Bad Experience with App Exchange / App Gateway

29. December 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Windows Phone · Tags:

Currently Windows Phone 7 Marketplace is not available in Malaysia, and the only way for Malaysia Windows Phone developers to submit our applications is through third party companies like Yalla App or App Exchange (they just rename their website to App Gateway recently, check the update in the end of this post). I personally experience the service offer by this 2 companies and App Exchange had pissed me off. If compare both Yalla App and App Exchange, App Exchange is just super duper terrible, horrible and vegetable! I think the “great service” offer by App Exchange deserve a blog post from me.

If you ever think of submit your app through App Exchange, below are the reason why you should go away:

Expansive

I mean very expansive, a lot expansive.  Compare  Yalla App and App Exchange this two companies, Yalla App charge 1.00 USD for each app submission while App Exchange charge 39.99 USD (previously 19.99 USD) for each app submission. It is 40 times much more expansive to submit your app through App Exchange than Yalla App. It is just 99 USD to open an account in marketplace and yet App Exchange charge developer 39.99 USD for each app submission. Imagine how much they can earn when you submit your app through App Exchange.

 

Only Free App 

Even App Exchange charge high amount of fee on developer for each app submission, only free app is allowed currently. Yes, you wouldn’t earn a single sen through app download but only through advertisement put on your app only (if you got put advertisement in your app at the first place).

 

Terrible Customer Service

If you have a question about their service, don’t even think they will reply you in e-mail.  Seriously, they never reply e-mail. Previously, I submitted an app and they mess up my application description which they ignore all the formating I made, I complain this through e-mail, and they never reply my e-mail until today. While the other time I complain my app submission problem to them through e-mail, they also never reply my e-mail, completely! Customer service zero!

 

Horrible Website Design 

Once you open App Exchange website, you will find out. I guess any experience web designer or web programmer can create a better website than App Exchange website. Basically you can’t found any information on the website other than how you pay them! Unlike Yalla App, if you mistakenly submit a wrong size of icon image, Yalla App will stop you from completing the app submission, but App Exchange will let you submit and then reject your app later on (Yes, that cost you one time of app submission money).

 

Random App Submission Failure Reasons

You may receive some very funny random submission failure reason from App Exchange which is not from Windows Phone marketplace but App Exchange instead. I had submitted an app with the content in English language but App Exchange reject my app and said language used in my app was not supported so they fail to submit my app (Note: the report was generated by App Exchange not Windows Phone marketplace). Can’t they understand what is English? Never mind, I submit another app but also got rejected with the reason they can’t open my xap file! OK, why App Exchange need to open my XAP file? Aren’t Windows Phone marketplace is the one who will validate my app? By the way, this 2 case also cost one app submission fee even the app never went though any verification.

 

Incorrect Report

Don’t trust all the e-mail send by App Exchange. One of my friend who submitted an app through App Exchange and the app get published successfully on marketplace, but App Exchange e-mail my friend saying the app fail to go through verification process and attached a report from Windows Phone marketplace. The app had been published and App Exchange still want to earn more money by telling my friend to re-submit the app again?

 

Email Spamming

Without any reason, I receive lot of e-mail from App Exchange today telling me all the apps that already published on marketplace is published! Man, those apps was published long time ago, and you had notified me before this, why send the same thing to me again and again?

 

Now, you may wonder even with the terrible service of App Exchange and still I submitted multiple app through App Exchange. This is because I was pointed to submit my app through App Exchange and someone is paying the bill instead. I wound not pay a single sen for their terrible service. If you want to submit your Windows Phone application and Windows Phone marketplace is not available in your country yet, go ahead with other company like Yalla App and forget about App Exchange. Don’t ruin your app and your mood by going through all the terrible service.

 

Update #1: App Exchange had just renamed their service to App Gateway instead with the following reason.

