Developer Movement - Rewards are arriving?

It looks that the Canada only Developer Movement is for real and are finally doling out the rewards.  This program was start around last Christmas solely targeting Canadian developers

Just received an email yesterday alerting that my app publication from a month ago qualifies me for the first reward choice which is one of:

• A Kinect^™ Sensor for Xbox 360^®
• 10,000 Microsoft Points
• Monster^® Beats^™Headphones
• A 1TB External HD

The current one I am working on should qualify myself for additional goodies upon marketplace publication (haven't even really started yet) is one of:

• A Windows^® Phone 7
• A $500 Gift Voucher
• 35,000 Microsoft Points
• An Xbox 360^® with
  Kinect Bundle

As I have said before, these rewards look pretty good.  The Windows Phone 7 device is interesting as there are no mentioned of what it actually is (just that it is around $499 retail value).  What could it possibly be? (I am only speculating but if one of you WP7 developers out there knows what is it, please share)

There's still time to sign up if you haven't already, Canada only for once :)

This runs until May 20, 2012 (guess it means you must have your app published in the marketplace before then)

what's your choice of reward?  

Development Movement (again, Canadian developers only)

Trouble with WP7 Marketplace

One of the readers Mike, brought this to my attention.  It seems like around March 18/19, he is experiencing some problems with installing new apps and updating existing apps.  I tried it on my HTC Surround (same phone he's got) and I am experiencing the same problems

Any of you Samsung Focus users or LG users are seeing this problem?  Since the HTC Surround is still running on build 7004 (no Nodo, no Pre-Nodo), we are not sure if this problem is caused by the lack of Nodo/Pre-Nodo updates.

I am also having problems synchronization my hotmail that is linked to my WP7.  I am going to speculate that this might have something to do with it as all our WP7 info is kept in the "Cloud".  I'll keep searching for a solution to this (I have tried different things already - not factory reset - I'd advise against this actually) and wait it out.

If you ran into this problem and have a solution to this, please post it in the comments section.

Thanks Mike for bringing this to my attention!  I thought it was just me.


Update March 20 AM: Things seems to be working again.  For those of you who are confused about "stuck" installation (i.e. attention require message on your app download screen) you do not have to delete your original app and reinstall again.  Just tab the item and hold for the retry menu.  Keep on apping!

First 2.5 Months with the HTC Surround

Running late on this 2 months review but I wanted to do one before the NoDo update comes out next month.  I am going to go over things like call quality, build quality, and of course me living with a HTC Surround everyday for the last 2.5 months.  As some of you know, I am a previous iPhone 3G user.  I am not turning this into a comparo test since there is no point in comparing a 428Mhz device to a 1Ghz device and different people have different needs and wants (i.e. some people likes to be drones, some people like android because they can never get OS upgrades etc).

Before I start, I think it is important for me to establish what type of user I am and which network I am on.  As I have posted before, I am using an off contract HTC Surround (unlocked it myself using an eBay code.  Read this if you want to unlock your WP7 device).  Here is my usage profile:

• Fido (or Fogers) network in the GVRD area
• 6GB of data - so I am constantly using 3G (using about 1GB a month - similar to when I had my iPhone)
• Phone calls (hey, that's why it's a phone! - around 300 mins/month)
• SMS, Email, Surfing the interwebs
• Watches a lot of videos (tv shows, animes, etc) - at least 2 hours a day on the device
• Occassionally a game (Normally i am a big gamer but I just can't play those button hitting games on these damn touch screen phones since there are no physical buttons)
• Plays Spell It! everyday (10+ games simultaneously)
• Not using any phone protective cases.  I have a belt pouch where I put my phone.
• Have a InvisibleShield just on the screen.  No shielding on the back or the side of the phone

Finally, A Proper Sports Scores App for WP7

Sports fans rejoice!  There is finally a good (fast) sports scores app for us WP7 users.  It is the newly released Pro Sports Scores app in the marketplace.

Currently it grabs sports scores from 4 major North American sports - MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL (important for us Canadians).

It's lightning fast, click on the scores will give you the in game stat (no play-by-play yet).. It's FREE but it is ad supported - so remember to click on some apps to show your support.  linky here (opens zune).  If the link gives you trouble like it did for me, just go to the marketplace and search for "Pro Sports Scores".

Just submitted my first app for certification...

Just finished submitting my first app to the marketplace. Going to see how long it takes before it is "unleashed". Very simple. The app submission process is surprisingly simply but you gotta resize a bunch of JPEG/PNG files.

For the first time I find my Mac very useful as the building applications can resize JPEGs very simple (besides my photo processing work in Lightroom).

Instead of a free app, I did a trial mode for my app so that...

The WP7 Marketplace is growing! *Update*

Been checking for new WP7 everyday since I got my phone 3 weeks ago. At first most are published by Microsoft Game Studios. Everyday, maybe 10 or so new apps (yes, including those bloody fart apps) are getting released on WP7M.

I just checked again this morning and I noticed popular games from the Apple App Stores are making their move. First up is Fruit Ninja (surprisely published by MGS - guess Microsoft do somehow have to pay some developers to make the more popular games for their platform) for a ok price of Cdn $3.49 (likely USD 2.99). The other popular title that made their move is Pocket God from ngcomo :) also for the price for Cdn$3.49. Both games are Xbox Live integrated and both can be tried.

The difference of purchase price is something...