[Q] Booking system app for Windows Mobile - Windows Mobile Software Development

Hey guys
I'm an entrepreneur from Brisbane, Australia. I'm looking into introducing a new product and am wondering if you guys would be able to help me clarify a few questions. I have to add I have no idea what so ever about programming languages or whats possible or not. I just going to post my vision of the application I will need and hope some of you guys can tell me what of that will be possible, what not and how much effort / money it would take to realise.
Firstly of all and most importantly I need the the Phone application to work with several other systems which would be at the moment : - Iphone, Facebook, Windows Mobile, Blackberry Android, a Website interface, Windows Vista / 7 and Mac OS. I need this to work in two ways. One for the user to sync their data on different apps and secondly for the admin to receive and send data from the main system (that would be working on Windows or Mac)
On first interface the user would have to log in with a username and password, high security would be welcome, after the log in the general interface should be offering the user a booking request form with the ability to use a saved lists of items which have been previously use / prepared but also a interface for add one or editing
It also should offer a open bookings lists and the ability to edit this lists. This should also be able to be synced to the other systems. A third interface showing a history and updates should be also available.
If possible it should offer different accounts and groups where admins can edit the bookings of other users. If this is possible it also should offer a control for the admins which shows bookings and history of other group users.
I would like this obviously to be a professional looking app which offers a good service and is secure and bug free. If anyone has an idea if this is realisable or what parts of it would be difficult or have to be changed please do me the favour and comment.
Thank you for your help in advance.
JPM

Related

Is there small unofficial API (or SDK) for PPC2002 ?

Hello there,
as you know, MS PPC SDK is too big for dial up user like me
So, I'm looking for small unofficial API so I can download it and develop for it
I don't need a big API, jus API lets me add textbox and button
If there is no such API like this, please I need some developer to develop small application. I'll tell him details (Its sooo small app)
Regards
For simple apps, it's quite easy to knock them up in HTML and javascript. Also the PPC platform contains an ASP web server, for more complex apps that need file access etc. It also means that you can build/tweak them on the go directly on the device.
Wow, thats would be great to develop in ASP,HTML and Javascript. especilally in ASP which has good functionality
but this would be in IE, or it will be ran as independent program ?
Pardon my english
Yeah, unfortunately it'd all run under pocket internet explorer.
There's a plethoa of other freebie/cheap languages out there
PocketC; NSBasic; CEBasic; PocketPCPython; Waba; PocketScheme; J; etc; but at the end of the day it's worth getting the MS dev tools as they're what everybody uses.
Don't MS offer a CD of it for a nominal charge .. aha eVT3 $7.85 from https://microsoft.order-5.com/trial...oper+Tools&product_id=X09-17298&cookie_test=1
What exactly is it you're trying to build and on what platform?
Thanks very much for the link
I'll buy it now, its really cheap
I want to develop a program for PPC2002 PE, Windows2003Mobile to handle SMS better than inbox program
I found good program for developing palm os,symbian and ppc applications using VB6. the program is MobileVB and it is not too big to download
Regards
Handling SMS - a word of caution, the XDAI doesn't have a decent way of handling SMS receiving - you either need to pick it up from the inbox, or replace the entire existing SMS handing application with your own app - and that's a lot of code - not just messages, but also receipts, QOS, WAP push etc.
MobileVB is quite nice, but it's rather expensive for the casual developer.
Hello there
Thanks for answering
I bought eVT and waiting for it
I tried MobileVB but it doesn't worth that money so I didn't buy it
Actually , my idea was to get the messages from sms inbox and show it to be compaitable with nokia screen in addition to to view MMS better and Biz Cards correctly
If you have any helpfull informations I'll be glad to hear from you
Regards

[Q] Windows phone 7 - Can you use it as a lock down device.

