MoreWally.com

StartMonitoringSignificantLocationChanges in iOS 4 question with MonoTouch (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch)

wallym — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:30:00 GMT

I got a question on Twitter the other day about why I am using the StartMonitoringSignificantLocationChanges() feature of the CLLocationManager. I think this link on Apple's Developer site describes why this is significant. The important text for me is:

Applications can register for significant location changes only. (Recommended) The significant-change location service is available in iOS 4 and later for devices with a cellular radio. It offers a low-power way to receive location data and is highly recommended. New location updates are provided only when the user’s position changes significantly. If the application is suspended while running this service, new location updates will cause the application to be woken up in the background to handle them. Similarly, if the application is terminated while running this service, the system relaunches the application automatically when new location data becomes available.

The key parts are:

This is the recommended way to handle changes in the background.
It only works in iOS 4 and later for devices with a cellular radio, so it will only work on the iPhone and 3g iPad (once it gets iOS 4). This means that I have to continually borrow my wife's iPhone, which results in some looks of "wtf do you want with it now."
The user position changes significantly. I think that this is a big deal. The event that you wire up does not go banging on the GPS in the device. That will help with power, though it won't be the same as if it is not using any power. Its better than the alternative of using more power.

Debug/Release Settings for Simulator/iPhone with MonoTouch in iOS Version 4 with MonoDevelop

wallym — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:00:00 GMT

I was working on my iPhone app last night. It requires the features of iOS4. I found a weird behavior. When I ran my app in debug mode on a device, it ran properly. When I ran my app in release mode on a device, I was getting behavior like I was running on iOS3. I was pulling my hair out. After I got back from the gym, I listed my problem on the MonoTouch IRC. Thankfully, someone else had that problem. The issue is that there are different settings for Debug and Release with the Simulator and iPhone. As a result, you have to set the settings appropriately for each configuration. Thankfully, you just need to be aware of this and set it as necessary. Here's the screen you need to be aware of.

MonoTouch - supporting iPhone/iPod Touch/iOS Version 4

wallym — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:00:00 GMT

You may have been hearing about the iOS Version 4 a lot. You probably have installed it onto your iPhone/iPod Touch devices. It's got a couple of cool features that I think are significant. One is the ability to run applications in the background. Now, this isn't general purprose in the background as I understand it. Its for very specific situations. In my specific situation, I wanted to check the location of a phone and call a method when it's location changed (no, I'm not stalking you). Anyway, it looks like there are two steps in the process.

Step on in the process is for the application to tell the device that the app needs to recieve background updates. This is done through the Info.plist file. You will need to modify your file to look like this:

Notice the UIBackgroundModes entry. I added an entry for location. The three possible entries are:

audio.
location.
voip.

I think that they are all fairly self explanatory.

The next step is to run some code to listen for events in the background. My code to do this is:

            cllm = new CLLocationManager();
            cllm.DesiredAccuracy = 1000;
            cllm.StartMonitoringSignificantLocationChanges();
            cllm.StartUpdatingHeading();
            cllm.StartUpdatingLocation();
            cllm.UpdatedLocation += HandleCllmUpdatedLocation; // an event to handle changes

and that seems to be it. I'm getting device updates in the bacground. Life seems to be pretty good on this. FYI, you might need to set your values differently, but this should get the point across.

Thoughts on Windows Phone 7 - Android - iPhone - Blackberry

wallym — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:00:00 GMT

Now, we're 8-9 months down the road from my last posts on Windows Phone, Google Android, and the general mobile marketplace. Wow, how things have changed. First off, Google Android has really taken off in its number of units in the marketplace. While I wasn't the first person to complain about the Droid line of phones, that didn't stop people from buying them. HTC has released a line of Android Phones. I bought the HTC EVO 4g. These are impressive devices.

Now, we know that Microsoft is releasing Windows Phone 7. A lot has been made on twitter Friday about me talking about the product. I didn't realize I was going to start such a s*** storm about it. 52 @ replies by lunchtime. With 140 characters, its hard to full explain your thoughts. Anyway, I wanted to blog about this a little bit more and try and put some more of my thoughts out there.

