Today I am going to demonstrate one way to convert an inline navigation to a mobile navigation using media queries.

View an example here.

Or from this:

To this:

We start with a basic unordered list.

   <ul class="falafelConNav">  
    <li><a href="#"> About </a></li>  
    <li><a href="#"> Agenda </a></li>  
    <li><a href="#"> Sessions </a></li>  
    <li><a href="#"> Speakers</a></li>  
    <li><a href="#"> Sponsors</a></li>  
    <li><a href="#"> Venue</a></li>  
    <li><a href="#"> Register</a> </li>  
   </ul>  

The idea is to change the css when the screen reaches a certain size, in this case 480px. to do this we use a media query like ...

In my previous post,  I demonstrated how to implement a SQLite database in your Cordova mobile app using the SQLite plugin in Telerik's Icenium IDE.  Now we will see how to add barcode scanning to your app using the Barcode Scanner plugin.  Previously, we built a Shopping List app that lets you add items, mark them as complete, and clear completed items while storing all data in a local SQLite database.  Now we will add a new "Scan" feature so users can scan a barcode to add items to their list.

First, we need to add the Barcode ...

For years I've always liked the idea of having the ability to develop on the road. Few who know me would ever deny that I'm a true road warrior, although I'm beginning to slow down. Whether it was taking my kids all over the world to fence, chasing storms, hiking off the trail, or even jet skiing at the lake, I often had my laptop with me. I've come up with some of my best ideas while on the road. However, the size and bulk of my various laptops always had me wishing for something else.

The Surface RT ...

In some of my previous WP7 blogs, such as Basic XNA Graphics for the WP7, I go over how to build basic 3D models for your applications. What happens when you want something more complex? You need a good 3D tool to generate those models for you. I started exploring Google SketchUp as a possibility for generating 3D models for the WP7. I found Jim’s Blog on how to load a Google SketchUp model into a XNA game. Jim used the DirectX/XNA Exporter Plugin. So I installed the plugin and started playing around. I thought it would ...

It has been said that good things come to those who wait. If you've been waiting to learn how to build Windows Phone applications, we have some good news. We are offering a 50% discount on our upcoming training class taking place April 4th - 6th. Join our expert trainers for 3 4-hour online sessions and they will walk you through Windows Phone Development, from project setup to submitting your app to the store. 

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We were very excited last week with the release of Sitefinity 5.  It has been running fast and solid on several machines (servers) here at Falafel Software.

One blemish though was the major breaking change to the authentication of the REST APIs.  If you are upgrading from a 4.x site to 5.0, no worry that change will not affect you (not right away at least), but if you are setting up a brand new Sitefinity 5 Web Application, the default authentication has changed from FORMS authentication to CLAIMS authentication which will break any code previously written using the REST API ...

I’ve been looking at several alternate reality application ideas and how to best show the real world on the phone. It’s easy to get the camera preview to show up in a WP7 application, but sometimes you want to maximize the camera preview in the screen. One problem is that the camera preview is a different size and aspect ratio than the WP7 screen. The size differences are illustrated below.

The WP7 screen is 480x800 and the camera preview is 480x640. If you want to show controls, then you can use the extra space at the top and bottom. ...

If you missed my blog about showing the WP7 magnetometer in 3D with an XNA/Silverlight application, you can read about it by clicking here. We are in the process of putting this application in the Marketplace so you’ll be able to check it out on your phone shortly. One of the steps in the Marketplace process is coming up with screenshots of the application. You can always use the screen capture option in the Windows Phone Emulator; however, in this case it was going to take some code to emulate the magnetometer sensor. Figuring out how to take screen ...

So what's the big deal?

We are giving you a chance to see for yourself. On Feb 10th at 12PM EST, join us in our free Windows Phone webinar, "The ...

Falafel Software is pleased to announce that renowned software architect and industry speaker Lance Bullock has been promoted to V.P. of Mobile Solutions at Falafel Software. Bullock has been essential to the growth of Falafel’s mobile business over the past two years, delivering mobile solutions to Falafel’s customers on time and on budget, drawing large crowds as a speaker at industry events such as Silicon Valley Code Camp and the Sprint Open Solutions Conference, and producing several mobile applications for iPhone and Android, including Falafel’s flagship mobile product, EventBoard.

“I am truly honored to have Lance Bullock lead our mobile ...

Falafel's mobile conference application, EventBoard (http://www.eventboardmobile.com), just keeps knocking it out of the park. Most recently, a review at EventManagerBlog.com praises the application.

For those not in the event management industry, EventManagerBlog.com is one of the most well respected and well known event management blogs in the world. Author, Julius Solaris recently had an opportunity to experience EventBoard first hand, and has posted his review online. His take?.... “it’s a kick ass mobile conference programme maker.” Read the rest of the review here: http://www.eventmanagerblog.com/mobile/eventboard

With Christmas coming up soon, what better blog can a nerdy geek come up with than to explain how to draw a Santa hat on the WP7 using the XNA Graphics Framework.

I’ve been working with computer graphics on and off for most of my 20+ year career. For me, it all started with OpenGL in the early 90’s. Since then I’ve worked with DirectX and now XNA. It’s amazing how little things have changed over that time. All those frameworks are based on triangles and arrays of vertices and normals. When you learn one of those frameworks, you ...

In my previous post, I showed how to build a mobile web app using jQuery Mobile. Its use of HTML5 data attributes and CSS classes made it pretty straightforward, especially if you are used to building regular websites. The architecture of your mobile website would have to be based on the server-side though, whether this be ASP.NET MVC, PHP, Ruby, etc. Then I came across Sencha Touch which changes this mentality to a more progressive approach… client-side applications!

First let me give you a bit of background about Sencha. These are the guys who made Ext JS, a ...

With the release of the HTC Titan, I needed to update a couple of my previous blogs.

In my blog Silverlight/XNA and Correcting WP7 Attitude Alignment, I talked about how to correct for any misalignment of the Attitude sensors with the phone body. With my Samsung Focus, I found that the Attitude alignment was off by about 3 degrees, which was noticeable in my compass application. The HTC Titan does not need any Attitude adjustment; its Attitude sensors are already inline with the phone body.

In my blog Showing the WP7 Magnetometer in 3D with XNA/Silverlight, I ...