Architects Rule!

Windows Store expanding to new markets including Belgium

Bart Vande Ghinste — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:07:41 GMT

Last week the Microsoft Windows Store blog announced an expansion of the Windows Store coming soon. By the next milestone of Windows 8, the preview release of Windows Store will include new markets and new languages.

Currently Windows Store includes five markets in Consumer Preview: France, Germany, India, Japan and the United States and China, as well as a “Rest of World” setting that all other regions get to see. By the next milestone Microsoft is adding 33 new developer submission locales, expanding the possible reach even more.

And there is good news for Belgian developers: in addition to being able to publish to the new markets, developers will also be able to target a Belgian market specifically.

>> To learn more, please read the official announcement post: Windows Store expanding to new markets.

For developers and companies in Belgium and Luxembourg we have several options to help you getting your apps ready. We have training events (online webcasts as well as hands-on sessions), App Clinics to discuss apps face to face and validation of the app through Excellence labs which is your ticket to a Windows Store token later in the process.

Don’t hesitate to join us at either step of the way:

Metro Map with all free events listed per date, make sure to register in time: http://www.microsoft.com/belux/msdn/metromap/metromap.html
App Clinics book a slot with an evangelist or consultant (your ticket to the App Excellence Lab) – note Belgium & Luxembourg only: http://www.microsoft.com/belux/msdn/metromap/appclinic.aspx
Discover how your application can be monetized in the Windows Store:

Selling apps in the Store: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/windows/apps/br230836
Monetizing free apps with Microsoft Advertising SDK: http://advertising.microsoft.com/windowsadvertising/developer

Working on an app? Register Windows 8 App Clinics

Bart Vande Ghinste — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:47:07 GMT

Combining the broad reach of Windows, best-in-class developer tools, a reimagined user experience, support for new chipsets, and a built-in Store with industry-leading business terms - Windows 8 is the largest developer opportunity, ever.

But now what? In Belgium we have announced a series of developer camps, webcasts and MIC calls for projects. These activities will allow you to dive technically into the platform to support you in building apps. However, you probably need more.

What about testing on more than one device? What about discussing the best UX and experience to integrate with Metro? And most importantly, what about getting that access to the Windows Store and publish an app?
The answers are the App Clinics. Meet with the Microsoft Evangelists and consultants to discuss ideas, the app, architecture, the platform, UX and technical questions. It’s an open discussion and allows you to be ready for the next step: passing an App Excellence Lab with a Microsoft engineer, the last step before getting access to the Windows Store as a developer.

Are you actively working on a Windows 8 Metro app? Have an idea but are not sure what the next step is? Join us at an App Clinic and we’ll help you move to the next stage.

Register for upcoming Windows 8 Metro Style App events

Bart Vande Ghinste — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:13:07 GMT

Now is the time to register for the upcoming Windows 8 Metro Style Apps events.
In this post you can find a summary of the main activities, for which you can find an updated view on our Metro Map.

Windows Camps at Microsoft and the Innovation Centers
MIC Call for Projects Windows 8 Metro Style Apps: still a few seats
MSDN Webcasts
Community events

---

1. Windows Camps

20/04/2012, 09.00-21.00: Academic Windows 8 Day and coding.
From Metro Style to app development, to launching and selling your Windows 8 app in the Windows Store. A full day of Windows 8, specifically for academic audiences.
Where: Brussels VUB
4/26/201209.00-17.00, Windows 8 Coaching Camp – Managed code and XAML Apps
Spend a full day learning and coding Windows 8 Metro Style apps. Learn hands-on how to leverage your XAML, Silverlight or WPF skills and ride the metro.
Where: Business Faculty Brussels
30-May-2012, 09.00-17.00 - Windows 8 Coaching Camp – Metro Style apps with HTML and JavaScript
A full-day mix of presentations and hands-on labs designed to share all the knowledge you need to start building Metro-style applications for Windows 8 by leveraging HTML and JavaScript.
Where: Business Faculty Brussels

2. MIC Call for Projects Windows 8 Metro Style Apps: still a few seats

A Microsoft Innovation Center Call for Projects is a streamlined process to call for ideas, give you training and support going from technical to Metro Design guidelines and UX. In addition, by participating in a Call for Projects you have a privileged access to App Clinics (testing on devices, discussion of the app) which leads to a selection of apps to go through App Excellence Labs later in June. The Excellence Labs are currently the only ticket for getting Windows Store tokens.

