Mono for Android v1.0.2

Xamarin has just released the first update to Mono for Android.  This update contains fixes to many problems that were affecting users, who should upgrade to this release as soon as possible.  More fixes are coming soon.

The main changes in v1.0.2:

• System.Data.Services.Client.dll is now included
• System.IO.IsolatedStorage is now included
• Bug fixes in Garbage Collection
• Various bug fixes

Mono for Android Homepage
Download v1.0.2 + Install Notes

SUSE and Xamarin Partner on Mono

SUSE, an Attachmate Business Unit, and Xamarin, a startup co-founded by Mono legend Miguel de Icaza, are partnering to provide continued support for Mono, the open-source .NET Framework.  The agreement grants Xamarin a broad, perpetual license to all intellectual property covering Mono, MonoTouch, Mono for Android, and Mono Tools for Visual Studio.  Xamarin will assume support for these products and continue to develop and sell them.  Existing customers can purchase upgrades.  Priority support is also available for an extra fee.

Xamarin’s immediate plans for both MonoTouch and Mono for Android is to make sure that the major bugs are fixed.  I just received notification today that a critical bug open in MonoTools since last October has finally been assigned to be fixed.  This is excellent news for .NET developers and provides further evidence that .NET isn’t dead.  Xamarin provides the best way to build fast, native .NET apps on iOS and Android.

SUSE/Xamarin Press Release
Announcement by Miguel de Icaza

C# To Go – Compiler for Android

“C# To Go” a C# Read/Eval/Print Loop app for Android devices.  It’s a single line text input with basic code completion.  Features include:

• List of all available namespaces
• Declared variables are available throughout the lifetime of the current session
• Errors/warnings encountered are displayed after the code is executed
• Console.Out is displayed
• Tapping on any executed code copies it back to the input box
• Pressing and holding on an error or warning allows you to copy the text or search the web for help

C# To Go in Android Marketplace
Introducing C# To Go

Windows Phone API Mapping Tool for Android Developers

The Android-to-Windows-Phone-7 API free mapping tool helps developers find their way around when they discover the Windows Phone platform.  This is like a travel dictionary that helps Android developers translate their Android app code to Windows Phone.  Developers can quickly find equivalent classes, methods, and events in WP7, along with sample C# code and API documentation for both platforms.

Android-to-WP7 Mapping Tool
WP7 Guide for Android Developers

Windows Azure Toolkits for iOS, Android and Windows Phone

Microsoft has announced Windows Azure Toolkits for Devices, available for Windows Phone, iOS and Android.  Developers can use the toolkits to help create apps that take advantage of the Azure cloud platform.

The toolkits leverage the cloud to simplify the complexity of supporting multiple devices.  As a common back-end, developers can use cloud services to share common requirements like device notifications, authentication, storage and even higher-level services like leaderboards.  At the same time, developers can maximize the performance of each mobile device by writing client code that exploits each platform.  As more and more mobile applications rely on back-end services, the cloud can become increasingly useful and strategic for developers.

Read More on the Microsoft Blog

vs-android: Native Android C/C++ Development with Visual Studio

vs-android is an open-source collection of scripts and utilities that supports integrated development of Android NDK C/C++ software under Microsoft Visual Studio.

Currently vs-android only works with Visual Studio 2010.  Earlier versions lack the MSBuild integration with the C/C++ compilation systems.  The only required component is the Android NDK.  Neither Cygwin, Java, nor the full Android SDK are needed to compile and link C/C++ code.  vs-android is released under the zlib license.

vs-android at Google Code

NS Basic/App Studio

NS Basic/App Studio is a complete, powerful development environment that enables you to create your app on a Windows desktop, then download it to your iPhone, iPad, iTouch, or Android device.  Apps can be distributed royalty-free.

The programming language is a fully-featured, structured BASIC, which is a subset of Microsoft Visual BASIC with mobile device extensions.  NS Basic/App Studio also supports development in JavaScript.  It includes math and trigonometric functions, SQLite Support, HTML5 features, geolocation and Google Maps.

NS Basic/App Studio

C2DM-Sharp Android Push Library

C2DM-Sharp is an open-source .NET library for Google Android Cloud 2 Device Messaging Push Notification system.  It’s Mono and .NET-compatible, and written in 100% managed code.

C2DM-Sharp at GitHub

Mono for Android Public Beta

Mono for Android brings .NET development capabilities to the Android mobile platform.  MonoDroid uses a slimmed-down library profile that is better suited for mobile devices.  The entire set of Android Dalvik APIs has been wrapped in C#.  The OpenTK library is also supported, so you can use the same OpenGL logic across the Windows, Linux, iOS and Android platforms.  MonoDroid supports the full JIT, so you can use Reflection.Emit and dynamic code compilation.

MonoDroid is now available in public beta.  It will eventually be released as a commercial product.

MonoDroid Home Page