I'm trying to find out how to lock down a WM7 so that It Is only able to use its basic functions phone, camera, gps but blocks access to the to certain sites and the downloading of certain apps (i.e. games).
Would I be looking at a creating Custom Rom or is there another way to control what the phone can have access to.
Any Ideas or help would be appreciated.
K
at present there is no capability to perform this.
Well, who do you want to lock it down for?
You won't be able to download apps without a Live ID, so if your kids don't have it, they'll have pretty locked down devices.
kaisersolo said:
I'm trying to find out how to lock down a WM7 so that It Is only able to use its basic functions phone, camera, gps but blocks access to the to certain sites and the downloading of certain apps (i.e. games).
Would I be looking at a creating Custom Rom or is there another way to control what the phone can have access to.
Any Ideas or help would be appreciated.
K
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it is not possible at the moment.
Desktop Windows has only had effective parental controls since Vista (2007). (There were relatively ineffective third party ones before.) Windows CE 6 (2006) only supports basic controls: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee499001.aspx. And WP7 is built on CE6. Although WP7 is heavily controlled by its own mechanisms, so it could be added.
Management of controls was connected to Windows Live with Windows 7. This system could be added to phones, but it's all fairly new and there are other things to do first.
Thanks for the response guys
From what has been said it seems that this not really possible.
We are currently looking at what devices we need to acquire, and we need devices that can be locked down (Don't ask me why - management decision, probably related to data usage costs) so that user can only use it for work related tasks.
So OUT go things like gaming and social networking,
And IN are normal phone tasks's calling, texting, email, camera and the ability to sync to the cloud aslo, gps navigation.
We are looking at the WP7 phones because of Sharepoint as we have a lot of development planned that way and would like the ability to access that information remotely via a device.
Does anyone know of another way to achieve this or do I have to delve deeper Into the inner workings Wp7. Or failing that look at at different hardware/software.
Regards
K
MS should eventually update WP7 to be compatible with all the Exchange Activesync security policies which will give you the capability to achieve what you want. Additionally they have said they will add features so that enterprises will have the ability to lock down devices as they choose so if you are using Exchange already you may want to wait and see what MS produces. And you could always contact MS and see if they will let your company know what is coming down the road so you can decide whether to wait or not.
efjay said:
MS should eventually update WP7 to be compatible with all the Exchange Activesync security policies which will give you the capability to achieve what you want. Additionally they have said they will add features so that enterprises will have the ability to lock down devices as they choose so if you are using Exchange already you may want to wait and see what MS produces. And you could always contact MS and see if they will let your company know what is coming down the road so you can decide whether to wait or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
efjay Or anyone - Where at MS should I enquire about this, is there a email address for these type of enquires.
kaisersolo said:
efjay Or anyone - Where at MS should I enquire about this, is there a email address for these type of enquires.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to lockdown marketplace (disable totally) you simply have to mod "LKG_Tuner_Config.xml"
and there would def be a reg mod to disable facebook
maybe this (I am looking for more
Code:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Facebook\{A27A1782-535E-8F2D-9B81-4B6BA08FC179}]
"AccountState"=dword:3
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Facebook\[email protected]\Auth]
"State"=dword:[B][U]1[/U][/B]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\GameFoundation]
"XboxLiveEnabledFlags"=dword:3
after you did that you can relock the phone and off you go
ceesheim said:
to lockdown marketplace (disable totally) you simply have to mod "LKG_Tuner_Config.xml"
and there would def be a reg mod to disable facebook
maybe this (I am looking for more
Code:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Facebook\{A27A1782-535E-8F2D-9B81-4B6BA08FC179}]
"AccountState"=dword:3
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Facebook\[email protected]\Auth]
"State"=dword:[B][U]1[/U][/B]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\GameFoundation]
"XboxLiveEnabledFlags"=dword:3
after you did that you can relock the phone and off you go
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry I'm New to this
To change the registry would you have to unlock the Phone?
Can you confirm that You can unlock and lock a WP7 Phone?
What are the implication of doing this ?