While the first info session has already been done end of March, there is still an opportunity to register. Make sure you register for each of the sessions separately in order to secure your full project call attendance.

MIC Brussels Project Call (all in English)

16 April, 2012 09:00 — 17 Apr 17:00 – Windows 8 Metro Style apps - Hands-on Session
Two full days of sessions and hands-on labs to build a Windows 8 Metro Style app in C#/XAML or HTML/JavaScript.
http://micbru.fikket.com/event/call-for-projet-windows-8-metro-style-apps-hands-on-session
April 24 2012 9:00 to 17:00 – Windows 8 Metro Style apps - Brussels - UX Workshops session 1 - http://micbru.fikket.com/event/mic-project-call-windows-8-metro-style-apps-brussels-ux-coaching-sessions—3
Attention: date change!
14 May, 2012 09:00 — 17:00 – Windows 8 Metro Style apps- UX Coaching session 2 - http://micbru.fikket.com/event/mic-project-call-windows-8-metro-style-apps-brussels-ux-coaching-sessions
21 May, 2012 09:00 — 17:00 - Windows 8 Metro Style apps - Brussels - Developer Q&A session - http://micbru.fikket.com/event/mic-project-call-windows-8-metro-style-apps-brussels-developer-qa-session

MIC Mons Project Call (in French)

19 avril 2012 09:00 — 20 avr. 17:00 - Windows 8 Metro Style apps - Appel à projets – Windows 8 Hands-on training : http://events.mic-belgique.be/event/windows-8-metro-style-apps-appel-a-projets--2
9 mai 2012 09:00 — 10 mai 17:00 - Windows 8 Metro Style apps - Appel à projets – UX Coaching sessions : http://events.mic-belgique.be/event/windows-8-metro-style-apps-appel-a-projets--4
16 mai 2012 09:00 — 17:00 - Windows 8 Metro Style apps - Appel à projets – Developer Q&A : http://events.mic-belgique.be/event/windows-8-metro-style-apps-appel-a-projets--5

3. MSDN Webcasts

24 April 2012, 14.00-15.30Windows 8 Metro Style Apps: How to build a great app
Learn how to integrate the Metro Design Principles. As we'll focus on UI and UX expect little code but lots of input on how to make your app great, whether you are a designer or a developer.
8 May 2012, 14.00-15.30MSDN Live Meeting: Continuous Integration using TFS11 & NuGet
This session will provide you with guidance, tips and tricks on how you can take benefit from NuGet and TFS11 to take your CI environment to the next level.
Speaker: Xavier Decoster

4. Community events

4/27/201214.00-17.30, Windows 8 Metro Style apps - Conférence technique
Join this technical conference to discover the Windows 8 Metro Platform and how to take advantage of the cloud to build connected apps. (Session in French)
Where: MIC Mons

8 May 2012 18:30 - 20:30, Belgian C++ UG: Writing Metro Style Apps in Native C++
User Group session consisting of two talks: Introduction to Writing Metro Style Apps in Native C++ (Marc Gregoire) and Going Deeper Into Writing Metro Style Apps in Native C++ (Karthick Gopikrishnan)
Where: Microsoft Zaventem
9-May-2012, 14:00 - 17:30 - Windows 8 Metro Apps & Cloud
Spend half a day at the Windows 8 Technical Conference, and learn all about Cloud powered Windows 8 Metro apps.
Where: MIC Brussels
10 May 2012, 18:00 to 21:00 - FEWEB Full Screen session: How You Can Build Apps For Windows 8 in HTML5
We would like to share how you can benefit from your existing skills and leverage them for Windows 8. There is a big opportunity for companies building Metro apps for Windows 8. You will Also get to know how you can prepare yourself for Internet Explorer 10.
11-May-2012 - 09.00-17.30 - Windows 8 Camp - Hands on session
Spend a full day learning and coding Windows 8 Metro Style apps. Learn how to leverage your HTML5 and JavaScript, or C# skills and ride the metro.
Where: MIC Brussels
21 and 22 May 2012 – Multi-Mania 2012
Join Metro workshops and sessions in the largest Belgian multimedia and web conference.
Where: Kortrijk
30-May-12, 14.00-17.30 - Windows 8 Conférence Technique MIC Mons
Assistez à cette conférence technique afin de découvrir Windows 8 Metro Platform et comment tirer avantage du cloud pour concevoir des applications.
Session in French
Where: MIC Mons
5-Jun-2012, 18.00 - 21.00 - AZUG: Taking a metro ride on Windows 8 and Windows Azure
Let’s explore what Windows 8, WinRT and Windows Azure can do together, how you can publish your application and how you can get live diagnostics from your users. Dive into push notifications and modern slavery in the form of worker roles in this evening filled with two practical sessions!
Where: CapGemini Diegem
8-Jun-2012, 14.00-17.30 - Technical Conference- Windows 8 Metro Apps & Cloud
Spend half a day at the Windows 8 Technical Conference, and learn all about Cloud powered Windows 8 Metro apps.
Where: MIC Brussels
21-Jun-2012, 09.00-18.00 - Community Day Windows 8 track
Where: Mechelen Utopolis