We need lots of mobile devices out in the marketplace. These devices will have various form factors. Its about hitting a market segment that will buy your product.
There is constant turnover in the mobile device marketplace. If you don't buy an iPhone, Windows Phone, Android device today, you might next year.
Microsoft keeps telling me to develop for their device. Ok, fine. Tell me "What you are doing to get your device into 20-30-40 million users hands next calendar year?" Time is money, and because its my time, it doesn't come from some type of magical bucket of money. My time is valuable. I don't want to waste it on a platform that you aren't pushing or is a dead end. What is your strategy to get your product into enough users hands to make my investment in time valuable? I keep asking this because I don't get a satisfactory answer. In May, the answer was "I can't talk about it now because plans are still be formalized." That's fine. Its the end of August now, what's the plan. I understand that you are putting $500 million into marketing the device. Awesome. What segment are you going after? I feel like you are trying to sell me sizzle, devs are meat and potatoes guys. Trust me doesn't work, show me does. The devil is in the details folks.
Developing on a platform costs money. Web HTML works well because it works across lots of platforms. Now, develop native apps for iPhone, Android, Windows Phone 7. How much does that cost?
What's the story on Windows Phone 7 development hardware? Who's got any hardware? I've asked on Twitter looking for devs in Knoxville with a #WP7 device. Asked for devs in Tennessee. Still waiting on a response. Now, I realize that there is a limited supply of dev devices, but the simulator will only take you so far. For what I'm doing, the simulator isn't going to cut it. Now, I don't need the hardware at this point in time. With no users, I'm not worried about hardware today, but when I ask when will we have access to hardware in the future, it doesn't get answered. I'm not asking for free hardware either. With the iPhone, there is the iPod Touch that you can use for most of your development. With Android, Google has the Nexus One, which is currently sold out. I'd like to see some piece of hardware that I can use without having to buy a phone and its associated minutes. I want a device.
I think the Windows Phone 7 bootcamps are brilliant. Run around the country doing one day training seminars on Windows Phone 7. Brilliant. I'll see you at the Knoxville Windows Phone 7 bootcamp on September 30.
Android is activating 200k devices per day or some similar number. Wow, that's a big number. Even if it's worldwide, its still a big number. Assuming that this is per working day, that's about 4.5 million devices per month and 54 million devices per year. Wow, that's a big number. Clearly Windows Phone 7 will blunt that, but its still a big number. Still Android is there first, and that matters.
RIM may be the big boy of smart phones with 40% of the marketplace, but no one is building apps for their platform. 9,000 apps for the platform? That's nothing.
Apple iPhone devices are where people are spending the most money at. The device costs more, the minutes cost more, and the apps cost more money. There is money there. While there are fewer for pay apps on Android, the volume is significant and does make up for the lower for pay apps.
Apple, Android, and RIM are the big guys in the smartphone application marketplace. Palm was recently purchased by HP, so I suspect that they will re-emerge in 2011. Can Windows Phone 7 make it anything better than #4 in 2011?
I've had conversations with three potential clients about the iPad. No one is asking about Android or Windows tablets. It looks to me that the market wants the iPad.
I have reservations about the iPhone/iPad family of devices. Not that I think that the devices are bad. Far from it, I think the devices are very good. The problem I have with these devices is Apple. Their licensing terms for their SDK and devices makes me really nervous. Remember the story of the scorpion and the dog.
Android is very interesting, but the flood of all of the devices with all the versions of the product. Now, I am impressed with the higher end devices, but not everyone is getting a high end device.
Nobody is developing for RIM devices at this point in time. I think Palm has even less developers.

I guess what I am saying in all of this is that I'm concerned about all of the devices. Understand what you are getting yourself into with the mobile platforms. None are perfect.

Control the Excitement

wallym — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 21:00:00 GMT

Software developers are creatures of extremes. They can love, love, love you one day, and hate, hate, hate you the next day. Right now, we're riding the crest of this love for MonoTouch. Well, we all must remember that Apple is a very interesting company. They can pull the rug out from under you at any moment. And guess what, they don't care. Now, I'm a big fan of MonoTouch. I love the idea of writing C# code to interface with the native Apple iPhone UI. I love writing business logic in a common language.

Back in April, Apple introduced a new license for their iPhone. No one knows what this new licensing really means. Will Apple enforce this in such a way as to eliminate MonoTouch? No one knows. Jeff McWherter and I had a good conversation at devLink on the subject of MonoTouch and ObjectiveC for applications.

