September Topic – Backgrounding in iOS using Xamarin

Backgrounding is the process of allowing applications to perform tasks in the background while another application is running in the foreground. In this session we will discuss what is involved in setting up an app in iOS to run in the background. We will cover key concepts and best practices, and then step through creating an app that receives updates in the background.

Presented By Adam Zucchi
Adam is an application developer consultant working in the Twin Cities. He spent his first 4 years in Minneapolis working at a creative agency called Popular Front as an interactive developer. Since then he has been working on contract work for a variety of companies, many of which are in the healthcare space. He is also part owner of the Green Bay Packers.

About the Group
Led by local developers, the Minnesota Enterprise Mobile User Group is a place to come together to share knowledge, experiences, and lessons learned with the development community regarding enterprise mobile development, with a focus on mobile cross-platform application development and the Xamarin toolset. Our goal is to cover all areas of the Enterprise Mobile landscape.

Tuesday, September 23rd, 5:30 – 8:00 pm
5:30–6:30 pm Social hour featuring food and drinks
6:30–8:00 pm Presentation and discussion

Location
RBA
294 Grove Lane East
Wayzata, MN 55391

Free parking available at the Boatworks building.
** If you are having problems finding free parking in the lot, valet parking is available via the 6Smith restaurant valet service for $5.00 **

If you need help, text us at 920.242.3090.

Join our Meetup Group to connect with other members and be the first to know about upcoming events and speakers.

RSVP HERE: http://www.meetup.com/Minnesota-Enterprise-Mobile/

Sponsored by RBA and Xamarin

Join us for our August event at MentorMate in Uptown. This is a FREE event and a great opportunity for networking and the latest insights in mobile development.

August Topic – Cross Platform Mobile Development Considerations
Xamarin for iOS and Android has always allowed C# developers to write shared code in the classical Model and Controller areas of an application while platform specific View (UI) code was needed. Technologies like Xamarin Forms now abstract the UI as well, making it possible to write shared code for the entire application. This capability comes with new considerations and questions:

• How is the design process different for a UI that renders correctly on all platforms and form factors? How do you lead a client through it?

• What are the limitations, and how do you guide a client through them?

• How do you efficiently organize solutions, projects, shared resources?

• What happens when a new OS update comes out?

• What automated testing and build processes are now possible? How do you test shared UI?

But most importantly: How do you sell your new cross platform capabilities to clients?

Presented By Frank Markovich
Frank is a lifelong coder. In 1981, at the age of 10, he “cracked” the Telengard game on TRS-80 Model III to get more experience points than the rest of his family. He started writing software professionally in 1995 with Allaire Cold Fusion connected through ODBC to a proprietary Unix database backend. Frank learned Java Servlets and JSP at Deluxe Check in 2000, and worked on the consumer check reordering web app. He moved to ASP.Net C# in 2002.

Frank wrote the first web application in the incentive marketing industry to connect to Sabre and use points to book airline tickets. He was a Software Architect and consultant through 2010, and has held senior management positions since then. Frank currently leads and manages the services development team at ITR-Mobility.

About the Group
Led by local developers, the Minnesota Enterprise Mobile User Group is a place to come together to share knowledge, experiences, and lessons learned with the development community regarding enterprise mobile development, with a focus on mobile cross-platform application development and the Xamarin toolset. Our goal is to cover all areas of the Enterprise Mobile landscape.

Tuesday, August 26th, 5:30 – 8:00 pm
5:30–6:30 pm Social hour featuring food and drinks
6:30–8:00 pm Presentation and discussion

MentorMate
3036 Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55408

Parking
It is recommended to park in the Calhoun Square Ramp. Street parking is also available.
If you need help, text us at 920.242.3090.

Join our Meetup Group to connect with other members and be the first to know about upcoming events and speakers.

RSVP HERE: http://www.meetup.com/Minnesota-Enterprise-Mobile/

Sponsored by RBA and Xamarin

Join us for our July event at the RBA corporate office in Wayzata, overlooking beautiful Lake Minnetonka. This is a FREE event and a great opportunity for networking and the latest insights in mobile development.

July Topic – Building iOS User Interfaces with Xamarin

Xamarin 3 introduced the Xamarin Designer for iOS, a visual designer for iOS user interfaces. This session will provide an introduction to the new designer in addition to examining alternative methods of creating an iOS UI in code. Lessons learned from project experience will be used to compare and contrast the approaches.