But wait, there’s more! You’ll find some Summer Hackathons and more sessions on our online Metro Map. See you soon at one of our events or App Clinics.

Don’t miss on the developer opportunity. Combining the broad reach of Windows, best-in-class developer tools, a reimagined user experience, support for new chipsets, and a built-in Store with industry-leading business terms — Windows 8 is the largest developer opportunity, ever.

TechDays 2012: session recordings, slides and content online

Bart Vande Ghinste — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:52:00 GMT

If you missed TechDays 2012 in Belgium (Braine l’Alleud), there is no way to bring you back the whole 10th anniversary experience. That’s the bad news, the good news however is that we go a long way and bring you a recorded video of each of the sessions so you can learn from the best.

From now on, you can browse all the sessions, view them online or download to your favorite media player and download the slides.

We welcomed many top speakers like Scott Guthrie, Brian Keller, Jeff Prosise, … in the developer track and Ward Ralston, Corey Heynes, John Craddock, … in the IT Pro track.

Happy learning and feel free to share your thoughts about TechDays 2012 via #techdaysbe!

PS. The Microsoft Extended Experts Team (MEET) made this awesome video, interviewing attendees and sharing their thoughts about TechDays 2012.

Join the Windows 8 Developer Day on March 23rd!

Bart Vande Ghinste — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 09:34:29 GMT

	Night owl or day bird? Or rather both?

Join us for the day-track to immerse and/or the night-track to start building!
Windows 8 Consumer Preview is out and we have an exciting program for all kinds of developers.

Be part of the first Windows 8 Developer Day in Belgium, a full day conference with technical sessions that dive into the platform for building Windows 8 Metro Style apps.

You will learn first-hand how to use the new features in Windows 8 Metro apps to your advantage, the developer platform with C#, C++, XAML , HTML and JavaScript and how to monetize and distribute your app.

Your keynote speaker is Giorgio Sardo, HTML5 and Windows 8 Senior Technical Evangelist at Microsoft.

When the sun sets, we dive into the night with the very first Nacht van Windows 8 / La nuit de Windows 8, an app-a-thon like you’ve never seen, with pizza’s and prizes :-)

Totally Windows 8. Totally free.

I’m looking forward to meet you !

SQL Azure Pricing Dropped

Bart Vande Ghinste — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:04:22 GMT

To meet evolving customer needs across both ends of the database size spectrum, we are lowering the price of SQL Azure and introducing a 100MB database option.

Customers will realize 48% to 75% savings for databases larger than 1GB. The 100MB DB option enables customers to get started using SQL Azure at half of the previous price, while still providing the full range of features including: high availability, fault tolerance, self-management, elastic scale-out, on-premises connectivity, and full Service Level Agreement. Full details on our new pricing can be found here.

Today’s price reductions and new entry-level database option are the result of both customer feedback and evolving usage patterns. Specifically, two usage patterns have emerged in the last 18 months. First, many projects start small but need to quickly grow in size. To promote this pattern, we are passing along better economies of scale and options for larger deployments. As your database grows, the price per GB will decline significantly. Second, many cloud adopters and customers with smaller workloads want an inexpensive option for modest usage. Just as we made a 150GB option available for customers with large database needs, we are providing the same level of choice at the other end of the spectrum with the 100MB option for smaller database needs. Today’s announcement is another step in our ongoing journey to help customers with a variety of scenarios embrace Cloud Computing.

The chart below provides a side by side comparison of the cost savings as cloud deployments grow and database sizes increase. Be sure to check out our pricing calculator and pricing page for additional details.

You can start building your application on it in some simple and easy to do steps:

1. Setup an Account:

Set up an account and obtain a free subscription for accessing the online portals for Windows Azure an SQL Azure. You can sign up and get the trial from http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/free-trial/.

Note: With the new capping functionality available you are assured that no charging is happening once your trial offer has expired and if you have an MSDN subscription then you have even more benefits which can be found at http://aka.ms/mbl-azure/benefits.

