One of our development teams had a chance to update Desklighter over in the labs.  Of course one of the obvious questions would be around its functionality as it compares to the new features offered in Silverlight 3 and Out of Browser (OOB) support.  Find that answer below and grab the latest update on the Desklighter page here.

How is this different from Silverlight Out-of-Browser(OOB) feature?

OOB helps in storing a hosted Silverlight application onto your desktop for running it from outside the browser. It does not help you in making it portable. The application created by OOB will work only on the systems where they were installed. Desklighter can create truly portable exes that can be distributed in any media.

Customization of OOB application window is limited to its size, title, and icon, etc. Desklighter supports all this, plus border type (re-sizable, fixed, none), background color (transparency is also supported), and init parameters.

Blendables Essentials Mix 1.2, Blendables Layout Mix 1.1 and Blendables 3D Mix 1.1 are now available.

To upgrade your license simply log in and use the MyLicenses page to receive your updated key.  You can read more about the MyLicenses page here.

You can find the new versions of the installers at these locations:

Blendables Essentials Mix 1.2 Installer

Blendables Layout Mix 1.1 Installer

Blendables 3D Mix 1.1 Installer

Also you can find a set of the release notes available for download here: Blendables Release Notes (.pdf) 

Thanks all for your feedback in making the blendables products better,

Kurt

As we prep to rollout the new versions of the products I wanted to update everyone on the MyLicenses functionality of blendables.com.  If you have purchased the product you will see a My Licenses tab in the upper right of blendables.com

This is how you manage your license keys for both you and your organization.

1.  Here you will find you current product key.

2.  This is the date your 1 year support contract expires (which is included with purchase).  You need this to be current to download an updated build.

3.  This shows which version your key is valid for.  The key is valid for builds up to that version.  If the valid version is less than the current version a "Request new key" link will be available.  Just click on that and if you have a valid support contract you will be given the updated key. 

4.  This is the current latest version that is available.

5.  This allows you to assign your keys to others in your organization.  If they are not a blendables user an account will be created and emailed to them.  This is useful for when a manager buys 10 keys for his team but wants to assign out the keys to each individual.  They key can be used/reassigned by the purchaser or the user.

We've tried to put ourselves in your shoes and provide the easiest licensing experience that fits your needs while providing a little bit of protection on our end.  If you are facing any difficulties in using this system please let us know at support@blendables.com.

Thanks all,
Kurt

One of our forum users asked if we had a CoverFlow like sample to share for the 3D Mix.  In fact we've had this sample in mind for a bit so this was a perfect opportunity to release it to the community.

You can find the sample here:  http://blendables.com/files/folders/3d_samples/entry829.aspx

One of our engineers John Zolezzi put together the following writeup explaining the sample. 

To utilize it, just open in Visual Studio 2008, add the IdentityMine.Windows and IdentityMine.Windows.Media3D references and you should be good to go.

Blendables 3D mix gives you the flexibility to create your own custom layouts.   This example shows how to create your own layout and model generator to implement your own tile turn view.  This is similar to the one found in iTunes cover flow.  The key classes that implement this custom layout are TileTurnLayout and ModelFromTemplateVisual3DGenerator.

TileTurnLayout class controls how the models are placed in the view by implementing a function called GetItemTransforms from Layout3D.  GetItemTransforms passes a list of created models and data associated for each item.  The function expects a list of Transform3D objects for each item.  You can create multiple transforms for each item by using a Transform3DGroup. 

The class also has a property called CenteredItemOffset which controls which item is centered in the view.  When this property is changed the 3D mix framework calls GetItemTransforms again. Notice that this property is a double instead of a normal index value to allow smooth animation by calling GetItemTransforms more often.  So from 0 to 1, you would get calls for 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, etc as determined by the animation you have setup.  This example has the slide animation defined:

<DoubleAnimation x:Key="SlideAnimation" Duration="0:0:0.7" DecelerationRatio="1" AccelerationRatio="0" />

The second part of this implementation is creating the models from the data in TileTurnControl’s ItemsSource.   We created a custom model generator called ModelFromTemplateVisual3DGenerator.  This class creates the model with reflection from each item passed to ItemsSource.  It also uses a DataTemplate passed to the TileTurnControl.   It implements GetItemVisual3D defined in Visual3DGeneratorBase.  GetItemVisual3D pass you the data from the item and expects a model in return.

While utilizing the Layout Mix internally here at IdentityMine we found a small issue which we thought was worth fixing.  A description of the change from one of our engineers:

MakeVisible method in StackPanel and StackedStackPanel may not work correctly with some layouts.  Now the function is more reliable now that is uses the contstraint size of the panel rather than its desired or rendered size.