Unfortunately, due to a Domain Name dispute, Salesforce.com has claimed “app-exchange.com” as belonging to them because they had appexchange.salesforce.com before we registered our domain name. We have agreed to change our name and App-Exchange.com is now App-Gateway.com

Salesforce want to claim the URL? Really? That sound more like they just screw thing up and want to change to a new domain name and a new website name to brush away what they did before. Bad, very bad!

 

by Ooi Keng Siang via Ooiks’s Blog

Moving Toward A Better Future

24. December 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Microsoft Student Partners · Tags: ,

Day two of the Accelerating Asia Pacific summit kicked off with a quote from Bill gates that said, “The world is getting better but it’s not getting better fast enough, and it’s not getting better for everyone”.  This set the tone for the rest of the day where Microsoft showcased their efforts around working together with governments and organizations to create better cities, healthcare services, and disaster response systems.

Technology has been integrated into our daily lives to provide us with better services and facilities. Julian Goh, Urban Planning Director from Siemens Corporate Technology, shared how utilising information and communication technology helped make the impossible possible. For example, the Mass Rapid Transit system in Singapore was improved by sharing critical data to facilitate more transits on the same railway while improving the safety aspect.

As more and more government services in different countries are moving towards an e-government system, technology is now more important than before.  With these technological changes, we are now living in a city we could never have imagined before.

Using information and communication technology to enhance the quality of healthcare is not uncommon but there are still several challenges to be solved such as interoperability between different systems, data privacy, and security.

Jenny Prince (Plunket), Dr. Ilias Yee (Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Programme), and Mubbashir Iftikhar (KPJ Healthcare) shared their experience on how technology has created better healthcare services.  In addition, they also recognized that this is just the beginning and recommended that software companies, governments, and patients must work together in order to progress healthcare services.

The infamous Japan 2011 earthquake was the most devastating natural disaster in recent years. It was very interesting to learn that Windows Azure played a major role in processing and monitoring the radiation levels in the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.  Despite the sheer volume of data, the application was created within a day.  In addition, Shugo Ikemoto (NPO Support Center for Program Development) and Kei Kudo (NPO Sodateage Net) shared how technology could aid Japan’s recovery from the disaster.

It was refreshing to learn how Microsoft is making a difference to create a better tomorrow, and a better future. The world is getting better and everyone has a part to play in creating a better tomorrow.

by Ooi Keng Siang (Microsoft Student Partners) via Ooiks’s Blog

The Impact of Microsoft in Asia Pacific

24. December 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Microsoft Student Partners · Tags: , ,

The Accelerating Asia Pacific summit is a media and analyst gathering showcasing how Microsoft, through technology and partnerships, is making a real and positive impact in Asia. I’m honoured to be selected as one of the student bloggers to attend this great event and to share the stories through my blog.  Here are the standout topics and discussions from day 1 of the event.

It’s always interesting to learn more about the latest innovation in Microsoft Research. Prior to this event, I interned at Microsoft Research India for three months so I’m very excited to learn about their latest innovations. Edward Cutrell, Microsoft Research India, shared more about the project call, CGNet Swara, which will enable everyone to report local news or issues in their local language. I can see how this could have an impact in India where a lot of news happens every day but goes unheard by the authorities because it is never covered by the local newspapers. Jonathan Tien also shared about the project Engkoo from Microsoft Research Asia, which enables learning of English in China through translation knowledge from billions of web pages.

Another topic which I thought was really interesting was raising awareness of Microsoft’s efforts in building in features which few people are aware of, such as Narrator, into their operating systems. Tan Siew Ling’s, Society for the Physically Disabled, experience on using features such as Narrator enables visual impaired people to use the computer freely left a deep impression on me, and a greater appreciation for Microsoft and the efforts the company is making to cater to the disabled.

Here’s an interesting thought that came out of a panel discussion on investing in students, start-ups and entrepreneurs – parents in Asia are likely to ask their children if they want to become an engineer or doctor in the future, but never an entrepreneur. This was one of the key barriers for students in Asia Pacific identified by Johnathan Lee from Cradle Fund. Johnathan went on to highlight that some of the fundamentals of starting a business included funding and support which Microsoft’s BizSpark program provides, creating a lower risk opportunity for all entrepreneuers.