2. Create your First application and Deploy it on the Windows Azure Platform:

Download the tools and learn how to create an application using .NET, JAVA, Node.js or PHP and deploy it on Windows Azure at http://aka.ms/mbl-azure/first-app.

When all steps are executed successfully you should have running your first application on the Windows Azure Platform.

Bring your idea to life- turn it into an app

Bart Vande Ghinste — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:00:00 GMT

Windows Phone 7.5 brings dozens of new platform features to Windows Phone. When you have previously built an application for Windows Phone, you might ask yourself, "How do I take advantage of all these cool new features in my existing Windows Phone application?" Well, there are 2 ways to get your question answered

You prefer to have a real discussion with an expert and follow an intensive training ? Then this blog post is for you.
No, you don’t have the opportunity to release a couple of days or you want to do it at your space then I propose here a suggestion of online training.

19- 20 March– Windows Phone 7.5 Deep Dive in the Platform –English – 2 days

You are an experienced developer in Windows Phone or Silverlight. You want to go deeper and develop complex applications. This is the right place for you. No introduction, we suppose you are comfortable with the tools and technology. That means, no “Hello World”. That means no XAML introduction. But instead, we’ll dive in the features offered by the Windows Phone 7.5 platform. You’ll get your hands dirty while doing some hands-on labs, where you get the chance to apply your newly gathered knowledge.

Speaker : Gill Cleeren http://www.snowball.be/

registration : http://micbru.fikket.com/event/windows-phone-75-deep-dive-in-the-plateform

Place : MIC Brussels http://www.mic-brussels.com

3- 4 April – Windows Phone 7.5 – Design – All about Microsoft Blend – English – 2 days

This training of 2 days will focus only on Blend Design almost not on writing C#

With Expression Blend for Windows Phone, it has never been easier to create the user interface of your application; simply drag UI elements to the design surface where they can be quickly customized and styled, import assets from tools such as Adobe Photoshop and turn them into data driven UI elements before finalizing your UI with transitions and animation that bring your application to life users navigate from screen to screen.

Speaker : Fons Sonnemans from Reflexion IT

Topics detail : http://micbru.fikket.com/event/windows-phone-75-microsoft-expression-blend-training

Place : MIC Brussels http://www.mic-brussels.com

16-17 April – Windows Phone 7.5 Project call - Français -2 Days

You are an individual, student or a company, your goal is to acquire a new competence This is for you - No marketing blabla - 2 days to learn how to develop, publish and market your Windows Phone 7 Apps. One day to go deeper in Windows Phone features like Second tiles or notification. You will receive a token, coaching, even a phone if you publish some applications

Speaker Christophe Peerens http://www.neomytic.be

registration : http://events.mic-belgique.be/event/appel-a-projets-windows-phone-75

Place : MIC Mons http://www.mic-belgique.be

4-5 June – Windows Phone 7.5 Project call - Francais -2 Days

You are a student individual or a company, your goal is to acquire new competencies This is for you - No marketing blala - 2 days to learn how to develop, publish and market your Windows Phone 7 Apps. One day to go deeper in Windows Phone features like Second tiles or notification. You will receive atoken & coaching

Speaker Christophe Peerens http://www.neomytic.be

registration : http://events.mic-belgique.be/event/appel-a-projets-windows-phone-75--2

Place : MIC Mons http://www.mic-belgique.be

You need more …. like Dev tokens, phone to develop & test, advise, visibility .. Just ask me dhernie@microsoft.com or just be curious - Follow me on twitter

Join the Belgian Experts and Microsoft Corp Product team for 12 hours of SQL Server 2012

Bart Vande Ghinste — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:59:46 GMT

Join us for the 12 hours of SQL Server 2012, the next release of the Microsoft Cloud-Ready Information Platform that is scheduled to be released in the first half of 2012. During the 12 hours of SQL Server 2012 we'll offer you 12 webcasts over 12 hours starting 12:12 CET on February 24th (too bad February 12th is a Sunday).

Together with our 12 speakers, both local and international, we'll walk you through the all new innovations we're bringing to the platform, or as we call them "The Fantastic 12 of SQL Server 2012". Our speakers will dive into all the new things around Business Intelligence, Tier-1 Performance & Reliability, the Manageability enhancements and of course the Cloud readiness and integration of SQL Server 2012 and SQL Azure.

Make sure to Register Today and explore the next release of SQL Server 2012 together with us.