Because it is small issue we have left the version at 1.0 and thus there is not need to upgrade your product key to get the fix.  You can find the updated build here: http://blendables.com/files/folders/layout_installer/entry595.aspx

Thanks all,

Kurt

We launched the new products last week and wanted to turn out a quick new set of builds to address some oddities reported by current customers.  The new builds can be found here:

Essentials 1.1 Mix: http://blendables.com/files/folders/installer/entry593.aspx

Layout 1.0 Mix: http://blendables.com/files/folders/layout_installer/entry595.aspx

3D 1.0 Mix:  http://blendables.com/files/folders/3d_installer/entry594.aspx

The specific issues addressed were:

-  Fixed VS2008 Design Surface error noted here: http://blendables.com/forums/t/275.aspx
-  Fix for BlendablesViewer.exe crash when using a Zune Desktop Theme on Windows XP.
-  AutoStretchStackPanel Sample error.
-  Fixed a bug reported with NUnit automated testing framework.

After a few long weeks of final testing we have pulled back the curtain on our latest product offerings.  In addition to shipping 2 new and 1 updated product we have also revamped portions of blendables.com to help you manage your product keys.  Yes that's right, Product Keys, not Activation Keys.  We hope you enjoy the new changes and we look forward to continuing to provide great support for all of our existing and hopefully our group of new customers.

Updates

• All Products now work on a no activation model.  You will be given a unique product key for each licensed purchased which will be used to install and use the product.
• 1 Year of Support and Updates now included
• MyLicenses Tab - This new page will be active once you have purchased a license.  You can reassign licenses to different individuals to ensure they have proper access to the customer support forum.
• All Products now $395 per developer license.
• New Mixer Sample Viewer application with new samples to get you started utilizing all of the Blendables Products

Blendables Essentials Mix 1.1 - http://blendables.com/products/productsEmix.aspx

Blendables Layout Mix 1.0 - http://blendables.com/products/productsLayoutmix.aspx 

Blendables 3D Mix 1.0 - http://blendables.com/products/products3Dmix.aspx

We look forward to rolling out additional information in the forum of video tutorials and additional samples/documentation in the coming weeks.

Thanks all,

The Blendables Team

It's always great to see our customers sharing tips and tricks on using blendables.  Recently one of our customers, Slow Train Software, wrote up a few EvalBinding syntax examples that I thought other customers might like to check out.  You can check them out here:

http://blog.slowtrain.ie/?p=6

Kurt

This morning we're happy to announce new updates to www.blendables.com/labs.  In addition to our new river style layout of projects we've also posted a new utility called "Desklighter"

Desklighter is a windows utility that can convert Silverlight applications into standalone desktop applications. The output from Desklighter is a single executable file that can display the Silverlight content on windows desktops without requiring a hosting server or a browser. Desklighter enables users to carry a Silverlight application off the web to wherever they need it.

You can read more about Desklighter here: http://blendables.com/labs/Desklighter/Default.aspx and as always if you have any questions or feedback please let us know in the Labs Forum group: http://blendables.com/forums/45.aspx

Enjoy and check back often for new and fun side projects on Blendables Labs!

Kurt 

July CTPs run out of gas tonight so we dropped a couple new builds.

Layout Mix August CTP: http://blendables.com/files/folders/layout_ctp/entry455.aspx

3D Mix August CTP: http://blendables.com/files/folders/3d_ctp/entry456.aspx

These should be identical to the July CTP builds with just an updated expireation date of September 30, 2008.

We're extremely close to finishing up the next two products and will also be announcing some updates to the product line as a whole.  I can't share the exact details just yet but it should make a lot of current and new customers happy.

Thanks for being blendables customers, fans, skeptics, etc and for coming along with us as we build out these exciting new products.

Kurt

The expiration for the existing CTPs is set to expire Friday, June 13, 2008.

We decided to take a snapshot in our current developement and release two new July CTPs.

Layout Mix July CTP: http://blendables.com/files/folders/layout_ctp/entry455.aspx

3D Mix July CTP: http://blendables.com/files/folders/3d_ctp/entry456.aspx

There were some property changes and thus we also reposted all the samples to ensure they work properly with the July CTPs.  We are working on a list of changes as well as some new samples to demonstrate new features.  You can expect to see some of those soon. 

Enjoy and as always please post to the forurms if you have ANY questions.  You can also email us at support@blendables.com if there are any questions that can't be posted.

