The Beta 2 Mango Windows Phone Tools are available to developers today! Included with the beta is the ability for developers registered with the AppHub to flash their retail devices.

I know there are some non-developers out there that want to also flash their phones and they may wonder how they get get their phones reflashed with the Mango beta. For the time being they cannot. There is an inherent risk in reflashing the phone; you could end up with a bricked phone if something goes bad. If this happens Microsoft has budgeted to take care of repairing up to one phone per developer. But Microsoft doesn’t see this risk as being appropriate for user audiences. [Some] developers on the other hand are willing to risk their device’s life and limb to have early access to something new. If you brick your device today Microsoft won’t be prepared to act on it for another couple of weeks. That’s not the best case scenario. But the alternative was to wait another couple of weeks before releasing the Mango tools. If you don’t feel safe walking the tight rope without a safety net then don’t re-flash your device yet.

According to the Windows Phone Developer site if you are a registered developer you will receive an e-mail inviting you to participate in early access to Mango.

For one reason or another you may find that you want to add a real e-mail account to the Windows Phone emulator. Unfortunately the emulator doesn’t directly expose a way for you to do this; the settings area on the phone doesn’t display the tile to access the e-mail settings. You can get to the settings application indirectly though. This path is convoluted, but it works.

You’ll need to make a simple application that does nothing more than show a phone call task. Once the task is displayed accept the phone call then select the option to add another caller. This takes you to the People Hub. Swipe through the People Hub to the &quotWhat’s New" and you will be prompted to add a Facebook or Twitter account. Select the option to do this (even though you are not really adding an account of that type) and when you asked what type of account you want to add you can select one of the e-mail account types.

Written against pre-release information

One of the new features coming with the next update to Windows Phone 7 is the ability to set custom ring tones. From within code you can make a ring tone available to a user (it’s up to the user to accept the ring tone, so user settings won’t ever be changed without user permission). I was looking at the new API for doing this, the SaveRingtonTask()

To use the API you first need to get the ringtone of interest into isolated storage. It can be either an MP3 file or a WMA file up to 30 seconds in length. If the file is a part of your application. Just set it’s build type to "Resource".

Getting the file from being packed in the application to isolated storage is a matter of reading from a resource stream and writing to isolated storage.

var
s =
    Application.GetResourceStream(new Uri("/MyApplicationName;component/1up.mp3",
                                            UriKind.Relative));
{
    using (var f = IsolatedStorageFile.GetUserStoreForApplication().CreateFile("1up.mp3"))
    {

        var buffer = new byte[2048];
        int bytesRead = 0;

        do
        {
            bytesRead = s.Stream.Read(buffer, 0, 1024);
            f.Write(buffer, 0, bytesRead);
        } while (bytesRead > 0);

        f.Close();
    }
}

Once the file is in isolated storage you must pass the URL to the SaveRingtoneTask(). URIs to isolated storage are preceded with "isostore:" (there is also an "appdata:" prefix, but we won’t be using it here). Give the ringtone a display name and call the show method to present the user with the option to save it. If you don’t set the

SaveRingtoneTask srt = new SaveRingtoneTask();
srt.DisplayName = "1up";
srt.IsoStore= new Uri("isostore:/1up.mp3", UriKind.Absolute);
srt.IsShareable = true;
srt.Show();

CodeProject

With more that 13,000 applications in their Marketplace Microsoft came out on stage today to make some new announcements about what’s coming to Windows Phone 7. We’ll see a major upgrade on all Windows Phone devices by the end of the year and developers are getting access to a lot of new APIs enabling new application scenarios.

Here is a summary list of the new features.

• Multitasking – in addition to faster application switching multitasking will allow applications to continue processing in the background.
• Live Tile Functionality Enhancements –
• Sensor Library Enhancements – You’ll have enhanced access to the sensor library and
  Access to the camera and compass-! Reality augmentation is possible!
  • Sockets – This needs no explanation
  • Database –
  • IE9 – with hardware acceleration
  • Silverlight+XNA – you can use Silverlight and XNA in the same application
  • Twitter in the People Hub
  • Background Transfers
  • Profile
  • Silverlight 4 Runtime

  Several new countries are being added to the Marketplace. This brings up the total count from 17 to 35. The new countries are listed below with *.