Agenda:

Timing	Title
12:12-13:12	Partially Contained Databases
13:12-14:12	An introduction to Data Quality Services (DQS)
14:12-15:12	Power View from the Data Visualisation Perspective
15:12-16:12	Building your first Analysis Services Tabular BI Semantic model with SQL Server 2012
16:12-17:12	What's new in Integration Services 2012?
17:12-18:12	Manageability Enhancements of SQL Server 2012
18:12-19:12	Building the Perfect BI Semantic Tabular models for Power View
19:12-20:12	SQL Server 2012 and Big Data
20:12-21:12	Extending your data to the cloud
21:12-22:12	Database Schema Management & Deployment using SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT)
22:12-23:12	Inside SQL Azure: Self Governing, Self-Healing, Massively Scalable Database Service in the Cloud
23:12-00:12	Performance and High-Availability at Scale with SQL Server 2012

PhoneGap now fully supports Windows Phone

Bart Vande Ghinste — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:50:35 GMT

Back in September, Microsoft joined Nitobi to announce a Beta of PhoneGap support for Windows Phone Mango, and at the same time committed to continue working with the PhoneGap Open Source project community to help bring full support.

PhoneGap by Nitobi is an open source mobile framework that enables developers to build applications targeting multiple platforms, by using standard web technologies (HTML5, CSS and JavaScript). This release extends the cross-platform capabilities of PhoneGap, giving more choices to developers in need of a programming environment allowing them to easily deliver the same mobile experience to their users across the various existing and prominent mobile operating systems.

In addition to being able to leverage their HTML5 and Javascript skills to target Windows Phone, developers can now enjoy a selection of PhoneGap Plugins that support social networks and a solid integration into Visual Studio Express for Windows Phone. The plugins are:

Facebook JS SDK
Twitter/LinkedIn/WindowsLive status retriever
Bing Maps Launcher
LiveTile Update

This release includes many new features, and you can find more details here

Ressources

The popular PhoneGap open source mobile framework support for Windows Phone 7.5 is complete and available for download: https://github.com/cordova/cordova-windows-phone
Additional PhoneGap plugins that support social networks - Facebook, LinkedIn, Windows Live, Twitter and mapping (Bing Map launcher) - are now available for download here.
Technical details from PhoneGap.com: PhoneGap for Windows Phone Dissected
http://www.risingj.com/archives/147
Get Started with PhoneGap on Windows Phone 7.5: http://PhoneGap.com/start#wp
Video published on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aqYKd5rxr8
Video published on Channel 9 http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/Interoperability
Series of tips posts on Glen Gordon’s blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/glengordon/
Jesse MacFayden’s blog (PhoneGap’s dev lead): http://risingj.com/

Other resources:

· WP7 Porting resources and API mapping: http://windowsphone.interopbridges.com/
· “Leveraging your iPhone development expertise to build Windows Phone applications” http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_phone/b/wpdev/archive/2011/04/29/leveraging-your-iphone-development-expertise-to-build-windows-phone-7-applications.aspx
· “Leveraging your Android development expertise to build Windows Phone applications” http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_phone/b/wpdev/archive/2011/06/09/leveraging-your-android-development-expertise-to-build-windows-phone-applications.aspx

TechDays 2012 full agenda online & Scott Guthrie for developer opening session

Bart Vande Ghinste — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:04:05 GMT

Less than one month to go! As we approach TechDays 2012 be sure to secure your spot before we sell out! The full agenda is now available: we invite you to have a closer look and pick your favorite sessions.

For our 10th anniversary edition we got ourselves a special gift ... Scott Guthrie (aka The Gu) will deliver the Opening Session for developers on February 14!

Top Speakers

Join a mix of international third-party and Microsoft speakers paired with some of our local heroes. Some names are:

- In the Developer track: Alex Turner, Brian Keller, Bart De Smet, Gill Cleeren, Jeff Prosise, Maarten Balliauw, Matt Milner, Ben Riga, Steve Sanderson, Rob Miles, Tarek Madkour, Wade Wegner
- In the IT Pro track: John Craddock, Kurt Roggen, Ilse Van Criekinge, Adam Hall, Corey Hynes, Kim Oppalfens, Mike Resseler, Dan Holme

TechDays Full Agenda Now Available

This year promises to bring a lot of new content from Microsoft. Looking at the next versions of tooling, languages, OS and management you know this is not a standard TechDays event. Our content is split into current and upcoming technology. You can take advantage of filtering options on the website in order to build your custom agenda by adding sessions to your calendar through the export icon. By choosing a filter on the main themes you can have your Chinese sessions menu.

