We are pleased to announce the fourth Generation of Reuxables Themes, built for both WPF + Silverlight 4.0. More details about the new product types and subscription options available, can be read on the Official blog post.

We have released two new designer themes Gemini & Developer. Gemini is the successor to the Paper 2010 theme with new improved enhancements. it includes the new smart styles for a better themeing experience for you.

The smart styles included in the Gemini theme provide you with 7 colorful options of button, ListBox & TabControl Styles. smart button styles below gives you the glimpse of the 7 color styles included in the Gemini Theme.

The smart TabControl gives your application a more colorful look increasing the usability and comfort of the end users. When the smart tabs are set to Left/Right orientation, the TabItems take the look of smart ListBoxItems as shown above.

You can combine the different colored TabItems in a single TabControl, this can be helpful to give different colors to different sections of your application. Gemini Theme comes with a Sample project showing you how the smart styles including the multi colored tabs can be used in your application.

Smart tab styles also comes with  flat tab style which gives a crisp look to your application.

Microsoft has released the Developer Tools (Beta) for Windows Phone Development. This is indeed a great news for everyone who is working on the platform. You can download the Windows Phone Developer Tools(Beta). This version of Expression Blend runs adjacent to Expression Blend 4 and only supports Windows Phone Projects.

Device panel now provides you to switch between Horizontal and Vertical Landscape modes. Also the Device Panel allows you to switch between the Default Dark theme of Windows Phone to the Light Theme.

Fig: Device Panel

You can now preview the text style even before applying them.

Other included features are :

- You can design your own application bar for the phone.

- Page Navigation between different pages has been made easier.

- Updated FluidMoveBehavior

- On Screen Keyboard has been optimized.

I am really excited about the new tools and will be posting my review of the same.

Images courtesy: Expression Team Blog

.NET has become a very important part of our daily lives. I spent most of my work time working on either WPF or Silverlight. The kind of flexibility and freedom I get with WPF is really amazing. Its really difficult to imagine my life working without WPF.

Working at Nukeation Studios is really an enriching experience. I got to work on WPF since the initial CTPs of Expression EID. I have worked through all the versions of Expression Blend and have enjoyed its evolution. Working on Reuxables has been a exhilarating experience and I keep enjoying working on new generation of Themes.

From quite some time I have been thinking on blogging specifically on .NET. I would love to share my experiences with fellow developers and designers. Any suggestions and comments are always welcome.

Like Obi Wan said “May the Force Be with you”.