Xamarin designer topics include working with storyboards, segues, adding and referencing controls, Auto Layout, and designing with custom UI classes.

Presented By Dan Lamppa
Dan is the Mobile Tech Lead at RBA. Dan has developed software professionally for 20 years, but his love of computers started long before that. He’s worked on web sites, web services, desktop applications and mobile apps from the UI to the business layer to data storage layer. His worked on his first Mobile project six years ago using Windows Mobile 6. He has been focused on mobile development ever since and has built many apps with Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android.

About the Group
Led by local developers, the Minnesota Enterprise Mobile User Group is a place to come together to share knowledge, experiences, and lessons learned with the development community regarding enterprise mobile development, with a focus on mobile cross-platform application development and the Xamarin toolset. Our goal is to cover all areas of the Enterprise Mobile landscape.

Join us for this free event for networking, food and great information.

Tuesday, July 22nd, 5:30 – 8:00 pm
5:30–6:30 pm Social hour featuring food, craft beer, wine, and sodas
6:30–8:00 pm Presentation and discussion

Free parking available at the Boatworks building.
** The Boatworks building has a lot going on this evening (another tech group meeting, the 6Smith restaurant, beach goers, etc.), so if you are having problems finding free parking in the lot, valet parking is available via the 6Smith restaurant valet service for $5.00 **

Hosted at RBA
294 Grove Lane East, #100
Wayzata, MN 55391

If you need help, text us at 920.242.3090.

Join our Meetup Group to connect with other members and be the first to know about upcoming events and speakers.

RSVP HERE: http://www.meetup.com/Minnesota-Enterprise-Mobile/

Sponsored by RBA and Xamarin

Xamarin recently released version 3 of their cross-platform mobile development products. One of the highlights of the release was Xamarin.Forms.

Xamarin.Forms allows you to build native UIs for iOS, Android and Windows Phone from a single, shared C# codebase, while still maintaining access to all of the native APIs on each platform.

We will take a look at this new framework and how it almost eliminates the need for any platform-specific code. Entire applications can be quickly assembled using pre-built UI view templates and can be easily customized using Xamarin’s implementation of the XAML user interface definition language.

Presented By Jeremy Ellis
Jeremy Ellis has been a Microsoft .NET Framework software developer since 2002 and a healthcare software developer since 2004. He has been working with mobile devices and Xamarin technology since 2011. He is a Xamarin Certified Mobile Developer (iOS and Android) and is also Microsoft certified. He is currently developing a cross-platform clinical app for the iPad and other tablet devices.

About the Group
Led by local developers, the Minnesota Enterprise Mobile User Group is a place to come together to share knowledge, experiences, and lessons learned with the development community regarding enterprise mobile development, with a focus on mobile cross-platform application development and the Xamarin toolset. Our goal is to cover all areas of the Enterprise Mobile landscape.

Join us for this free event for networking, food and great information.

Tuesday, June 24th, 5:30 – 7:45 pm
5:30–6:30 pm will be social hour with free food and drinks
6:30–7:45 pm will be the presentation and discussion

Hosted at American Academy of Neurology
201 Chicago Avenue South, Training Room A
Minneapolis, MN 55401

If you need help, text us at 612.709.6515.

Join our Meetup Group to connect with other members and be the first to know about upcoming events and speakers.

RSVP HERE: http://www.meetup.com/Minnesota-Enterprise-Mobile/

Sponsored by RBA and Xamarin

Nearly any mobile app needs to manage data. This month’s session will examine the many options offered for data storage in Xamarin-based apps such as SQLite, Key/Value pairs, and local file system storage. We will cover the nuts and bolts and pros and cons of each approach using examples in C# on iOS. We will also discuss the best fit use cases for each approach.

Presented By Loren Horsager
Loren is the Founder and CEO of Mobile Composer and has been in the software industry since 1996.

About the Group
Led by local developers, the Minnesota Enterprise Mobile User Group is a place to come together to share knowledge, experiences, and lessons learned with the development community regarding enterprise mobile development, with a focus on mobile cross-platform application development and the Xamarin toolset. Our goal is to cover all areas of the Enterprise Mobile landscape.

Join us for this free event at RBA overlooking beautiful Lake Minnetonka and enjoy Memorial Day Part 2 with Famous Dave’s, craft beer, wine, and sodas.