Deep Dives (February 16)

Peter Himschoot and Jurgen Postelmans (U2U) will be delivering a full day deep dive covering all the latest and greatest in .NET 4.5, focusing on Web Development with ASP.NET (both WebForms and MVC), HTML5 and WCF. Come spend a full day with us to dive into next-generation web development.

Rhonda Layfield will be delivering a full day deep dive covering all the different tools and techniques to deploy Windows 7, she will also cover the upcoming Windows OS deployment tools.

Mike Resseler & Tom Shinder will deliver a full day covering private cloud topics, including Management and Operations of your private cloud infrastructure.

Please note that 1 day tickets for the Deep Dives Day are SOLD OUT. Other packages are still available: register here.

Entrepreneur Track (February 15)

New at TechDays 2012 is the Entrepreneur Track: a full day to learn from best practices in the industry, meet the owners of successful startups and learn from their experiences as an IT entrepreneur.

This track is organized in close collaboration with the Microsoft Innovation Centers – the MICs are supporting entrepreneurs and startups to boost their IT projects into a successful business enterprises.

It is possible to register separately for this track. MIC members should contact the MIC directly as there is an offering from the MIC.

Dynamics Sessions (February 14)

In an effort to broaden the topics of the conference there will also be 3 sessions about Microsoft Dynamics on the TechDays agenda. All 3 of them are scheduled on February 14:

10:45 – 12:00
Microsoft SharePoint 2010 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 – Better Together
Wim Coorevits

13:00 – 14:15
Integrating on premise Line Of Business applications with CRM Online
Sam Vanhoutte

14:30 – 15:45
Extending the reach of your Microsoft Dynamics AX Application with the next-gen tools
Jeroen Doens

About TechDays 2012

Join our 10^th anniversary edition in a new location (Kinepolis Imagibraine - Braine l'Alleud) and learn about:

• Windows & Internet Explorer
• Windows Server 8 & Hyper-V
• Windows Phone 7 development
• System Center 2012 & Windows Intune
• Tooling and languages with Visual Studio, C# and VB Futures
• Windows 8 Metro Style applications runtime and apps
• Cloud development with Windows Azure Platform
• Web development with HTML5, JavaScript and ASP.NET
• ...

Questions? Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook or simply via e-mail.

Azure Spotlight: Numeri’zik Robot Stream Goes Cloudy

Bart Vande Ghinste — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:29:10 GMT

Numeri’zik is a Belgian startup company that is involved in the digitization of media and new ways of communication. They are a member of the Microsoft BizSpark program, through which they have access to Microsoft software, support and a worldwide ecosystem of peers and partners.

Companies need to communicate to their employees about internal events, organizational changes, HR-related announcements, etc. Often email or other electronic communication is not appropriate and a more personal approach is needed. However, bringing all employees together in one physical location may not always be possible for different reasons.

Numeri’zik has built the Robot Stream application, which provides companies and institutions with an Enterprise Radio that gives them an innovative, fun and informal way to communicate with their employees. Through Robot Stream, you can integrate information messages in a music stream and target them at all or specific groups of employees, regardless of their location. Whether it’s in the coffee corner, during lunch in the cafeteria, on the PC or smartphone, you can reach anyone, anywhere in the organization.

With support from the Microsoft Innovation Center in Mons, Numeri’zik has developed the Robot Stream solution using Microsoft’s Cloud Computing platform. The streaming server is hosted in Windows Azure and which can communicate with an on-premise Robot Stream appliance (NumeriBox).

By leveraging Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, Numeri’zik can offer its customers a solution that is highly available without having to invest in and manage a server infrastructure. At the same time, as the number of Robot Stream users fluctuates the platform can flexibly scale up or down, optimizing the operational cost.

Follow Numeri’zik:

Do you want to be the next one to feature your cloud application here? You can get started with the Windows Azure platform in 2 easy steps:

1. Setup an Account:

Set up an account and obtain a free subscription for accessing the online portals for Windows Azure an SQL Azure. You can sign up and get the free trial from http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/free-trial/.
Note: With the new capping functionality available you are assured that no charging is happening once your trial offer has expired.

2. Create your First application and Deploy it on the Windows Azure Platform:

Download the tools and learn how to create an application using .NET, JAVA, Node.js or PHP and deploy it on Windows Azure at http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/overview/

When all steps are executed successfully you should have your first application running on the Windows Azure Platform. Let us know about it and maybe you’ll be in the spotlights!

