Like couple of weeks before in Tallinn (http://h6bevalge.riiul.com/2011/11/22/kumme-vinget-rakendust-esimesest-wp-koodilaagrist/) this weekend me, Agu, Jevgeni and Valdis, powered by Microsoft, organized an awesome Windows Phone code camp in Riga at SSE Riga school. The idea behind the event was to introduce the platform and create some awesome local apps to boost the app ecosystem in Latvia.

The schedule was quite intense. On the first day we had three coding lectures Agu talked about the importance of design and the Metro design language; I gave a quick intro to Windows Phone dev and data binding and finally Jevgeni had the pleasure of talking about almost everything else possible in WP in his “Limitless possibilities of Windows Phone” session. Then we had some lunch and starting from 2 PM Saturday, the teams started coding.

During the weekend total of 10 apps were made.

• V?rda diena (Latvian namedays) is an app that gives you a calendar with Latvian namedays by day, week or you can search for a name. Coolest feature is the Live Tile, that sitting on your start screen always shows you the names who have the name day today and it was hinted that in the future you might see the tile going alert red if someone in your contacts has a name day :)
• Alphabet Ninja (XNA and SL versions) – Alphabet ninja aims to teach children in ages from 3-5 to learn letters in playful way by recognizing them on the screen. To score in the game you need to tap on letter bubbles that are the same as the template shown by the game. Cool graphics and sound effects, and of course ninjas :)
• Alphabet Ninja the Level 2 – Though Alphabet Ninja team made both XNA and Silverlight versions of their game, they didn’t stop there, they also created a level two for the game in Silverlight. Idea behind the game was to find certain letters from the grid and tap them. The fact that the letters might both be in upper and lower case or use different fonts adds some difficulty to the game.
• Phone Mouse (Telefon pele) is an utility to control your computer from your phone. To move the mouse cursor, you can either use your phone as a touchpad or wave it in air. You can also us the phones keyboard. Cool utility for all Media Center PC owners.
• Baltic Rain shows you a live map of rain in Baltics. Simple as that. Take a look at the map, see rain coming? Maybe start running to avoid getting wet ;)
• Puzzles – is a fun set of mind games 15 puzzle, word game and Bulls and Cows.
• E-Vielas is an app for understanding what you eat and drink. You scan the barcode on the product and it tells you what e-substances it contains. The data comes from an excisting crowd sourced database and currently has about 5000 Latvian products in it.
• Mobilly is a way to simplify mobile parking. Choose the zone you’re in and the parking sms message is automatically created for you, all you need to do is send it. Future versions also include reminders to turn off the parking after you leave the parking lot.

• Transport in Riga is the winning app. It allows you to see the schedule of all the different public transport, see the routes on the map. You can also ask the app to remind you in enough time so you’d make the last bus. If you speak latvian, you can read more about the app from Ram?ns blog here http://ramuuns.id.lv/blog/2011/12/06/ka-nopelnit-12k-latu-divas-dienas/.

Here are some screenshots from the winning app

You can see more photos from the event on Dotnet.lv Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.299668240063656.72039.161626433867838&type=3

The organizing team was really impressed how driven and motivated everyone was to make great apps and we sure hope to organize such an event again soon. Maybe Vilnius is next?

P.S

Also check out Windows Phone App Competition. Deadline for app submission in both Latvia and Estonia is December 11. The prizes are excellent Windows Phone devices and free ad rotation for your app. I am sure that many apps that were created during code camps will be submitted :). Read more on: http://microsoft.lv/wp