The panel discussion “We don’t wait for change, we make change” was one of my favourites from day 1 as it involved two ex-Imagine Cup winners – Levi Tan Ong (Imagine Cup 2010 Game Design category) and James Pinto (Imagine Cup 2008 Embedded Development) together with Hunter Walkengorst from qutbluebox discussing how students can turn their ideas into reality. Because I’m part of the Microsoft Student Partners Social Media Team for Imagine Cup, it was really inspirational to see past competitors take their ideas to the next level and start a business from it.

Next up was my panel discussion on technology engaging students. This was my first time as a panelist and I was really nervous about it but Jason Trump from Microsoft guided me all the way through and I think the discussion went well. I had the opportunity to meet some great people from this panel discussion such as Mechai Viravaiddya from Population and Community Development Association, who started the bamboo school which educates students with all the skills required to earn a living on their own in Thailand. I also met Dr. Vu from HCMC University of Education also shared how technology can help in learning and education. All in all, a fantastic experience for me.

Education through gaming? Yeah, sign me up for that! Kids nowadays play games more than everything else, education through gaming will be more effective now. I strongly agree with the point made by Khong Yee Jian from Creative Robotics Education that with technology like Microsoft’s Kinect, kids can enjoy the game while learning something useful and get some exercise! Levi gave the example of how we can even learn something from a first person shooter game, like Gears of War, through throwing a flash bang before entering the house to rescue the hostages while taking down the enemy at the same time. Hmm, the point seems right to me, although is not something common will happen, but this is something anyone can pick up in the game without realizing it.

The most inspiring thing from day 1 had to be Feng Yan-Ting from Taiwan sharing how technology changed her life. Yan-Ting was diagnosed with cerebral palsy since but this never stopped her from learning computer technology. Through Unlimited Potential program, she can now type e-mail messages and communicate with her family members and friends. Now I’ve always believed that the computer is accessible for everyone, the only question is whether people want to learn it. If Yan-Ting can overcome all her pain and difficulty to learn computer technology, then others who are luckier than her should do it too.

I would say that Microsoft is really making a different to help NGOs, partners and students to achieve their goals through Microsoft technologies. I have no doubts that Microsoft is creating a big impact in Asia as seen through the sharing by the panelists from different countries, fields and background. I’m happy to say that this is all just the beginning, through Microsoft technologies and partnership with NGOs, I strongly believe Microsoft will create a bigger impact in Asia and reach out to everyone who needs the help.

by Ooi Keng Siang (Microsoft Student Partners) via Ooiks’s Blog

Fish Wrangler AutoBot 1.03

22. December 2011 · 13 comments · Categories: Fish Wrangler AutoBot · Tags: , , ,

Surprisingly, nobody seen to tell me there is a bug in the script where the script doesn’t play any sound when found treasure chests if you are using secure connection (https) in Facebook. Hmm, I wonder if any player still using it, else I might just stop updating the script.

Script Description

Fish Wrangler AutoBot is a simple user script to automate the process of catching fish in Fish Wrangler application in Facebook. In a simple word, bot for Fish Wrangler. Time of next rod cast will show on the webpage title and page. Users can customize the script according to their need by themselves such as add extra random time delay before casting the rod (Please look for UserPreferenceSetting in the script).

 

Main Features

  • Automatically cast rod when time’s up with extra random time define by user.
  • Show next rod casting time and others timer in the page and title.
  • Play music when found treasure cheats.
  • Cross-browsers support.

Paltform Support

Browser Support

  • Mozilla Firefox with Greasemonkey add-on (Tested with Mozilla Firefox 8.0.1 with Greasemonkey 0.9.13 add-on)
  • Opera (Tested with Opera 11.50)
  • Google Chrome (Tested with Google Chrome 15.0)

Precautions

  • Use this script at your own risk because AutoBot script is again the rule set by Fish Wrangler, that is users are prohibits the use of auto-refreshers, BOTs, constantly refreshing the Fish Now link.
  • You are reminded not to use your real name or the same name you use in Facebook to post / reply discussion here because some one might go after you and please don’t ask me why I use my real name here.
  • Do uninstall any other Fish Wrangler automation scripts or auto page reload scripts before install this script to prevent conflict with this script.