TechDays 2012 Developer Content and Deep Dive Updates

Bart Vande Ghinste — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:18:18 GMT

During next year’s TechDays 2012 running February 14 to 16th you’ve got the chance to choose between Developer or IT-Professional tracks, covering more than 70 unique sessions. Take a look at the online session listing and speakers where you can see for yourself and have your preferred agenda in mind.
Just in time for the end of the early bird, ending today!

Developer content focus

The TechDays developer focus we have is make sure developers get a head-start on the platform and tools such as the next generation of Visual Studio Tools and Languages, ALM, Cloud, Web and Mobile as well as learning how to build applications that leverage cloud services and target multiple devices.
At the same time we also ensure there are enough sessions that go deep on current technology learning’s and real world architectures.

Top speakers

This year we are welcome some of the regulars as well as some new faces. Speakers like Jeff Prosise, Bart De Smet, Brian Keller, Wade Wegner, Tarek Madkour, Matt Milner and more. Alex Turner is also back after a few years away, as is Nikhil Kothari the creator of Script#. From over the English channel we are welcoming Steve Sanderson and Richard Finn for the first time, as is Rob Miles joining us for the second year.

Local speaker favorites and again a few new faces for TechDays: Gill Cleeren, Maarten Balliauw, Kevin Dockx and Sam Vanhoutte, and Peter Himschoot and Jurgen Postelmans for the post-conference deep dive.

As for the keynote: we still have an announcement to be made there once we are ready to confirm.

Post-conference deep dive

This year the developer deep dive on “Web Development Futures” is delivered by Jurgen Postelmans and Peter Himschoot from U2U. Peter and Jurgen prepared a full day of sessions focusing on Visual Studio 11 for web development, ASP.NET (4.5) Web Forms, ASP.NET MVC 4, HTML5 and WCF. If you are looking at how to leverage new tooling for HTML5 and JavaScript development, target multiple devices, take advantage of new ASP.NET features you should not miss this deep dive.

TechDays 2012: 80% of agenda online and 1 more week to benefit from 15% discount

Bart Vande Ghinste — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:23:40 GMT

Just 1 more week to benefit from a 15% discount on your ticket for TechDays 2012: the Early Bird pricing ends on December 21. Registrations are coming in strong, so be sure to secure your spot before we sell out!

Top Speakers

Developer Track	Alex Turner	Brian Keller	Jeff Prosise
IT Pro Track	Corey Hynes	John Craddock	Adam Hall

We are happy to confirm speakers like:

- In the Developer track: Alex Turner, Brian Keller, Bart De Smet, Gill Cleeren, Jeff Prosise, Maarten Balliauw, Matt Milner, Ben Riga, Steve Sanderson, Nikhil Kothari, Rob Miles, Tarek Madkour, Wade Wegner

- In the IT Pro track: John Craddock, Kurt Roggen, Ilse Van Criekinge, Adam Hall, Corey Hynes, Kim Oppalfens, Mike Resseler, Dan Holme

International speakers are teamed up with our local experts to give you a top content mix.

TechDays program: 80% of agenda is finalized

This year promises to bring a lot of new content from Microsoft. Looking at the next versions of tooling, languages, OS and management you know this is not a standard TechDays event. Our content is split into current and upcoming technology.

Deep Dives (February 16)

Peter Himschoot and Jurgen Postelmans (U2U) will be delivering a full day .NET 4.5 and Visual Studio (Dev11) Futures for Web Development Deep Dive covering all the latest and greatest in .NET 4.5, focusing on Web Development with ASP.NET, HTML5 and WCF.

Rhonda Layfield will be delivering a full day deep dive covering all the different tools and techniques to deploy Windows 7, she will also cover the upcoming Windows OS deployment tools.

Mike Resseler & Tom Shinder will deliver a full day covering private cloud topics, including Management and Operations of your private cloud infrastructure.

About TechDays 2012

Join our 10^th anniversary edition in a new location (Kinepolis Imagibraine - Braine l'Alleud) and learn about:
• Windows & Internet Explorer
• Windows Server 8 & Hyper-V
• Windows Phone 7 development
• System Center 2012 & Windows Intune
• Tooling and languages with Visual Studio, C# and VB Futures
• Next generation apps
• Cloud development with Windows Azure Platform
• Web development with HTML5, JavaScript and ASP.NET
• ...

> REGISTER NOW

Hope to see you at the TechDays 2012!