Windows Phone 7 SkyCat App

Hi,
I am the developer behind Windows Phone 7's Mockingbird IM application. I have gotten reviews from it, however, I am not currently working on upgrading Mockingbird IM yet.
Instead, I would like to announce a new application being developed by me. As stated in the description of Mockingbird IM, SkyCat will be coming to the marketplace soon.
However, I am in a little dilemma. I really don't know what features you guys liked or disliked on Mockingbird IM, I have given a whole new interface (without themes) to SkyCat. As one of the reviewers stated that the UI was clunky.
SkyCat will be replacing Mockingbird IM as a better IM client and will support multiple IM protocols (AIM, IRC, etc...)
I would love to see some feedback on the application if anyone wants to leave me some, detailed feedback would be nice so SkyCat will be in near perfection by the time it comes out on 10/11/11.
Thank you for reading my post.
Update:
Source has been opened and is available at http://groovyim.codeplex.com
THank you.
Update 2:
The application is now available on Microsoft's App Store, and is fully supported, you can buy it now for a limited time only at $0.99, it will go back to $4.99 on January 15th.
The version available on Codeplex is no longer updated or supported by us, and we do not recommend using it. Please find the latest version on the Microsoft App Store, and if you see any problems with it, please let us know and we will work on fixing it as soon as possible.
UPDATE:
APPLICATION CURRENTLY DISCONTINUED ON WINDOWS PHONE 7; FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY USERS WHO BOUGHT THIS APPLICATION ON WINDOWS PHONE 7 ARE ABLE TO GET IT FOR FREE ON iOS AND / OR ANDROID FOR FREE. PLEASE PROVIDE US PROOF OF PURCHASE, THANKS. PROMOTION ENDS 04/06/12.
Thank you.
Hi,
i just drop in here on my way to somewhere else... not a user of ur prog but very interested in the multi-messenger thing.
on android there is Trillian, which is also available on a select few other OS. I love trillian and the whole concept of it but it doesn't look like them gonna go for WP7.
Now, is your SkyCat supposed to be something like that? Because then i would most defo be interested in using it and would also be willing to test for you (on my wifes Telephone tho hehehe).
Sneakyghost said:
Hi,
i just drop in here on my way to somewhere else... not a user of ur prog but very interested in the multi-messenger thing.
on android there is Trillian, which is also available on a select few other OS. I love trillian and the whole concept of it but it doesn't look like them gonna go for WP7.
Now, is your SkyCat supposed to be something like that? Because then i would most defo be interested in using it and would also be willing to test for you (on my wifes Telephone tho hehehe).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Thanks for your interest.
I currently only develop for Windows Phone 7, as it is a great operating system. I believe everyone should be switching to Windows Phone 7, but to get that to happen, more programs need to be made available, which is the point of "SkyCat" (Officially named Groovy IM).
I see that the only multi-messenger application currently available for Windows Phone 7 is IM+ and that lacks many features consumers are wanting which is why Groovy IM is going to bring those features into one application for Windows Phone 7 and hopefully be better than our competitors over at IM+.
As trillian's userinterface matches that of Android's, mine will be matching Windows Phone 7. I do have some screenshots to upload today. As some people may be wondering what it will look like, however, be aware, this application is far from finished and I am only taking suggestions (not beta testers) currently for the application.
You can offer suggestions for Groovy IM over this forum (XDA-Developers.com) as I currently do not have a website devoted to Groovy IM.
Please note that only certain features can be shown as of this time and it may not be the final outlook of the program as it can change through out time.
Please see attached images for current design of application...
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
"Settings" About Section.
Main Page Contains: Chats, Profile, Contacts.
Thank you.
Will it be based on Libpurple or something similar, or use a web proxy to cover the different protocols?
Sent from my OMNIA7 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
at45 said:
Will it be based on Libpurple or something similar, or use a web proxy to cover the different protocols?
Sent from my OMNIA7 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Thanks for your interest in Groovy IM.
The protocols will not use Pidgin's source, however, some of the features included will come from Pidgin.
The supported protocols (as of this time) will be...
AIM / AOL / ICQ / iChat
Facebook
Google Talk
Groovy
IRC
MSN / Window Live
UnfairNET
XMPP / Jabber
Yahoo
We may add or remove some of the above protocols based on suggestions / requests received here.
You will not be forced to sign in with Groovy, however, you can chose to create an account and sign in on your own.
We expect a beta release (for anyone who is interested) to be released around 10/15/11, give or take a few days.
For those who wish to test the program, you may send us a PM and on the beta-release date we will upload our program as a private program to Microsoft's marketplace and release a link to where you can get it from the marketplace.
Thank you for your concern in helping Groovy IM become better.
Hello,
i am unsure if you got my point.
i am currently very busy getting into WP7, which i believe to be a very good OS. I am feeling a big lack of Multi-IM there tho...
Trillian is what i love(d) on pc and Android. Them just seem not to be very keen on getting onto WP7 themselves. So someone else needs do that job.
Obviously you try to.