The lesson to be learned is that you need to have a full, open, and honest discussion on a technology. With customers, clients, and with yourself. The technology you are pushing won't magically solve all problems in a project, solve world hunger, stop wars, or do anything earth shattering, but it will solve a specific need.

This kinda flows into my own personal thought of: "You are never as good as you are when you are good and you are never as bad as you are when you are bad." If Apple were to cut MonoTouch off tomorrow, wonder how we'll be thought of? Courageous risk takers or idiots that tried to spit into the wind. Hopefully, somewhere in between.

VSLive!Redmond Presentation - ASP.NET 4 AJAX - UpdatePanel, WebForms, and AJAX Control Toolkit

wallym — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 06:45:00 GMT

I've just posted the presentation for my talk at VSLive!Redmond 2010 on "ASP.NET 4 AJAX - UpdatePanel, WebForms, and AJAX Control Toolkit." - Enjoy

Source Code

VSLive!Redmond Presentation - What's New in ASP.NET 4 WebForms

wallym — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 06:45:00 GMT

I've just posted the presentation file from my talk at VSLive!Redmond on "What's New in ASP.NET 4 WebForms." Enjoy.

Source Code.

There's a Language for that...........#6

wallym — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 06:00:00 GMT

Want to support the iPad and the iPhone with one universal executable? There's a language for that: MonoTouch.

There's a Language for that...........#5

wallym — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 06:00:00 GMT

Want to take your existing C#/.NET knowledge to the iPhone and not have to learn a completely new way of doing things? There's a language for that: MonoTouch.

There's a Language for that...........#4

wallym — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 06:00:00 GMT

Want to code like its 2010 and not 1984 and Big Brother is watching you? There's a language for that: MonoTouch

There's a Language for that...........#3

wallym — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 06:00:00 GMT

Want to take your .NET knowledge to the iPhone? There's a language for that: MonoTouch

There's a Language for that...........#2

wallym — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 06:00:00 GMT

Want to share business logic between mobile devices? There's a Language for that: MonoTouch

There's a Language for that...........#1

wallym — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 06:00:00 GMT

Want to program the iPhone? There's a language for that: MonoTouch.

Learn iPhone Programming for Free with Wrox, Novell, and McClure

wallym — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:15:00 GMT

Are you a .NET Developer wanting to get into developing on the Apple iPhone and iPad? Learn iPhone Programming for Free with Wrox, Novell, and McClure. Wrox/Wiley has released Wallace McClure’s Wrox Blox on Novell’s MonoTouch for free. The MonoTouch Wrox Blox is available at: http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-406371.html.

For .NET Developers, Novell has produced the Trial Version of MonoTouch. The Trial Version is a free download that allows a developer to write and build applications and test them in the iPhone simulator. The Trial Version is available at: http://monotouch.net/DownloadTrial.

Wallace B. (Wally) McClure, President of Scalable Development, Inc., is the author of the Wrox Blox on Novell’s MonoTouch and the author of the updated Professional iPhone Programming with MonoTouch recently released. In addition, McClure has produced a downloadable video podcast introducing MonoTouch. The video is available for download from http://aspnetpodcast.com or directly at:http://bit.ly/deMCoJ.

"Want to program the iPhone? Want to share business logic between mobile devices? There's a language for that: MonoTouch."

DevConnections in Las Vegas

wallym — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:30:00 GMT

I'll be at ASP.NET Connections (aka DevConnections) in Las Vegas this November at the Madalay Bay Resort. I'm really excited about this. I'll be speaking on:

ASP.NET 4 WebForms - What's New, Cool, and Hip!
ASP.NET AJAX - UpdatePanel, WebForms, and the AJAX Control ToolKit.
An Introduction to Windows Azure.

Houston TechFest

wallym — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:00:00 GMT

I'm looking forward to the Houston TechFest. I'll be speaking on MonoTouch, ASP.NET WebPages, and MonoDroid (if its been available as beta at that point). I'm excited about this.

VSLive Redmond Coming Up

wallym — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:15:00 GMT

I'm heading out to VSLive next week. I'm really excited about this. I'll be speaking on:

ASP.NET 4 WebForms - What's New, Cool, and Hip!
ASP.NET AJAX - UpdatePanel, WebForms, and the AJAX Control ToolKit.

