Microsoft announced today in a blog post the release of the second preview of Visual Studio Tools for Tizen, developed by Samsung. Tizen is a Linux-based open-source OS that powers more than 50 million Samsung devices. This includes wearables, TVs, and in the future it may be the OS running on all Samsung products.
The development of Visual Studio Tools for Tizen was unveiled on the second Connect() conference, a developer event held in November 2016. It was the result of a collaboration between Samsung and Microsoft to build .NET support for Tizen. Back then, Microsoft also announced Visual Studio 2017 and Visual Studio Mobile Center.
Some of the key new features made available with the release of this second preview are:
- TV application development. The first preview came with mobile application support only. With the second preview, you can now use the same familiar APIs, such as .NET Standard and Xamarin.Forms, to develop Tizen TV applications. Samsung Tizen TVs will begin shipping with .NET support once Visual Studio Tools for Tizen is officially released later this year.
- Project wizard. Visual Studio Tools for Tizen provide a number of different options to build applications. For instance, you can build an application that runs on a single device type or an application that runs on multiple device types. You can build an application that runs on Tizen only or an application that runs on multiple platforms. The project wizard helps you to select the right project type with step-by-step guides.
- New tools. Tizen-specific tools were added to further improve your productivity including a certificate manager, emulator manager, emulator control panel, and manifest editor.
- More Tizen platform-specific APIs. The second preview significantly increases the number of Tizen-specific APIs available for .NET developers. Key additions include Bluetooth, Smart Card, NFC, Map, Wi-Fi Direct, Telephony, Geofence Manager, and Account Service.
More information about the release and the download links can be found at Samsung"s Tizen developer website.
Source: Visual Studio Blog