You requested suggestions. I will try:
Keep facebook simple. Its basically already integrated into wp7, only lacking an interface that shows online buddies. so that'd be the only thing i'd wish for with facebook.
Try to have contacts all in one list no matter what service, but include means of sorting them by e.g service or state or name or both or all.
have a live tile that shows infos like join/part, online/offline msg etc.
make it run in background without dehydrating to keep it active (like whatsapp doesn't yet do - it delays msg when brought to halt).
have a very clear history regulation like have everything logged, have nothing logged, have a cloud-based log (use google cloud for example), have certain services logged, have only certain persons logged etc. Follow principle of: "User Privacy by default" - very, very important these days!
am sure there's more but cant currently think of more. I am rather simplicity- oriented. thats why i love wp7. its very minimal. keep the prog the same way. that'd be cool.
Sneakyghost said:
Hello,
i am unsure if you got my point.
i am currently very busy getting into WP7, which i believe to be a very good OS. I am feeling a big lack of Multi-IM there tho...
Trillian is what i love(d) on pc and Android. Them just seem not to be very keen on getting onto WP7 themselves. So someone else needs do that job.
Obviously you try to.
You requested suggestions. I will try:
Keep facebook simple. Its basically already integrated into wp7, only lacking an interface that shows online buddies. so that'd be the only thing i'd wish for with facebook.
Try to have contacts all in one list no matter what service, but include means of sorting them by e.g service or state or name or both or all.
have a live tile that shows infos like join/part, online/offline msg etc.
make it run in background without dehydrating to keep it active (like whatsapp doesn't yet do - it delays msg when brought to halt).
have a very clear history regulation like have everything logged, have nothing logged, have a cloud-based log (use google cloud for example), have certain services logged, have only certain persons logged etc. Follow principle of: "User Privacy by default" - very, very important these days!
am sure there's more but cant currently think of more. I am rather simplicity- oriented. thats why i love wp7. its very minimal. keep the prog the same way. that'd be cool.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Thank you for your concern with Groovy IM.
I agree Windows Phone 7 is a great operating system, however, lacks many features of matured operating systems, including but not limited to Multi-IM clients, better multi-tasking support.
I also believe that applications should stay simple - easy to use, get in, out and information from at the same time.
Facebook Chat will be integrated with a great contacts list supporting it.
I believe sorting by service, name, groups, and status are also great features, and as such, they are being integrated into Groovy IM.
Due to Windows Phone 7 not having true multi-tasking support applications cannot constantly run 24/7 as they can on Android or iOS. You must keep them open to constantly run otherwise Groovy IM will exit Chat Rooms, and log in at a set timeframe checking for offline IM's.
Groovy IM already has support for logging the things you chose and it will give you options to save the logs on your phone or through a cloud service.
Thank you for your interest.
Hi !
Would it be possible to support Skype as well ?
And, it is probably impossible, but could you find a way to keep the Wifi ON, while the phone is in standby ? so the application could keep synchronising even if the phone is in standby mode ?
Thanks
FBK said:
Hi !
Would it be possible to support Skype as well ?
And, it is probably impossible, but could you find a way to keep the Wifi ON, while the phone is in standby ? so the application could keep synchronising even if the phone is in standby mode ?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Yes it would be possible to support Skype, Skype is planned to be added in a later release (Version 1.2).
The beta release (1.0) will not support Skype, and should be coming soon to those who wish to beta test.
I do not understand what you mean by "standby" mode on the phone. Do you mean when the user / application goes idle and the lock screen comes up? If so, yes, there is a way and a option you can turn on that will keep the application constantly running as long as it is opened and infront of the other apps.
Thanks.
Hi,
I am editing this post because I would like to share some pictures of Groovy IM once again with you all.
I hope these pictures don't make you too anxious for Groovy IM. Please continue suggesting ideas you would like to see in Groovy IM.
Anyway...
This picture is from the Groovy service.
The above image shows how Groovy IM's group chat looks on the Groovy service.
You will be able to change the color on your username of DarkRed to other colors such as DarkBlue, DarkGreen, etc...
Your friends color is based on the phones set theme color.
Thanks.
Kuzcoed,
sounds beautiful. What about the new Mango Multitasking? As i understand, there is a way to keep apps open and alive in the background if the dehydrate-key in the registry is modified to not dehydrate background apps. i understood, this means that the app is kept in working state and does not drain its contents from memory. am i correct?
Thank you for your work.
Yes, it is what i was meaning by "standby". Because, when the lock screen come up, the wifi is automatically switch off (at least on my phone, but i think it is because of wp7 no ?) and so i can't know if i get new messages.
And i agree with Sneakyghost, i think you should keep it simple.To me,it is important that kind of application to start quickly, as i am often switching between many applications.
Sneakyghost said:
Kuzcoed,
