Microsoft is trying to foster community collaboration and participation by open sourcing the Windows Calculator. The source code, build system, unit tests, and product roadmap will now all be available on GitHub.
Developers can get involved by participating in discussions, reporting or fixing issues, suggesting new feature ideas, prototyping new features, or designing and building with engineers, Microsoft explained. In addition, the company says this will help developers learn how different parts of the app work and integrate the logic or UI into their own apps.
Unicode Standard 12.0 now available
Version 12.0 of the Unicode Standard is now available, adding 554 new characters, four new scripts, and 61 new emoji characters.
According to the Unicode team, the new characters and scripts will introduce support for lesser-used languages that have unique written requirements, such as Elymaic, Nandinagari, Nyiakeng Puachua Hmong, and Wancho.
Waymo releases its Laser Beam Honeycomb sensor to select partners
Self-driving vehicle company Waymo is giving select partners access to its Laser Beam Honeycomb, which is a 3D lidar sensor. According to the company, Laser Beam Honeycomb is the sensor used on the bumper of its vehicles.
Features of the sensor include a wide field of view, multiple returns per pulse, and a minimum range of zero.
“Offering this lidar to partners helps spur the growth of applications outside of self-driving cars and also propels our business forward. We can scale our autonomous technology faster, making each sensor more affordable through economies of scale,” Waymo wrote in a post.
Microsoft updates its ADA to reflect new fee structure
Microsoft has updated its Microsoft Store App Developer Agreement (ADA). Users will be prompted to re-accept the ADA the next time they log into the Partner Center dashboard.
The new ADA includes the updated Microsoft Store fee structure, which provides up to 95 percent of revenue back to app developers. Developers will need to instrument their referring traffic URLs with a CID in order to receive the full 95 percent. The new fee structure applies to app purchases made on all Windows 10 PCs, Windows Mixed Reality, Windows 10 Mobile, and Surface Hub devices, but excludes games and purchases made on Xbox consoles.
Google introduces rewarded products for Android apps
Google is making it easier for Android app developers to increase their monetized user base with the introduction of rewarded products. The first rewarded product type will be a video, and upon watching the video ad, users will receive virtual goods or in-game currency.
Developers can easily added rewarded products to any app using the Google Play Billing Library or AIDL interface using only a few added API calls. According to Google, these rewarded products are powered by AdMod, giving access to a wide range of content from advertisers.
