View all the photos you've liked
• Download Instagram photos
• Search for feeds from cities around the world (i.e. Paris, London, Beijing, Tokyo, New York, etc.)
• Discover popular photos
• Like, unlike and post comments on photos
• View your personal feed
• Search for images from the Instagram timeline tagged with a hashtag (i.e. #sunset)

Lately, I have been highlighting applications in the Windows 8 Store that have been created by local application developers.  Today, I am going to show you three apps from the prolific duo, the See Sharp Guys.

The See Sharp Guys have produced not one Windows 8 application, but three!!!  Simply outstanding work.  Let’s take a quick look at the three apps they have published (so far… I expect even more in the future!)

Slot Machine

If you like Pavlovian distractions, then Slot Machine is for you.  With multiple machines you can play, multiple themes that include differen graphics and sounds, along bonus features, it is certainly a great way to pass some time and preparing for you next trip to Las Vegas.  Practice makes perfect, right? Better yet, the See Sharp Guys are looking for input on what to add to the game.  Customer service at its finest!  

Alarm Clock

Their customizable clock works great on your nightstand.  Just start it up while charging your Surface overnight. :)  Customize it with your own sounds, four different clock faces, and you can select your own clock background.  It’s been in the top 15 apps in the free section of “Tools” so you know it is good stuff.   

Lottery Numbers

That’s right!  The See Sharp Guys have built an app that let’s you pick the winning lottery numbers!  Why didn’t I install this app a couple of weeks ago when the Powerball was enormous?  Ok, not really.  But this app does let you look up the winning lottery numbers from around the country, so no searching the intertubes to see if you can retire the next time you buy a lottery ticket.

You can get started today by building your own Windows 8 application at GenerationApp!

Many of  you know Adam Grocholski if you have spent any time in the local .NET dev community, especially if you have been doing Azure stuff. Not to be a one trick pony, but Adam has his very won Windows 8 application in the Windows Store – Radio Soma.

“Radio Soma is THE way to listen to your favorite stations from soma fm on Windows 8. Radio Soma provides access to all 24 live stations from soma fm. Stations are categorized into 10 different genres including alternative, ambient, electronica, and world, making it easy to find music to suit you mood. Have a favorite? If there are stations that you really groove to, add them to your favorites so they're easily accessible when the app starts. Want to share? If you're listening to a station you think your friends might want to groove to as well, share it and let them know about it.”

The app has an incredible 4.5 star rating!!! Congrats to Adam for getting an cool app into the Store.

You can get started today by building your own Windows 8 application at GenerationApp!

As you may or may not know, Microsoft has been running developer events, labs, and design sessions to help local developers get up to speed on Windows 8 development.  It is very exciting to see some of the great work that these developers have been doing.  Even more exciting is that their applications are now showing up in the Windows Store for over the millions of people that have installed Windows 8. Over the next couple weeks, I want to highlight some of the great applications that have been developed locally.  If you are running Windows 8, check out these apps and support your local dev community.  If you aren’t running Windows 8, WELL DO IT!  Then check out these apps.

First up, is Jukebox Hero.  From the app’s description.. “Do you have what it takes to be a Juke Box Hero? Can you name the artist quick enough to earn your badges and take your rightful place in music history? This game will challenge even the most seasoned music enthusiast by playing a music clip and providing a selection of artists to pick from... but pick fast, because every second counts(down your points that is). You will also get to discover music while playing this game and have opportunities to listen to clips and download DRM-free MP3s of the song or entire album.” With support for sharing accomplishments, finding music, and earning badges, this is a fun app if you are into music. 

Great job to the gang over at Bad Moon Dev!

You can get started today with building great Windows 8 apps by visiting GenerationApp!