Tuesday, May 27th, 5:30 – 8:00 pm
5:30–6:30 pm will be social hour with free food and drinks
6:30–8:00 pm will be the presentation and discussion

Hosted at RBA
294 Grove Lane East #100
Wayzata, MN

Free parking available at the Boatworks building.

If you need help, text us at 612.709.6515.

Join our Meetup Group to connect with other members and be the first to know about upcoming events and speakers.

RSVP HERE: http://www.meetup.com/Minnesota-Enterprise-Mobile/

Sponsored by RBA and Xamarin

So we’re here at Mobile March, as I am sure many of you are too. We have decided to take the month off… So no meeting next Tuesday! Our next meeting will be 4/22/14 – details to come.

We have put together an anonymous survey for you to give some feedback regarding the MNEM group, please participate and help us improve the group and meetings!
Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KBC97LB

We have also received a box of swag from Xamarin to give out at each meeting!

If anyone wishes to present next month let us know!

Thanks!

Come and learn the conceptual and practical aspects of iBeacons. This emerging technology can be used to receive micro-location updates and trigger intelligent actions. We will review iBeacon vendors and examine the limitations and security aspects of the technology.

You probably want to see some code too! We will build and walk through a sample iBeacon iOS app using Xamarin. If time permits we will also look at iBeacon on Android.

Presented by Anurag Shukla
Anurag is an application developer working for Starkey and has been coding in C# for last 6 years and making iOS apps for last 5 years. His area of interests are medical device, medical imaging and real estate.

About the Group
Led by local developers, the Minnesota Enterprise Mobile User Group is a place to come together to share knowledge, experiences, and lessons learned with the development community regarding enterprise mobile development, with a focus on mobile cross-platform application development and the Xamarin toolset. Our goal is to cover all areas of the Enterprise Mobile landscape.

This is a free event

Tuesday, February 25, 5 – 7:30pm,
5-6pm: Free food & drinks
6pm: Presentation & Discussion

Hosted at StoneArch Creative
710 South 2nd Street #7
Minneapolis, MN

Call or txt 612.709.6515 if you have troubles getting in the building or finding your way!

Join our Meetup Group to connect with other members and be the first to know about upcoming events and speakers.

RSVP HERE: http://www.meetup.com/Minnesota-Enterprise-Mobile/

Sponsored by RBA and Xamarin

Creating enterprise-caliber mobile applications presents a myriad of problems. One of those problems is having an entirely separate team of developers with an entirely separate skillset for each platform on which you’d like your app to work. Cross-platform mobile development seeks to alleviate this problem.

In this talk, we’ll take a deep-dive into the Appcelerator platform. We’ll take an in-depth look at the Appcelerator approach to solving this problem, as well as briefly touch upon native development and other technologies’ cross-platform solutions and when each one may be appropriate to use. We’ll also go over some best practices for Appcelerator development for the enterprise environment and take a tour through the Appcelerator tools.

Presented by Vince Bullinger
Vince has been a passionate developer and consultant since 2005. He is currently an independent contractor. He received his MCSD for .NET with C# back in 2008. In recent years, he’s immersed himself in front end technologies. Even more recently, he’s developed a passion for mobile development, specifically of the cross-platform variety.

More about the Minnesota Enterprise Mobile User Group
RSVP and put us on your calendar every 4th Tuesday! We will be meeting at a variety of venues. We are also planning supplemental specials interest meetings and training sessions in the future!

It’s always free to attend thanks to the support of our sponsor. Oh yea did I mention free food and drinks?

Tuesday, Nov 26, 5 – 7:30pm,
5-6pm: Free food & drinks,
6pm: Presentation & Discussion

Hosted at American Academy of Neurology
201 Chicago Avenue
Minneapolis, MN

Call or txt 612.709.6515 if you have troubles getting in the building or finding your way!

Join our Meetup Group to connect with other members and be the first to know about upcoming events and speakers.
RSVP HERE: http://www.meetup.com/Minnesota-Enterprise-Mobile/

Our Sponsors

RBA Consulting
http://www.rbaconsulting.com

Xamarin
http://www.xamarin.com

Led by local developers, the Minnesota Enterprise Mobile User Group is a place to come together to share knowledge, experiences, and lessons learned with the development community regarding enterprise mobile development, with a focus on Mobile cross-platform application development and the Xamarin toolset. Our goal is to cover all areas of the Enterprise Mobile landscape. Free food at every meeting!