Known Issues

  • The script may appear much later after the page had loaded.

How to Install User Script

Download

Download through userscript website.

Changelog

Version 1.03

  • Fix no sound when found treasure chests running on secure connection.
  • Sound for treasure chests is now play direct from the script instead of stream it from other site (only for Firefox and Opera web browser).

by Ooi Keng Siang via Ooiks’s Blog

 

15 Teams Shortlisted in Imagine Cup Grants

14. December 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Imagine Cup · Tags: , , , , ,

As announced during the Award Ceremony in Microsoft Imagine Cup 2011 worldwide final at New York, Microsoft will give away USD 3M grants for finalist to to kick start their idea. After the first round of filtering, the top 15 teams who successfully advanced to the next round are announced at Microsoft Citizenship’s Blog.

The top 15 team will be further reviewed by a distinguished panel of judges from multiple sectors including technology, NGO, social venture and venture capital investors on round 2. The winning teams will be named in January 2012 and awarded with a grant package in the form of cash, software, resources and other on the ground support to help them establish a nonprofit or for-profit organizations to bring their idea to market.

Below are the 15 teams from Imagine Cup 2011 that successfully enter the next round in Imagine Cup Grants application:

Team Apptenders – Croatia
KiDnect is a Kinect-based solution for on-premise and remote physical therapy for children. This software has the ability to monitor a child’s exercises to ensure they are being completed correctly, and then provides statistical analysis to the therapist. Team Apptenders hopes to add multilingual interfaces in order to integrate additional sensors for limb rotation monitoring and advanced data analysis.

Team Co2ncerned – Turkey 
Co2ncerned created a system where individuals and corporations calculate their CO2 emissions and balance it by donating to environmental projects. CO2ncerned is a common platform for environmental sustainability and social responsibility. Team Co2ncerned hopes to use support from Imagine Cup Grants to help with international connections and the licensing cost for the system requirements.

Team CodeRaiders – Poland
LifeCircle+ is a modern system solving the problems that blood centers, the people needing blood, and potential donors face on a daily basis. Using Windows Azure and Windows Phone, this platform minimizes the problem of shortages in blood centers by ensuring adequate amounts in times of emergency, and promotes the cause of blood donation via social networks. Team CodeRaiders plans to use cash prize for the further development and deployment of the LifeCircle+ solution on a global scale.

Team Cyan Girls – Senegal
PAGEL is a cloud platform designed to provide infrastructure and ecommerce support for rural farmers and fishermen. With software as a service (SAAS) combined with Windows Azure, these individuals and small businesses can better set pricing, identify markets to sell their goods and gain worldwide visibility through an online marketplace. Team Cyan Girls hopes for the opportunity to set up a company that prioritizes creativity, innovation and good results.

Team Dragon – United States
Team Dragon’s project utilizes both Windows Phone 7 and a spirometer to enable a game called Azmo the Dragon, which helps children learn about and manage their asthma by having their breath be that of a dragon that destroys civilizations. The team expanded their scope into asthma care plans: prescribed regimens for families, given by doctors to help them care for asthma and respond to different situations. Team Dragon hopes to use the entirety of the grant funding for research and development, including pilot testing, prototyping and code development.

Team Falcon Dev – Ecuador
Skillbox is an affordable solution to help children who are hearing impaired by translating all the speaking audio received from a teacher in a classroom into sign language. A wireless headset captures the sound, sends it to the computer and SkillBox then shows the corresponding sign for the word or phrase. Team Falcon Dev hopes to make their product market-ready through support from Imagine Cup Grants.

