Xamarin, a US-based tools company, unveiled a global collaboration with Microsoft designed to help developers build native mobile apps for all major platforms using C# and Visual Studio.

The collaboration spans three areas.

The first is technical cooperation to better integrate Xamarin technology with Microsoft developer tools and services.

As part of that effort, Xamarin announced full integration for Microsoft’s Portable Library projects in iOS and Android apps, making it easier for developers to share code across devices.

The second area is Xamarin’s recently-launched “Xamarin University”, which is being offered free to MSDN subscribers. The 30-day training course helps developers with native iOS and Android development and normally costs $1,995.

Finally, MSDN subscribers get exclusive trial and pricing options to Xamarin subscriptions for individuals and teams.