I'm really excited about this. If you are there, come up and introduce yourself.

Poem to MonoTouch

wallym — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:30:00 GMT

If you missed my poem to MonoTouch this morning on Twitter, here's the full version:

Oh MonoTouch, How do I love thee? Let me reference count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and width and height of the threads I can run
and my battery can reach, when awaiting an event to occur
For the ends of Video and ideal Audio and Capture and Books.
I love thee to the level of getting upto speed without learning ObjC.
Most quiet gc, by getting an app done now and not spending days and days on a new framework.
I love thee freely trial edition, as devs strive to code by day and by night.
I love thee purely, as they turn from desktop and web to mobile with the world in our hands
In my old griefs of html, and with my childhood's faith in all platforms.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose for WebForms, MVC, WCF, and all things religous development zealots argue over
With my lost saints Miguel, and Geoff, and Joseph, and Novell --- I love thee with the breath
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if Steve Jobs choose,
I shall but love thee better after Apple gives in and publically accepts us in the AppStore.

(With apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

DevConnections Las Vegas

wallym — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:15:00 GMT

I'm happy to announce that I will be speaking at DevConnections in Las Vegas in November. More info on this is coming.

VSLive Orlando

wallym — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:00:00 GMT

I'm excited to announce that I am speaking at VSLive Orlando in November. My two sessions are:

What's New in ASP.NET 4 WebForms.
AJAX with the UpdatePanel, WebForms, and the AJAX Control Toolkit.

If you plan to attend or do attend, please send me a message. I love to meet people and talk technology with them.

Here's some info on each of my sessions:

Session 1
Title: What’s new in ASP.NET 4 WebForms
Abstract: WebForms has been a feature of ASP.NET since the 1.0 release. Many successful applications have been built based on WebForms. Recently, it seems that all of the excitement in ASP.NET has been on MVC. With Version 4, the ASP.NET team has added a number of new features to WebForms. This session will explore the new features in ASP.NET 4 WebForms with an emphasis on:

Routing. Routing allows an application to accept URLs that are readable to users, are optimized to improve search engine ranking, and do not necessarily map to physical files.
ViewState. ViewState has been a part of ASP.NET since its initial 1.0 release. ViewState allows an ASP.NET WebForm to respond to events during a post back. Unfortunately, ViewState also can increase the size of page beyond what is actually required unless a developer is careful and pays attention to issues with ViewState. With ASP.NET 4 ViewState, we’ll explore improvements in the ability to control ViewState.
Client IDs. Before .NET 4.0, the generated Client IDs in WebForms can be very confusing. With .NET 4.0, the ability to control the generated Client IDs in WebForms has been greatly enhanced. We’ll look at these new features for Client IDs in ASP.NET 4.0 WebForms.
CSS and HTML Improvements. ASP.NET 4 WebForms renders HTML that is compliant with the last HTML standards. We’ll look at how these improvements effect controls and what developers should be aware of.

Benefit to the Attendee:
By attending this session, ASP.NET Developers currently using WebForms will learn about the new features in ASP.NET 4. Developers will be able to immediately apply these features to their existing WebForms applications that they are upgrading to ASP.NET 4 and to new ASP.NET 4 applications that they are building with WebForms.

Session 2
Title: AJAX with the UpdatePanel, WebForms, and the AJAX Control Toolkit
Abstract:

AJAX is a technology that provides a significant amount of user interaction within the web browser. With ASP.NET 2 AJAX, Microsoft shipped a set of client side and server side AJAX technologies. Recently, Microsoft announced that they are transitioning their client side AJAX technologies; however, they are keeping and will continue to build on the server side AJAX technology. This session will focus on the server side AJAX technologies in the UpdatePanel. With the UpdatePanel, the ASP.NET team has provided an easy way to integrate AJAX functionality into WebForms applications. This session will focus on:
UpdatePanel.

Introduction. The UpdatePanel will be introduced along with some of the rules that must be followed to use it properly.
History. Users have been trained that clicking on the back button will take the application to the previous state of the application. We’ll explore how to implement support for History, so that when a user clicks the back button they get the action that they expect.
Client side events. The UpdatePanel exposes a set of client side events that are similar to server side events. We’ll look at what these are good for and how to implement them.