  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Brazil*
  • Canada
  • Chile*
  • Columbia*
  • Czech Republic*
  • Denmark*
  • Finland*
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece*
  • Hong Kong
  • Hungary*
  • India*
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Japan*
  • Mexico
  • Netherlands*
  • New Zealand
  • Norway*
  • Poland*
  • Portugal*
  • Russia*
  • Singapore
  • South Africa*
  • South Korea*
  • Spain
  • Sweden*
  • Switzerland
  • Taiwan*
  • UK
  • USA /

   //To start a recording
   StreamingRecorder myRecorder  = new StreamingRecorder();
   myRecorder.Start("myFileName");

  //To stop a recording();
  myRecorder.Stop();

public class StreamingRecorder :INotifyPropertyChanged,  IDisposable
{


    object SyncLock = new object();

    private Queue<MemoryStream> _availablBufferQueue;        
    private Queue<MemoryStream> _writeBufferQueue;

    private int _bufferCount;
    private byte[] _audioBuffer;

    //private int _currentRecordingBufferIndex;
        

    private TimeSpan _bufferDuration;
    private int _bufferSize;
    private Stream _outputStream;
    private Microphone _currentMicrophone;
    private bool _ownsStream = false;
    private long _startPosition;

    

    public  StreamingRecorder(TimeSpan? bufferDuration = null, int bufferCount=2)
    {
        _bufferDuration = bufferDuration.HasValue ? bufferDuration.Value : TimeSpan.FromSeconds(0);
        _bufferCount = bufferCount;
        _currentMicrophone= Microphone.Default;   
    }

    private MemoryStream CurrentBuffer
    {
        get; set;
    }

    public void Start(string fileName)
    {
        var isoStore = System.IO.IsolatedStorage.IsolatedStorageFile.GetUserStoreForApplication();
        var targetFile = isoStore.OpenFile(fileName, FileMode.Create);
        Start(targetFile, true);
    }

    public void Start(Stream outputStream, bool ownsStream=false)
    {
        _outputStream = outputStream;
        _ownsStream = ownsStream;
        _startPosition = outputStream.Position;

        Size = 0;

        //Create our recording buffers
        _availablBufferQueue = new Queue<MemoryStream>();
        _writeBufferQueue = new Queue<MemoryStream>();
        _audioBuffer = new byte[_currentMicrophone.GetSampleSizeInBytes(_currentMicrophone.BufferDuration)];
        _bufferSize = _currentMicrophone.GetSampleSizeInBytes(_bufferDuration + _currentMicrophone.BufferDuration);
        for (var i = 0; i < _bufferCount; ++i)
        {
            _availablBufferQueue.Enqueue(new MemoryStream(_bufferSize));
        }

        CurrentBuffer = _availablBufferQueue.Dequeue();
        //Stuff a bogus wave header in the output stream as a space holder.
        //we will come back and make it valid later. For now the size is invalid.
        //I could have just as easily stuffed any set of values here as long as 
        //the size of those values equaled 0x2C
        WaveHeaderWriter.WriteHeader(CurrentBuffer, -1, 1, _currentMicrophone.SampleRate);
        Size += (int)CurrentBuffer.Position;

        //Subscribe to the Microphone's buffer ready event and start listening.
        _currentMicrophone.BufferReady += new EventHandler<EventArgs>(_currentMicrophone_BufferReady);            
        _currentMicrophone.Start();
    }


    void _currentMicrophone_BufferReady(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        _currentMicrophone.GetData(_audioBuffer);
        //If the recorder is paused (not implemented) then don't add this audio chunk to
        // the output. If HasFlushed is set then the recording is actually ready to shut
        //down and we shouldn't accumulate anything more. 
        if ((CurrentState != RecordingState.Paused))
        {
            //Append the audio chunk to our current buffer
            CurrentBuffer.Write(_audioBuffer, 0, _audioBuffer.Length);
            //Increment the size of the recording.
            Size += _audioBuffer.Length;
            //If the buffer is full or if we are shutting down then we need to submit
            //the buffer to be written to the output stream.
            if ((CurrentBuffer.Length > _bufferSize)||(CurrentState==RecordingState.Stopping))
            {

                SubmitToWriteBuffer(CurrentBuffer);
                //If we were shutting down then set a flag so that it is known that the last audio
                //chunk has been written. 
                if (CurrentState == RecordingState.Stopping)
                {
                    _currentMicrophone.Stop();
                    _currentMicrophone.BufferReady -= _currentMicrophone_BufferReady;
                }
                CurrentBuffer = _availablBufferQueue.Count > 0 ? _availablBufferQueue.Dequeue() : new MemoryStream();
            }
        }
    }

                

    // CurrentState - generated from ObservableField snippet - Joel Ivory Johnson

    private RecordingState _currentState;
    public RecordingState CurrentState
    {
        get { return _currentState; }
        set
        {
            if (_currentState != value)
            {
                _currentState = value;
                OnPropertyChanged("CurrentState");
                OnRecordingStateChanged(value);
            }
        }
    }
    //-----


    void WriteData(object a )
    {

        lock(SyncLock)
        {                
            while (_writeBufferQueue.Count > 0)
            {
                var item = _writeBufferQueue.Dequeue();
                var buffer = item.GetBuffer();
                _outputStream.Write(buffer, 0,(int) item.Length);
                item.SetLength(0);