Team Gatotkaca – Indonesia
Childhood is an early alert system that helps mothers prevent malnourishment in their children. It uses personal cell phones to educate mothers about healthy diets for their children as well as child development milestones. It connects mothers with pediatricians who can suggest proper action in the instance of unusual child growth or development. Team Falcon Dev plans to invest the money to build larger infrastructure for their product.

Team Geekologic – France
People around the world often don’t realize the consequences that their negative actions have on the environment. Brainergy is a Windows Phone 7 Puzzle Game in which the player has to solve different challenges based on renewable energy. From the beginning of the adventure, players are confronted by a polluted world and will need to use renewable energy to clean it. Team Geekologic would like to use support from Imagine Cup Grants to add viral and social networking functionalities, and make it compatible with a number of different platforms.

Team Hawk – Iraq
Team Hawk developed a Windows Phone 7 application, the Refugee Application Form, that provides an instant and secure system for registering refugees and their welfare needs. It helps monitor health care and education, as well as facilitating aid distribution. The solution provides a mobile means for staff and users with minimal training to enter data relevant to the welfare and educational needs of the refugees. The data stored using Windows Azure can be accessed by the NGOs through any computing device. Team Hawk will use the entirety of the funding on the continued development of their application to make it more adaptable to various scenarios.

Team Lifelens – United States
Lifelens is an innovative point-of-care tool to diagnose malaria using an augmented Windows Phone 7 application. The project addresses the unacceptably high child mortality rates caused by the lack of detection and availability of treatment of malarial diseases. Team Lifelens is committed to using Grants support to develop their project for launch. They will use the investment for distribution of their devices, subsidizing the phones and field testing.

Team majiRanger – Germany 
With majiSolutions, a three-fold product, the current workflow of waterpointmapping is automated as far as possible and optimized in quality. With a Windows Phone 7 application, majiMobile, the data regarding water resources is captured on the spot. It is then sent directly to a server where it is processed and analyzed by the majiFramework. Finally, a Silverlight application called majiWeb, provides various visualizations and possibilities for analysis, thus, being a base for important decisions. Team majiRanger hopes to use the cash prize to carry out two piloting projects, which will help them earn their first customers, and take majiSolutions from project to product level.

Team Nerds Inc. – Nigeria
Medicare is a web-based solution that enables interaction between health workers and doctors. Through Medicare, medical details of a patient can be sent to the doctor and the resulting diagnosis and prescription are then sent back to the health workers. It educates health workers on the latest medical trends from global health organizations and government parastatals, and provides an Azure-based platform for healthcare delivery, diagnosis and prescription to remote locations. Team Nerds plans to use the cash prize to pay for cloud computing and deploy the solution in all the medical health centers in Ondo State.

Team Note-Taker – United States
The Note-Taker is a portable Windows 7-based hardware + software solution that provides low-vision students with simultaneous, magnified views of their notes and a distant board. It consists of a zoom camera attached to a laptop or tablet. Students take handwritten or typed notes in a split-screen interface on the computer and control the camera through pen and multitouch gestures. After class, students can review their notes and see any audio and video that was recorded at the time they took a particular note. If Team Note-Taker wins an Imagine Cup Grant, the cash prize will be vested into Seymour Research, LLC, for use in the design, manufacture, and marketing of the device.

Team OaSys – Jordan
Horizon is a software and hardware system that allows people who do not have use of their hands/arms to use a computer. Specifically, it tracks head movements and translates these movements into mouse movements. Users get full control of a computer and a cellphone, browse the internet, type and connect with ease and at a low cost. Team OaSys hopes to improve the software stack by optimizing and adding features, pilot client lab preparations and hire sub-contractors.

Team Signum Games – Brazil
In UCan, players create strategies to find the best way to help solve issues in their city like health, education and the environment. Players must manage their resources smartly by planting trees, training volunteers, helping others, and successfully avoiding obstacles. Team Signum Games plans to use funding from Imagine Cup Grants to pay their team to develop their solution, pay for marketing and purchase licenses.

by Ooi Keng Siang – MSPSMT via Ooiks’s Blog