WebForms.

We’ll look at some of the improvements in ASP.NET 4 WebForms that make working with AJAX simpler.

AJAX Control Toolkit.

Introduction. We’ll do an introduction to the AJAX Control Toolkit. What is it and how it can help out WebForms developers.
Creating your own control just like the ones in the AJAX Control Toolkit.

Apple Section 3.3.1 and MonoTouch

wallym — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 22:00:00 GMT

My frustration with Apple has been fairly well known. I've blogged about it numerous times over Section 3.3.1.

Now, I'm frustrated that Apple has Section 3.3.1. I was frustrated yesterday, today, and will probably be frustrated tomorrow. Having said that, up to the time of this writing, I'm not familiar with any apps that have been banned from the Apple iPhone App Store due to their being written in MonoTouch. Why? I'm not sure. Only Apple can answer that. My guess is that because MonoTouch allows devs to build apps that run natively on the device, its viewed as ok.

Will apps written in MonoTouch still be allowed into the App Store? I have no idea. My guess is that if MT becomes really popular, Apple would be concerned that another company is controlling its destiny and might change, but remember, this is only speculation. At the same time, remember, the Apple post on Flash is about Flash, not MonoTouch, PhoneGap, or anything besides Flash.

Maybe the blowup (mine and others) was over nothing. Let's stop and see what happens over the next 6-9 months. Right now, today, MonoTouch apps are being accepted. Let's focus on that

MonoTouch Book is out

wallym — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 10:00:00 GMT

Our MonoTouch Book is out. It was great working with Chris Hardy, Craig Dunn, Martin Bowling, and Rory Blyth on this book. With this book, you'll be able to use your existing knowledge of .NET to target the Apple iPhone.

What .NET C# developers need to enter the hot field of iPhone apps

iPhone applications offer a hot opportunity for developers. Until the open source MonoTouch project, this field was limited to those familiar with Apple’s programming languages. Now .NET and C# developers can join the party. Professional iPhone Programming with MonoTouch and .NET/C#is the first book to cover MonoTouch, preparing developers to take advantage of this lucrative opportunity.

This book is for .NET developers that are interested in creating native iPhone applications written in .NET/C#. These developers want to use their existing knowledge. While .NET developers are always interested in learning, they also recognize that learning Objective-C and the specifics of the iPhone can be overwhelming. Those developers interested in MonoTouch will recognize that the cost of MonoTouch is easily made up by the ability to quickly target the iPhone using a language that they are already familiar with.

This book is designed for .NET developers that want to target the iPhone. It is designed to help you get up to speed with the iPhone, not to really teach you about the .NET Framework or C# language, which we assume you already know.

This book is designed with introductory material in Chapters 1 thru 4. You should read Chapters 1 thru 4 sequentially. These chapters introduce the MonoTouch product, the basics of developing with MonoTouch and MonoDevelop, and finally, the basics of presenting data to a user with screen and data controls and how to develop a user interface for the iPhone. Once you are comfortable with these concepts, you can typically move from one chapter to another and not necessarily have to read the chapters sequentially.