sounds beautiful. What about the new Mango Multitasking? As i understand, there is a way to keep apps open and alive in the background if the dehydrate-key in the registry is modified to not dehydrate background apps. i understood, this means that the app is kept in working state and does not drain its contents from memory. am i correct?
Thank you for your work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your interest in Groovy IM.
As of this time, there is no official support from Microsoft for full background multitasking, and I do not believe Microsoft will be integrating full background multitasking anytime soon.
As far as dehydration of your phone, I do not recommend it, and I do not believe Microsoft endorses the "hack" either.
I cannot comment on dehydation, as I have little to no information on it.
Thanks.
FBK said:
Yes, it is what i was meaning by "standby". Because, when the lock screen come up, the wifi is automatically switch off (at least on my phone, but i think it is because of wp7 no ?) and so i can't know if i get new messages.
And i agree with Sneakyghost, i think you should keep it simple.To me,it is important that kind of application to start quickly, as i am often switching between many applications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I have not experienced that problem on my test HTC HD7. I cannot comment on your mobile phone as it may have the settings different than mine. If you wish to know more about "standby" mode please contact Microsoft. My application has a option to keep it from going idle however. When it gets sent back to the background it will open a notification thread which checks for IMs often.
Yes, I understand your concern and will try my best to keep the application launching quickly, however, have it have the features you and others want.
Thanks.
Hi,
We are pleased to let you all know Groovy IM is still going smoothly. We are curious to what the users think about one of the ideas our developers want to integrate.
The feature will keep your accounts constantly connected by having you register an account with the Groovy "WP7" service.
The Groovy WP7 service will require you to login to the Groovy WP7 in order to add accounts, connect with your accounts, and constantly keep them logged in and receiving IMs / Chat Messages.
The Groovy WP7 service will be a secured service that will require you to enter your pin number for any modifcations on your account.
Let us know if you will feel safe using this application if we integrate the Groovy "WP7" service, which will store all your accounts, account information, account messages, and more, on our servers.
Thanks.
Well, trillian also did that with their Astra service about a year or two ago. The user concern was very large but finally overcome. Many people are using this cloud based service now to store and retrieve sensitive account data and log files. they had the advantage of a long build reputation of a trustworthy software company. You do not have that yet.you will need to earn that trust with good software. You might want to wait for a later date with this feature. I for sure will not put login-information into any server-structure if I have no proof of its security.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using Tapatalk
Sneakyghost said:
Well, trillian also did that with their Astra service about a year or two ago. The user concern was very large but finally overcome. Many people are using this cloud based service now to store and retrieve sensitive account data and log files. they had the advantage of a long build reputation of a trustworthy software company. You do not have that yet.you will need to earn that trust with good software. You might want to wait for a later date with this feature. I for sure will not put login-information into any server-structure if I have no proof of its security.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Thank you for your interest in Groovy IM.
Yes, I believe we will wait on this feature until more users feel safe about using Groovy IM, or Microsoft allows the application to run even in the background.
Thanks.
We have a new update for everyone here...we would like to show our Aliases now on our buddylist. Please be aware this is not the final version. We have a feature turned on to put all users online under a group named "Online Users" as you can tell.
Please let us know what you guys think.
Thanks.
Hi,
We are pleased to announce another screenshot on Groovy IM.
We are also pleased to announce that the developers behind Groovy IM are stating the application should start being messaged to PMs within the next 6 - 10 days.
Thanks.
Cool. Looking forward!
Are the app colors following the system colors or will we have to live with that red?
sent from my CoreDroid HD 2 using TapaTalk
Sneakyghost said:
Cool. Looking forward!
Are the app colors following the system colors or will we have to live with that red?
sent from my CoreDroid HD 2 using TapaTalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
The background is based on your phone settings (e.g. Light OR Dark).
The background border colors for groups are based on your select Accent Color on your phone (e.g. Blue).
Thanks for your interest.
Hi,
We would like to update you all on the current status of Groovy IM. We have not given up on the project, we are adding more protocols than originally expected for the beta version. We hope you will not mind.
Thanks.
Hi, your idea is very interesting!
I'd like to suggest you a feature, i.e. "virtual contacts". Let's suppose I have various contacts of a friend, being of various or even the same protocol (MSN, private Skype contact, work Skype contact and so on).
It would be beautiful to me to be able to group all this contacts in a single virtual contact, built as an ordered list of each contacts. Communication will happen with the first available protocol "behind the scene".
what do you think about?

