Are there hardware restrictions for the Nokia Imaging SDK? - windows-phone-8

Does anyone know if the Nokia Imaging SDK is limited / restricted to Nokia hardware? In other words, if I use the SDK to create a Windows Phone 8 app, will the app run on an HTC or Samsung device?
I'm not seeing any specific verbiage on the Nokia Developer site that mentions hardware / hardware partner restrictions.

There is no hardware restriction on the Imaging SDK. You can use it on any Windows Phone 8 device.

Related

VOIP compatibility on Windows Phone 8.1

We had a situation where we wanted to build Windows Phone app with minimum compatible version Windows Phone 8.1. It makes uses of VOIP calls over 3G / 4G and Wifi.
I am unable to find whether Windows Phone 8.1 has full support for VOIP calls or not. Can anyone redirect me to right documentation or guidance if WP8.1 supports VOIP?
Please check this below link for VoIP capabilities of Windows Phone 8 https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/jj206983(v=vs.105).aspx
I'm trying to develop a VoIP application based on these solutions:
https://github.com/DoubangoTelecom/boghe & https://github.com/BelledonneCommunications/linphone-wp
Check these. I think it does.
ChatterBox-VoIP-WP81
Upgrade calls from cellular to VoIP in a Windows Phone Silverlight 8.1 app
understanding-and-using-voip-support-in-windows-phone-8

Lumia Imaging SDK device support

How many and what kind of devices does the Lumia SDK support? Does it work fine on non-Lumia phones?
The documentation here says that the library is compatible with all Windows Phone 8 and 8.1 devices.
However, I don't understand the purpose of the devices listed below that. It's kind of ambiguous; is Lumia Imaging SDK supported on the listed devices only or these are the devices on which the SDK was tested?
Simply put, I want to know that if a device (lumia or non-lumia) runs Windows Phone 8.1, will it support the Lumia Imaging SDK?
Lumia Imaging SDK is device independent. It will work on all devices with the supported operating system. That means it will work on all devices running:
Windows Phone 8.0
Windows Phone 8.1
Windows 8.1 ARM
Windows 8.1 x86/x64 -- as long as it is a "store"/modern application
Windows 10 (Windows 10 supports running existing modern applications, however the new type of UWP application is not yet supported by the Lumia Imaging SDK).
This includes non-Lumia Devices and non-Surface PCs and tablets.
I agree that the list on the msdn resource is somewhat confusing. The team is simply enumerating the devices that the SDK has been tested on in case a hardware dependant issue arises - for example in a CameraPreviewImageSource scenario, etc.

Changing Windows Universal App LockScreen Background

Windows.System.UserProfile.Lockscreen is not available in the WinRT API for Windows Phone. Is it possible to programatically modify the lockscreen background of a windows phone device from a winrt app by some other means?
No. LockScreen providers are in the list of Windows Phone 8 features for which there is no Windows Phone Store equivalent. They are available only to Silverlight apps.

Windows Phone 8.1 API

Is there Windows Phone 8.1 API to refer? This is because I want to develop the Windows Phone 8.1 application, but I don't know where to refer the API, since the Windows Phone 8.1 an 8 have a big different, so I can't refer to the Windows Phone 8 API.
There is two sets of APIs available on Windows Phone 8.1
Windows Runtime (MSDN), all APIs with a phone icon on the documentation page is available on WP8.1. This applies to the "Universal App" project types. Many of these APIs are shared with Windows Store applications (aka. Metro or Modern applications), allowing you to have the same code-base for both Windows and Windows Phone applications.
Silverlight (MSDN) applies to Silverlight 8.0 and Silverlight 8.1 APIs. There's no specific distinction on MSDN for 8.1 only APIs.
MSDN also have a mixed list of the two above for What's New in Windows Phone 8.1 (MSDN), primarily targeting the Windows Runtime features.
I would personally recommend writing Universal Apps (Windows Runtime), rather than sticking with Silverlight, unless you have a good reason, such as a VoIP application, or the wish to remain backward compatible with 8.0 users, while taking advantage of the new 8.1 features.

Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 Over the air installation of apps

Is there a way to install signed applications over the air on the windows 8 and windows phone 8 platforms?
I'm looking for something similar to iOS wireless app distribution with its itms-services:// uri scheme. Basically, I want to direct users to a web page where they can download and install a signed application package on their device by clicking a link.
But it seems (from the information I gathered from the available documentation) that Microsoft allow app installation only by using the Windows Store, or by Sideloading (in the case of Windows RT, 8 Pro and 8 Entreprise) or by enrolling users phones for company app distribution (in the case of Windows Phone 8).
are these really the only methods available?
Thanks in advance.
For the Phone you could use the beta testing feature. It will not show in the store and only be available for users you have registered via their Microsoft account formerly Live ID. The app will run through certification and therefore will not be hosted on your own server.
For Windows 8.x you will still have to go the side loading route as there is currently no beta testing feature available.
HTH