Chapter 1 "Introduction to iPhone Development with MonoTouch for C# Developers"This chapter looks at how the largest segment of developers can target the smartphone with the highest mindshare, and that the smartphone is growing faster in marketshare than any other device.
Chapter 2 "Introduction to MonoTouch"gives you a firm foundation in MonoTouch, MonoDevelop, Interface Builder, debugging, and deploying.
Chapter 3 "Planning Your App's UI: Exploring the Screen Controls"teaches you about creating your application's UI and specifically how the UI on the iPhone can differ from UIs that you might have created before. You also explore the Input & Value objects from the Interface Builder Objects Library.
Chapter 4 "Data Controls" shows the Interface Builder Objects Library Cocoa Touch classes for Controllers, Data Views, and Windows, Views, & Bars.
Chapter 5 "Working with Data on the iPhone"looks at the SQLite database engine as well as strategies to store data off the device on a central server through SOAP and REST (using XML and JSON) without tying up the user interface.
Chapter 6 "Displaying Data Using Tables"looks at displaying information in a table, using tables for navigation, taking advantage of UITableView's built-in editing features, and adding a search bar to a table.
Chapter 7 "Mapping"covers CoreLocation and MapKit, using Location Services, and adding maps and geocoding to your application.
Chapter 8 "Application Settings"focuses on application settings, and looks at two aspects of settings for your MonoTouch app: the Info.plist and your settings bundle. It covers what settings you might want to set in your Info.plist and why, and then looks at what code it takes to read and use the settings that you save in the settings bundle. And it also takes you through the building of the settings that you might have in a social media-type application. Going through each step, you will examine the Root.plist inside the Property List Editor and see the settings dialog that will result from it.
Chapter 9 "Programming with Device Hardware" covers accelerometer device orientation, and proximity detection support, networking, and developing with battery life in mind.
Chapter 10 "Programming with Multimedia" discussing integrating images and the image picker, watching and recording videos, playing and recording audio, and using animation
Chapter 11 "Talking to Other Applications"discusses the ways you can use MonoTouch to talk to other applications on the iPhone, both Apple-built applications and those downloaded from the App Store. It also provides helpful ways of accessing the iPhone's Address Book and the iPod music library.
Chapter 12 "Localizing for an International Audience" first defines internationalization and localization, then shows displaying translated text and images, formatting dates, times, and numbers, then extracting text for translation.
Chapter 13 "Programming the iPad" the capabilities of the iPad are, what new APIs and controls have been introduced that you can use in iPad-specific applications, and how to build applications that can work on both iPad and iPhone devices.
Chapter 14 "Just Enough Objective-C" provides you with a reference and introduction to Objective-C that will help you acquire an ability to comprehend Objective-C which is something that will come in very handy.
Chapter 15 "The App Store: Submitting and Marketing Your App"discusses all things App Store. First, it talks about the process that you need to go through before you are ready to submit - this includes final testing with Ad-Hoc builds and a presubmission checklist. Next it addresses actually submitting to the App Store, and then finally what to do with your app after it's in the App Store. This chapter also touches on alternative monetization strategies such as ads or in app purchases.

A Word About Apple SDK License #3.3.1

There has been a lot of discussion about Apple's SDK licensing restrictions and how they effect MonoTouch. As of the time of this writing, Apple has not rejected any apps that are written in MonoTouch for inclusion in the Apple App Store.

VSLive Redmond

wallym — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:20:00 GMT

I'm excited to announce that I am speaking at VSLive Redmond in August. My two sessions are:

What's New in ASP.NET 4 WebForms.
AJAX with the UpdatePanel, WebForms, and the AJAX Control Toolkit.

If you plan to attend or do attend, please send me a message. I love to meet people and talk technology with them.

Here's some info on each of my sessions:

Routing. Routing allows an application to accept URLs that are readable to users, are optimized to improve search engine ranking, and do not necessarily map to physical files.
ViewState. ViewState has been a part of ASP.NET since its initial 1.0 release. ViewState allows an ASP.NET WebForm to respond to events during a post back. Unfortunately, ViewState also can increase the size of page beyond what is actually required unless a developer is careful and pays attention to issues with ViewState. With ASP.NET 4 ViewState, we’ll explore improvements in the ability to control ViewState.
Client IDs. Before .NET 4.0, the generated Client IDs in WebForms can be very confusing. With .NET 4.0, the ability to control the generated Client IDs in WebForms has been greatly enhanced. We’ll look at these new features for Client IDs in ASP.NET 4.0 WebForms.
CSS and HTML Improvements. ASP.NET 4 WebForms renders HTML that is compliant with the last HTML standards. We’ll look at how these improvements effect controls and what developers should be aware of.

Introduction. The UpdatePanel will be introduced along with some of the rules that must be followed to use it properly.
History. Users have been trained that clicking on the back button will take the application to the previous state of the application. We’ll explore how to implement support for History, so that when a user clicks the back button they get the action that they expect.
Client side events. The UpdatePanel exposes a set of client side events that are similar to server side events. We’ll look at what these are good for and how to implement them.

WebForms.

We’ll look at some of the improvements in ASP.NET 4 WebForms that make working with AJAX simpler.

AJAX Control Toolkit.

Introduction. We’ll do an introduction to the AJAX Control Toolkit. What is it and how it can help out WebForms developers.
Creating your own control just like the ones in the AJAX Control Toolkit.