We were excited to announce an expanded global partnership with Microsoft at the Connect(); developer event in November. This next step includes Xamarin templates for building iOS and Android apps directly within Visual Studio 2015 as well as special Xamarin offers for MSDN subscribers. Get the details of the partnership on our blog. Learn more »
Apple has announced that as of February 1st, 2015, new submissions to the App Store must be built against the iOS 8 SDK and include 64-bit support. Additionally, apps already published in the App Store must meet the requirements as of June 1st, 2015. The stable release of our new Unified APIs, which include 64-bit support, will ship on January 5th and we encourage developers of iOS NuGets, libraries, and Components to begin updating now with the iOS Unified API support we are currently shipping in our Xamarin Studio and Visual Studio beta channels. Get ready for 64-bit »
In October we released the IBM MobileFirst SDK for Xamarin, which enables C# developers to build native enterprise-grade mobile apps for iOS and Android devices by seamlessly integrating with the IBM MobileFirst platform. This month, we released a webinar overview co-hosted with IBM and a detailed blog post to help you get started with the SDK. Get the IBM MobileFirst SDK »
Xamarin.UITest is a C#-based testing framework that enables automated UI acceptance tests for iOS and Android applications that can be uploaded to Xamarin Test Cloud and tested on over 1,000 real devices. The best thing about Xamarin.UITest is that it tests any mobile app regardless of the platform it’s written in – Objective-C, Java, Xamarin, or third party frameworks. In this video blog post, learn the steps to utilize UITest and how to use the interactive shell (REPL) included with Xamarin.UITest to explore the views on a screen and automate interactions with the application. Get started with Xamarin Test Cloud »
We recently introduced two student-focused programs to make it even easier for young people to get started with mobile development and Xamarin. Students enrolled in a degree or diploma-granting course of study are eligible for free subscriptions of Xamarin Indie, while Student Ambassadors can help fellow students build amazing mobile apps in C# and get recognition and rewards from Xamarin for their efforts. Learn more and apply »
We had some incredible speakers give talks at Xamarin Evolve 2014, and all of that content is now available for you to watch on the conference homepage. Don’t know where to begin? We’ve pulled out the Top 5 Xamarin Evolve 2014 videos to get you started:
1.    Your First Xamarin.Forms App - Craig Dunn, Xamarin
2.    A Canon in C# - Jon Skeet, Google
3.    Building Cross-Platform Apps with Xamarin, Xamarin.Forms and MVVM Light - Laurent Bugnion, IdentityMine
4.    XAML for Xamarin.Forms - Charles Petzold, Xamarin
5.    Let Awesome = Apps | Seq.map F# - Larry O'Brien, Xamarin
We're seeking smart people who are passionate about mobile development to jump into our fast-paced, collaborative environment. Apply to join the Xamarin team, where you'll work with talented mobile experts and enjoy life-enhancing perks, including catered healthy lunches, dog friendly offices, and a monthly gym benefit. Check out our Facebook and Instagram profiles for a peek into being a Xamarin. View our open positions »
 
 
UPCOMING EVENTS
 
 
XHackers
Learn cross platform mobile game development, Android 5.0 Lollipop features, Material Design in Xamarin.Android and access native platform feature such as Camera in Xamarin.Forms with Xamarin Evangelist Nish Anil.
Dec 20, Bangalore, India »

CodeMash
Join Xamarin Evangelist James Montemagno as he introduces Google's Android Wear with Xamarin. He’ll take you through the awesome new features of Android Wear and the tools required to start building Wear apps. He'll extend a current app with rich notifications and even create a brand new app from scratch live on stage that runs right on your Android Wear device.
Jan 6-9, Sandusky, OH »

DC iOS Developers' Meetup
Join the DC iOS Developers’ Meetup in February for an introduction to Xamarin, including a demo on getting started with Xamarin.
Feb 4, Washington, DC »

Visual Studio Live
Save the date for Visual Studio Live in 2015. With stops in Las Vegas, Austin, San Francisco, New York, and Orlando, there’s sure to be a conference near you. Are you a Xamarin expert? There’s still time to submit a talk proposal for the event that suits your schedule.
Mar-Nov, 2015, USA »
 
 
TIPS AND TRICKS
 
 
Mobile Essentials: Productivity Tools for Mobile Developers: XAML Intellisense for Xamarin.Forms in Visual Studio is here with Mobile Essentials. Xamarin’s Daniel Cazzulino walks you through the simple setup process.

CocosSharp Games on Amazon Fire TV Stick: Developer Evangelist Mike Bluestein show us how easy it is to update your CocosSharp game to run on the brand new Fire TV Stick and Fire TV with full controller support.

Working with Xamarin.Forms Resources: Take a look at how to easily share resource diction your Xamarin.Forms apps with Jesse Liberty.

Text To Speech Plugin for Xamarin: Our very own James Montemagno has been releasing several cross-platform plugins. His most recent release, Text to Speech, gives developers a simple cross-platform TTS api for their mobile apps.

Transitioning, Animating, and Scaling to Infinity!: Jérémie Laval, one of Xamarin’s Android experts, showcases some of the latest Lollipop features in his Infinity series. Check out how easy it is to add some beautiful new features to your app.

Stuart Lodge on Visual Studio and Xamarin: Stuart Lodge, creator of the MvvmCross framework for cross platform apps, delivered a great session at Future Decoded UK about “Visual Studio & Xamarin: Native C# Apps on iOS & Android Devices.”
 
 
 
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