                _availablBufferQueue.Enqueue(item);

                if (CurrentState == RecordingState.Stopping)
                {
                    //Correct the information in the wave header. After it is
                    //written set the file pointer back to the end of the file.
                    long prePosition = _outputStream.Position;
                    _outputStream.Seek(_startPosition, SeekOrigin.Begin);
                    WaveHeaderWriter.WriteHeader(_outputStream,Size-44,1,_currentMicrophone.SampleRate);
                    _outputStream.Seek(prePosition, SeekOrigin.Begin);
                    _outputStream.Flush();
                    if (_ownsStream)
                        _outputStream.Close();
                    CurrentState = RecordingState.Stopped;
                }
            }
        }
    }

    void SubmitToWriteBuffer(MemoryStream target)
    {
        //Do the writing on another thread so that processing on this thread can continue. 
        _writeBufferQueue.Enqueue(target);
        ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(new WaitCallback(WriteData));
    }

    public void Pause()
    {
        if ((CurrentState != RecordingState.Paused) && (CurrentState != RecordingState.Recording))
        {
            throw new Exception("you can't pause if you are not recording");
        }
        CurrentState = RecordingState.Paused;
    }

    public void Stop()
    {
        CurrentState = RecordingState.Stopping;
    }


    // Size - generated from ObservableField snippet - Joel Ivory Johnson

    private int  _size;
    public int Size
    {
        get { return _size; }
        set
        {
            if (_size != value)
            {
                _size = value;
                OnPropertyChanged("Size");
            }
        }
    }
    //-----

    public long RemainingSpace
    {
        get
        {                
            return System.IO.IsolatedStorage.IsolatedStorageFile.GetUserStoreForApplication().AvailableFreeSpace;
        }
    }

    public TimeSpan RecordingDuration
    {
        get
        {
            return _currentMicrophone.GetSampleDuration((int)Size);
        }
    }

    public TimeSpan RemainingRecordingTime
    {
        get
        {
            return _currentMicrophone.GetSampleDuration((int)RemainingSpace);
        }
    }

    //-------

    public event EventHandler<RecordingStateChangedEventArgs> RecordingStateChanged;
    protected void OnRecordingStateChanged(RecordingState newState)
    {
        if(RecordingStateChanged!=null)
        {
            RecordingStateChanged(this, new RecordingStateChangedEventArgs(){NewState = newState});
        }
    }

    public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
    protected void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
    {
        if (PropertyChanged != null)
        {
            PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
        }
    }

    public void Dispose()
    {
        Stop();
    }
}

This question keeps coming up in the forums so I decided to put the application together and make it publically available. If you head over to CodeProject you’ll find a small article that I uploaded on making a voice memo application on Windows Phone 7. Among other things is demonstrates how to convert the raw recording bytes to a proper wave file, simple serialization, and a few other tid bits. For the sake of the article I did send the code through certification.

However the application looks ugly right now. I’ve got a graphic artist that I’ll be paying to design the UI for me and since I’m paying her for this I’ve decided not to include the graphic assets that she is producing in the code that I’m gicing away for free.

There’s no obligations attached to the code. But if you use it in your own products I would appreciate a heads up just so that I know where it’s being used.

Another frequent question I come across in the user forums is related to how some one implements local high scores. The question has come up frequently enough for me to conclude that its to the benifit of the community to have an implementation available that can be used in Silverlight or XNA that is ready to be used with very little setup.

So I’ve made a solution for others to use. By default the component will keep track of up to 10 high scores and will take care of loading and saving itself. If you add a score the component will take care of ensuring the score is in it’s proper place and removing scores that are nolonger one of the top. For persisting the score information I’ve made use of the DataSaver<T> code from a previous blog post. I hope others will find the solution easy to use.

To get started with using the component add a reference to my component to your project. You’ll want to instantiate HighScoreList passing an optional file name that it will use to save score information. It’s possible to keep track of more than one high score list as long as your instances have different file names. One might want to do this if they keep track of scores in different modes separately from each other (Ex: a score list for Difficult mode, a score list for Easy mode, and so on).

HighScoreList _highScoreList = new HighScoreList("MyScores");

Upon instantiation the component will take care of loading any previous high scores without you doing anything more.

To add a score create a new instance of ScoreInfo and populate its PlayerName and Score fields. (There is also a ScoreDate field that automatically gets populated with the current date and time). Then use the AddScore(ScoreInfo) method on the HighScoreList instance to add it to the score list.

