Xamarin, the company empowering over 185,000 developers to build rich, native iOS and Android apps, today announced a new version of its Xamarin.Mobile library that accelerates cross-platform mobile app development. The new version is compatible with the latest versions of iOS, Android and the newly released Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 operating systems. This release continues the company’s standard of same-day releases when new device operating systems are available.

Xamarin’s cross-platform mobile development software allows developers to build native iOS and Android apps using C#, which means these apps can also share code with apps on Microsoft’s mobile platforms. Businesses can leverage their existing code, team, skills and tools to get rich apps to market quickly. Developers have complete access to all of the native APIs and UI toolkits unique to iOS and Android, which means they can create truly native experiences while sharing up to 90 percent of source code.

Xamarin.Mobile further enhances code-sharing across device platforms by providing a single API for common device services like contacts, camera, and geolocation. Instead of writing unique code for each platform to leverage the camera API, developers can code to a single Xamarin.Mobile camera API that will work for iOS, Android, Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. This cuts development effort by a third for implementing common services and significantly increases code sharing across device platforms, resulting in faster time-to-market.

"The time that Xamarin.Mobile saves me is incredibly valuable." said Jon Dick, who is currently doing freelance mobile development. "I am free to build better looking and more functional apps. It is a huge time-saver and productivity booster."

Simultaneous with the launch, Xamarin is also announcing its first ever developer contest - the Xamarin Developer Showdown for the best iOS, Android, Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8 app that leverages the Xamarin.Mobile library. Apps will be judged based on the quality of the native user experience and the best use of Xamarin.Mobile. Winners for each target platform will receive a choice of an iPad, a Nexus 10 or a Microsoft Surface tablet. The overall grand-prize winner will receive all three tablets.

About Xamarin

Xamarin’s mission is to make it fast, easy and fun to build amazing, native mobile apps using C#. Xamarin’s cross-platform mobile development software allows developers to use their existing skills, code and tools to build fully native apps for iOS and Android that can share code with Windows apps. Developers get to market quickly with native apps while sharing up to 90 percent of source code across device platforms. From Indie developers to consulting firms to enterprise organizations, businesses of all sizes use Xamarin to accelerate and simplify the creation of high performance, native consumer and corporate and gaming apps. For more information, visit http://xamarin.com/ or https://twitter.com/xamarinhq.