Kurt

Josh Smith, creator of Podder, the WPF podcast player app, has announced a Podder Skinning Competition.  To help draw attention to the contest and to support the WPF community we have up'd the ante a bit by providing a free copy of blendables essentials mix to the winner.

Contest Page: http://joshsmithonwpf.wordpress.com/podder-skinning-competition/

Blog Post from Josh on Blendables: http://joshsmithonwpf.wordpress.com/2008/05/07/identitymine-sweetens-the-pot/

Good luck to all that enter!

The blendables team

Here's a little deeper rundown on the new features in the Layout Mix (May CTP Release). 

The Layout mix now includes full support for enter and exit animations when children are added to or removed from an animation panel.  The March CTP had a number of hooks for the enter and exit animations, but they were not yet implemented.  These new animations are in addition to the existing support for layout animations and switch animations (which come into play when the panel is used within the Layouts collection of a SwitchPanel). 

The May CTP also introduces a couple of new animation panels: Carousel and Grid.  Like all animation panels, these new panels can be used as layouts within a SwitchPanel or they can serve as standalone panels.

The new Grid panel behaves just like the native WPF Grid but it adds all of the goodness that is provided by the AnimationPanel base class.  This includes animated repositioning of the grid's children and support for enter and exit animations when children are added or removed from the panel.

The new Carousel panel is a 2D panel that arranges its children in an elliptical layout.  By default, the panel will scale its children and set their z-index values to create a 2D layout that has the appearance of a 3D carousel.  For greater control, you may opt out of this automatic scaling and ordering behavior and control the scale and z-indices via bindings to attached properties on the children.  Here is a sample demonstrating how the Carousel panel can be used as an items host for a ListBox.

Finally, the May CTP introduces a new "SwitchTemplate" concept to augment the SwitchPanel class.  Just to recap the purpose of SwitchPanel a bit...  SwitchPanel is all about layout-to-layout animations in WPF.  The active layout of a SwitchPanel can be set to any AnimationPanel.  Transitions between layouts are animated using an iterative animator that can be specified on the SwitchPresenter or on individual animation panels within the Layouts collection. 

The animator that is used to perform switch animations (or for enter, exit, or layout animations in an animation panel) can be a custom class that provides frame-based or time-based updates.  It can also be any one of the included animators that ship as part of the Blendables library.  These existing animators are built upon the Penner animation equations.

Using the new SwitchTemplate concept that is introduced in the May CTP, you can now place SwitchPresenter elements anywhere within the element subtree of a SwitchPanel.  When the active layout of the owning SwitchPanel changes, the template of the SwitchPresenter elements will automatically be updated to the SwitchTemplate associated with the new layout.  Not only will this result in a template change, but any items within the new template that can be mapped to items within the old template (because they share the same SwitchTemplate.ID attached property value) will automatically animate to their new positions.  This subelement animation will occur using the same animator that is used for switch animations in the SwitchPanel.

Stay tuned for samples demonstrating all of these cool new features.  We look forward to hearing your feedback!

Cheers!
-Jonathan

Tonight sometime your March CTPs for the Layout and 3D mix are set to expire.  Good news though.  We have new CTPs for your CTPing pleasure.

Report for the Layout Mix:

• New May CTP Uploaded (expiration June 13) - http://blendables.com/files/folders/layout_ctp/entry455.aspx
• Enter and Exit Animations for both AnimationPanel and SwitchPanel
• SwitchTemplate Support for SwitchPanel
• New Carousel panel as AnimationPanel
• New Grid as AnimationPanel
• We'll have samples posted shortly.

Report for the 3D Mix:

• New May CTP Uploaded (expiration June 13, 2008) - http://blendables.com/files/folders/3d_ctp/entry456.aspx
• No breaking changes to report.

As always please let us know if you have any questions in the support forums.

Thanks all!

Kurt

Earlier this week IdentityMine and the blendables team jumped at the opportunity to help support 'The Code Trip', Microsoft's ongoing bus tour of the Western US.  At each stop starting in Irvine, CA the blendables crew has added blendables essentials mix as prize giveaways. 

I'll be driving down to San Luis Obispo, CA this upcoming Monday, March 31 to join up with the tour.  I'll be riding with the crew up to Santa Cruz and will be at the Mountain View and San Franciso events as well.  If you can make it out be sure to track me down.

You can find more info about the trip here:

Events: http://thecodetrip.com/1/events

Travel Log: http://thecodetrip.com/1/blog

Hope to see you on the road!

- Kurt