ScoreInfo scoreInfo = new ScoreInfo(){PlayerName = "Jack", Score = 1048576};
_highScoreList.AddScore(scoreInfo);

And that’s it, there’s nothing more for you to do. When you make that call the score gets added to the high score list, scores that are no longer in the top 10 (or what ever you set the limit to be) will fall off the list, and the list will automatically be persisted back to IsolatedStorage so that it is available the next time your game runs. Easy, right?

As a test project I’ve created a Silverlight application that allows you to enter new scores and see the behaviour of the component.

The main bits of the source code are below. First the ScoreInfo class which is nothing more than a serializable collection of three properties

/// <summary>
/// ScoreInfo contains information on a single score
/// </summary>
[DataContract]
public class ScoreInfo : INotifyPropertyChanged
{

    // PlayerName - generated from ObservableField snippet - Joel Ivory Johnson
        private string _playerName = String.Empty;

    /// <summary>
    /// The name of the player that made this score
    /// </summary>
        [DataMember]
        public string PlayerName
        {
        get { return _playerName; }
            set
            {
                if (_playerName != value)
                {
                    _playerName = value;
                    OnPropertyChanged("PlayerName");
                }
            }
        }
        //-----

    // Score - generated from ObservableField snippet - Joel Ivory Johnson
        private int _score = 0;

    /// <summary>
    /// The score that the player made
    /// </summary>
        [DataMember]
        public int Score
        {
        get { return _score; }
            set
            {
                if (_score != value)
                {
                    _score = value;
                    OnPropertyChanged("Score");
                }
            }
        }
        //-----

    // ScoreDate - generated from ObservableField snippet - Joel Ivory Johnson
        private DateTime _scoreDate = DateTime.Now;

    /// <summary>
    /// The date and time that the player made the score. If this field is not
    /// assigned a value it will automatically be assigned with the date and time
    /// that the score isntance was created
    /// </summary>
        [DataMember]
        public DateTime ScoreDate
        {
        get { return _scoreDate; }
            set
            {
                if (_scoreDate != value)
                {
                    _scoreDate = value;
                    OnPropertyChanged("ScoreDate");
                }
            }
        }
        //-----
    protected void OnPropertyChanged(String propertyName)
    {
        if(PropertyChanged!=null)
        {
            PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
        }
    }

    #region INotifyPropertyChanged Members

    public  event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

    #endregion
}

And then the HighScoreList class, which is a collection class that contains the .

using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Collections.ObjectModel; using System.ComponentModel; using System.Runtime.Serialization; namespace J2i.Net.ScoreKeeper { public class HighScoreList : ObservableCollection<ScoreInfo>, INotifyPropertyChanged { static DataSaver<HighScoreList> MyDataSaver = new DataSaver<HighScoreList>(); public HighScoreList() { } public HighScoreList(string fileName):this() { this.ScoreFileName = fileName; HighScoreList temp = MyDataSaver.LoadMyData(fileName); if(temp!=null) { foreach(var item in temp) { Add(item); } } } // MaxScoreCount - generated from ObservableField snippet - Joel Ivory Johnson private int _maxScoreCount = 10; [DataMember] public int MaxScoreCount { get { return _maxScoreCount; } set { if (_maxScoreCount != value) { _maxScoreCount = value; OnPropertyChanged("MaxScoreCount"); } } } //----- // ScoreFileName - generated from ObservableField snippet - Joel Ivory Johnson private string _scoreFileName = "DefaultScores"; [DataMember] public string ScoreFileName { get { return _scoreFileName; } set { if (_scoreFileName != value) { _scoreFileName = value; OnPropertyChanged("ScoreFileName"); } } } //----- // AutoSave - generated from ObservableField snippet - Joel Ivory Johnson private bool _autoSave = true; [DataMember] public bool AutoSave { get { return _autoSave; } set { if (_autoSave != value) { _autoSave = value; OnPropertyChanged("AutoSave"); } } } //----- static int ScoreComparer(ScoreInfo a, ScoreInfo b) { return b.Score - a.Score; } public void SortAndDrop() { List<ScoreInfo> temp = new List<ScoreInfo>(this.Count); foreach(var item in this) { temp.Add(item); } if (temp.Count > MaxScoreCount) { temp.RemoveRange(MaxScoreCount - 1, (temp.Count) - (MaxScoreCount)); } temp.Sort(ScoreComparer); this.Clear(); temp.ForEach((o)=>Add(o)); } public void Save() { if(String.IsNullOrEmpty(ScoreFileName)) throw new ArgumentException("A file name wasn't provided"); MyDataSaver.SaveMyData(this, ScoreFileName); } public void AddScore(ScoreInfo score) { this.Add(score); SortAndDrop(); if(AutoSave) Save(); } protected void OnPropertyChanged(String propertyName) { if(PropertyChanged!=null) { PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName)); } } #region INotifyPropertyChanged Members public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged; #endregion } } 

CodeProject