This meetup will get everyone up to speed on Xamarin.

With so many mobile devices and platforms on the market, developing a robust application for multiple mobile platforms is a common challenge.

Xamarin’s tools allow you to develop applications for iOS, Android, and Windows using C# while providing native performance and the ability to access the full native APIs. This supports the rich user experience that customers are demanding.

We’ll look at the options for cross platform mobile development and take a more in depth look at Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android. We’ll also discuss techniques to maximize code reuse when developing for multiple platforms.

Presented by Joe Koletar
Joe is the Mobile Solution Lead for RBA’s Application Development practice. He has over 25 years of information technology experience as an Architect, Development Manager and Software Engineer. He has successfully led several large projects from conception to completion. In his current role, Joe is involved in the latest mobile technology and is responsible for RBA’s mobile development strategy.

More about the Minnesota Enterprise Mobile User Group
RSVP and put us on your calendar every 4th Tuesday! We will be meeting at a variety of venues. We are also planning supplemental specials interest meetings and training sessions in the future!

It’s always free to attend thanks to the support of our sponsor. Oh yea did I mention free food and drinks?

Tuesday, Oct 22, 5 – 7:30pm,
5-6pm: Free food & drinks,
6pm: Presentation & Discussion

Hosted at Starkey Labs in Eden Prairie
6455 Flying Cloud Drive Suite 107
Eden Prairie, MN

Directions & Parking
Please note that the building is shared with other businesses and Google Maps labels it “Xiotech Corporation”. Please park and enter at the southeast side of the building. The public entrance to the building is labeled “Starkey Tech Center II”.
Call or txt 612.709.6515 if you have troubles getting in the building or finding your way!

Join our Meetup Group to connect with other members and be the first to know about upcoming events and speakers.
RSVP HERE: http://www.meetup.com/Minnesota-Enterprise-Mobile/

Our Sponsors

RBA Consulting
http://www.rbaconsulting.com

Xamarin
http://www.xamarin.com

Led by local developers, the Minnesota Enterprise Mobile User Group is a place to come together to share knowledge, experiences, and lessons learned with the development community regarding enterprise mobile development, with a focus on Mobile cross-platform application development and the Xamarin toolset. Our goal is to cover all areas of the Enterprise mobile landscape. Free pizza and beer at every meeting!

Join us at the debut meeting to be a part of it from the beginning!

We will kick off the group’s inaugural meeting with an introduction to the group and its charter. We will also facilitate an open discussion regarding the group’s plans for future meetings and events. Finally, nationally recognized speaker Adam Grocholski, Technical Evangelist at Microsoft, will be delivering the following presentation:

Building a back end for all of your apps
Creating a back end for your multi-platform mobile applications can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to be. With a relational database, custom API’s, job scheduling, push notification services, common identity providers, autoscaling, and source control, Windows Azure Mobile Services provides a one stop shop for all the back end needs of today’s mobile applications. In this presentation you will learn how easy it is to set up Azure Mobile Services and get started focusing on what’s important – your application!

About Adam Grocholski
Adam is an evangelist for Microsoft where he works with students, developers, and startups to help bring their ideas off the whiteboard and into reality using the latest and greatest technology. He is also a big believer in giving back to the development community, which is why you can often find him at user groups, code camps, and conferences. When not writing code or speaking, you can usually find him hanging out with his amazing wife and their three awesome daughters.

More about the Minnesota Enterprise Mobile User Group
RSVP and put us on your calendar every 4th Tuesday! We will be meeting at a variety of venues. We are also planning supplemental specials interest meetings and training sessions in the future!

It’s always free to attend thanks to the support of our sponsor. Oh yeah did I mention free pizza and beer?

Tuesday, Sept 24, 5 – 7:30pm,
5-6pm: Happy Hour with free food & drinks,
6pm: Presentation & Discussion

Hosted at RBA Consulting
294 Grove Ln E, Suite 100
Wayzata, MN 55391

Join our Meetup Group to connect with other members and be the first to know about upcoming events and speakers.
RSVP HERE: http://www.meetup.com/Minnesota-Enterprise-Mobile/

Our Sponsors

RBA Consulting
http://www.rbaconsulting.com

Xamarin
http://www.xamarin.com