[SDK] Promocodes for your app

Hello!
I'm software developer from Russia, and made one very popular app in local market. Very soon I realized that I need an ability to give licensed version of app for my friends or reviewers or someone else.
Unfortunately AppHub doesn't provide such functionality(private distribution is pain in ass), so I created a webservice for myself.
After two days I realized that it may be useful for other developers, so here it is:
promo.g33k.ru (here I wanted to post url, but I can't due to low post count. You may find it in my profile->interests)
Now it has:
- JSON/SDK with RSA1024/SHA1 sign for additional security checks
- Binary SDK available
- Russian localization(if anyone cares ) (btw, if you can help translating to other language(s) or correct english misspellings - i will appreciate this).
Now this service works in beta mode.
So for developers I have two questions:
1) Is such service useful for you?
2) How to develop it further, in which way?
Not yet clear
I am sorry, but after reading your post and also checking your website I am still not sure what you offer. For me there is just not enough information to understand and then judge the usefulness of your service.
Maybe you could give a step-by-step scenario: Dev does this, then interested user does that, dev then this ...
Ok, I'll try to describe a little more details:
1) Developer wants to add capability of promo codes in his app(to give some specific users full licensed app).
The first problem is that developer need his own server for checking of promo code validity(hardcoding is not an option, of course).
2) So, Developer registers in my service, add his app's guid to his app list and create a promo code for specific app via web.
3) Developer adds support for promo codes in his app by:
a) adding an text box for user to enter promode
b) adding a web request to specific URL for promocode activation
c) adding to his license check web request for checking is current user activated a promo code.
Benefits for developer:
- Add support for promo codes without owning a server.
- Simple way to give full version of program to friends
Benefits for users:
- User may found promo code for specific app somewhere and use it to get full version of app in simple manner.
Benefits for reviewers/portals:
- Developers can easily give promo code for reviewing purpose or as giveaway for news post.
Clear now
Thanks for the additional info, now it's clear
Well yes, sounds useful. Properly implemented is probably really easier than Microsoft's "closed beta" mechanism, and of course can be used for other, non-beta apps as well.
The icing on the cake would be a "frame application" as sample code that basically does nothing more than asking for a promo code and then check against the list of valid codes on your server.
Sounds intresting but how do you ensure security?
chabun, I thought about security and situation is same as with default checking for trial - there is no security Man-in-the-Middle and direct cracking of xap will work, and there is no way out. I could use RSA signing for MitM, but still cracking of xap is very easy option today, so no one really interested will try to use MitM. When WP8 SDK will be out(I believe it will be in several weeks) - some developers may implement trial checks in native code - this will be much harder to crack.
As for server part there are following possible problems
- App's ID squatting(same as domain, someone else could reserve developer's app's guid). Don't know yet what to do with this, may be think about it later when this happens?
- Promocode's for App ID bruteforce - could be easily avoided via server throttling, if this ever happens - i'll add such checks
- Server DDoS - every webmaster's nightmare, I hope this never happens(or my Amazon AWS will pour my purse empty
rbrunner7, nice idea, I'll add a sample app as soon as possible on site.
This looks like an interesting concept
Sent from my SGH-i917 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Yop, you can never avoid direct cracking... However, RSA signing would be good I'd say as it will avoid MitM - with MitM you could create simple tools which can be used by every noob outhere. Cracking xaps requires some skill and it will need an unlocked WP7 as well.
I can see this working i have been thinking about something similar also. You can encrypt the data on device before sending it off to the cloud, you can than verify the encrypted data with a password and compare it to the codes registered on the server. Than link a code to a certain device id (once the code becomes 'registered') if a certain code is already coupled to a deice id and the device is not the same than the app will jump back into trial mode. Otherwise one can use the paid mode.
This can defenetly work and will prevent reselling th codes. Although it requires a server. And users can still hack/patch the app ofcourse but that will require an unlocked device so I should not worry to much about it.
Also to prevent spoofing you can frequently check with the server if this device is legitetmately registered.
Marvin_S said:
I can see this working i have been thinking about something similar also. You can encrypt the data on device before sending it off to the cloud, you can than verify the encrypted data with a password and compare it to the codes registered on the server. Than link a code to a certain device id (once the code becomes 'registered') if a certain code is already coupled to a deice id and the device is not the same than the app will jump back into trial mode. Otherwise one can use the paid mode.
This can defenetly work and will prevent reselling th codes. Although it requires a server. And users can still hack/patch the app ofcourse but that will require an unlocked device so I should not worry to much about it.
Also to prevent spoofing you can frequently check with the server if this device is legitetmately registered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I thought of... private/public key
chabun, so, for example, how about following scenario:
for each developer server creates public/private key pair.
when checking license on server: if success server encodes userid with developer private key
when checking license in app: server response decoding via public key(hardcoded in app) and comparing to userId. if ok -> licensed.
You might want to ask @ngreader guys on twitter. They do have this concept implemented in their app.
diverofdark said:
chabun, so, for example, how about following scenario:
for each developer server creates public/private key pair.
when checking license on server: if success server encodes userid with developer private key
when checking license in app: server response decoding via public key(hardcoded in app) and comparing to userId. if ok -> licensed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure if it would be good to encode the request to the server as well but otherwise it sounds really cool now... I'll use this service when I need this (and tell my friends about it)
Here is one way to do it http://stackoverflow.com/questions/599837/how-to-generate-and-validate-a-software-license-key
wpxbox said:
Here is one way to do it http://stackoverflow.com/questions/599837/how-to-generate-and-validate-a-software-license-key
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, what they suggest is not as good as diverofdark's service which is a lot more secure and still easy to use for the customers...
Greetings everyone!
Today I updated promo.g33k.ru, now it has:
- more detailed about page,
- SDK now includes RSA1024/SHA1 sign for additional security checks
- Binary SDK available
- Russian localization(if anyone cares ) (btw, if you can help translating to other language(s) or correct english misspellings - i will appreciate this).
- Many minor bugfixes.
So, from now this service works in beta mode
diverofdark said:
Greetings everyone!
Today I updated promo.g33k.ru, now it has:
- more detailed about page,
- SDK now includes RSA1024/SHA1 sign for additional security checks
- Binary SDK available
- Russian localization(if anyone cares ) (btw, if you can help translating to other language(s) or correct english misspellings - i will appreciate this).
- Many minor bugfixes.
So, from now this service works in beta mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I will check this out
Hey diverofdark
It would be nice if you update the first post in the thread with all information. That's the way it's usually done in the forum.
A possible user (here dev ) can read it and without having to browse the whole thread, he can use your promocode service...
Thanks for mentioning it, I updated the first post.

