Preface
Windows Phone 7.5: Building Location-aware Applications, introduces you to the exciting new world of Windows Phone 7.5. This book focuses on location-based applications, by introducing the readers to location-based services and the background thereof, coupled with practical examples for the Windows Phone location services. Another important discussion in the location context is maps, which is covered in great detail, including concepts such as geocoding and map directions.
This book will quickly teach you how to build Windows Phone 7.5 applications by leveraging location, maps, and third-party APIs. Two real-world applications are covered in depth: one using the excellent Events API from Eventful.com, and the other application, which focusses on location-aware news content powered by AOL's Patch.com News API.
What this book covers
Chapter 1, The Location-based World, explains location-based services, how they work, the important role of GPS in location-based services, and how Microsoft uses them in Windows Phone.
Chapter 2, Using Location in Windows Phone 7.5, starts with an introduction to the Windows Phone ecosystem and later on covers in-depth information on the Windows Phone Location Service and the Windows Phone location simulator.
Chapter 3, Using Maps in your Windows Phone App, introduces the reader to the world of Bing Maps; from working with a simple maps application to building a complex maps app with geocoding, directions, and local search.
Chapter 4, Events App — PacktEvents, covers building an events app that shows us nearby events, concerts, and gigs by artists by using the excellent Eventful.com API. The Windows Phone Panorama control is used to build this app.
Chapter 5, Location-aware News App — PacktNews, uses the Windows Phone Pivot control to build a hyperlocal news app—powered by AOL's Patch News API.
What you need for this book
To run the examples and the apps provided in the book, you will need a Windows PC with Windows 7 or higher and Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone.
Some examples will need an API key from Eventful.com and Patch.com; the links are duly mentioned at the beginning of the chapters having such examples.
Who this book is for
If you are a developer who wants to develop apps for the Windows Phone 7.5 platform, but do not know where to begin, then this book is for you. Developers working on the Android and iPhone platform wishing to port their apps on the Windows Phone ecosystem will also find this book useful. The example code files and apps present in the book can also help a non-developer, such as a smart business or sales person, to quickly analyze and build new applications.
This book is also aimed at managers and architects in the news and entertainment industry, as two giants of this industry (Eventful.com and Patch.com) are mentioned extensively within the book.
Conventions
In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.
Code words in text are shown as follows: "The main class that handles Location Service is the GeoCoordinateWatcher class."
A block of code is set as follows:
latitudeText.Text=
locationManager.Position.Location.Latitude.ToString("0.000");
longitudeText.Text =
locationManager.Position.Location.Longitude.ToString("0.000");
When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:
<Button Content="Start" Height="72"
HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="0,35,0,0"
Name="startButton" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="160"
Click="startButton_Click" />
New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this: "Open Visual Studio 2010 Express and create a new project by clicking on the File | New Project menu option.".
Note
Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.
Note
Tips and tricks appear like this.
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