[App][plugin] in-app feedback for Windows 8 apps

I am working on a web service and thought it might be of interest to Windows 8 app developers out there, who might find the service useful and could even help testing it and offer advice on how to improve.
The product (codename Myelin, currently in alpha) brings powerful user feedback tools directly into your mobile apps. With just a couple of lines of code, you can integrate functionality that not only allows users to send comments directly to the dev, but also to track any replies and provide additional follow-up after the first submission. No private information (such as email address or account name) is ever shared, and no registration is required. It just works directly from the app.
Coming in the future are even more exciting features that make meaningful communication between the dev and the end user simpler and faster.
On the backend we have a feedback management portal that allows to monitor incoming feedback efficiently and manage any required follow-up in a bugtracking-like approach (think support tickets).
We have recently rolled out a client (== app plugin) for Windows 8 HTML apps, and would welcome devs willing to take it for a spin and give us feedback. BTW, XAML support is coming in the future; if you'd be interested, let me know and this work may move further up the priority list. XAML version for C#\VB Win8 apps is also available.
The service is currently free while it's in active development. While there are plans to eventually take it commercial, we will in any event be very accomodating to our early adopters.
You can read more at https://www.tfp0.com/s/windows8. If you're interested in learning more, reply here, PM, or just go ahead and sign up over at the website (we have plenty of spots available) to see what we have going there.
Below is a collage of various screens that the plugin introduces in the form of settings flyouts.
<= clickable
Since I've seen some offline interest in a XAML-based version, I wanted to note here that we did in fact roll out a version of the plugin for XAML.
In addition, both versions (HTML and XAML) are now available through NuGet as Timefork.DyneinXaml and Timefork.DyneinHtml .

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