Questions? Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook or simply via e-mail.

New Windows Azure Site and Features Available Today

Bart Vande Ghinste — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:37:04 GMT

Today we released the new Windows Azure Website with improved billing, management and SQL Azure capabilities. The site is in English today with localized versions planned to roll out next year

A highlight of the new features include:

Implementation of “Spending caps” where you can eliminate the risk of being charged by setting a €0 cap or reduce risk of large bills from unexpected usage by setting a higher cap and receiving alerts as they approach the cap.
SQL Azure database size increased from 50GB to 150GB and lowered prices
SQL Azure also has a new sharding feature along with SQL Azure Federation that enables you to build applications that are virtually unlimited in size
Open Source Experience with an updated Java SDK, a new SDK for Node.js that makes Windows Azure a first-class environment and new limited preview of Hadoop on Windows Azure
Simplified billing/reporting experience that integrates directly into the Management Portal
ISO 27001 complaint (public certification coming next month)

On Tuesday December 13th after European Business hours, Microsoft will be holding a special Windows Azure event for developers. Join us LIVE from the Microsoft Redmond Campus to learn how to get started building applications for the cloud from Microsoft technical leaders Scott Guthrie, Dave Campbell, and Mark Russinovich. More details can be found here.

You can start building your application on it in some simple and easy to do steps:

1. Setup an Account:

2. Create your First application and Deploy it on the Windows Azure Platform:

Download the tools and learn how to create an application using .NET, JAVA, Node.js or PHP and deploy it on Windows Azure at http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/overview/

When all steps are executed successfully you should have running your first application on the Windows Azure Platform.

Web & Phone UX Tour Belgium: recordings and resources now available

Bart Vande Ghinste — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 09:39:55 GMT

In November we held the Web & Phone UX event in Ter Elst (Edegem), bringing a full day of sessions focusing on Web & Phone (WP7) Design and Development. Sessions included HTML5, Metro Design from thinking to building and refining, JavaScript patterns, Windows Phone Mango development and Responsive Web Design.

Further in this post you can find information about the recorded sessions as well as information on the several events and programs on Windows Phone Development in Belgium.
Scroll to:

Session content and slides
Getting started, programs and resources

Recorded content, slides and resources

All of the content was recorded and are now uploaded together with slides, top recommended resources and even some of the demos to the Channel9 pages.
Important note: due to some technical issues during recording the quality is not optimal and a few sessions are audio-only. Our apologies for the inconvenience.

If you missed the event now is the time to get into the content and learn more on Windows Phone 7 & Web user experience and development. We started off with a general session on Microsoft Design: Multiscreen experiences and the Future by Arturo Toledo. In this keynote you can learn more about Metro Design Language and Kinect gestures.
A detail page per session has been made available with slides, content and recommended resources:

	Keynote: Microsoft Design: Metro, Multiscreen Experiences, Kinect and the Future Speaker: Arturo Toledo
	Good JavaScript Habits Speaker: Elijah Manor
	DESIGN. Visual, Interaction, Motion and Best Practices Windows Phone Apps. Speaker: Arturo Toledo
	What is HTML5 and CSS3 and how can I use it today? Speaker: Elijah Manor
	REFINE: Best Practices. Speaker: Corrina Black
	Bite on the Mango: what’s new in Windows Phone 7.5 Speaker: Gill Cleeren
	Windows Phone Development Journey from Development to Publishing Speaker: Christophe Peerens
	6 Things Every jQuery Developer Should Know Speaker: Elijah Manor
	BUILD. Make it XAML with Expression Blend – Windows Phone Apps. Speaker: Corrina Black
	Responsive Web Design: Get Started Speakers: Bram Vanderhaeghe, Simon Coudeville, Thomas Deceuninck

Windows Phone and Web Development events and programs in Belgium

1. Windows Phone programs in Belgium to help developers become successful

Download the tools
Developer center
Developer offers: register for the Windows Phone Project call and get a free subscription to the marketplace and even be eligible to receive a free phone! For all the details see http://micbru.fikket.com/event/call-for-projects-windows-phone-75-alias-mango--2
Have any questions? Contact @DavidHernie

2. Web Development tools and support

Register for one of the free Web Camps Belgium: Hands-on HTML5 and Web Apps (planned on December 5 2011 and three more in January, February and March 2012)
Download the new WebMatrix v2 Beta with HTML5 and CSS3 support
Read about Internet Explorer 9 and HTML5 support
Visit the IE10 Test Drive
Have any questions? Contact @katriendg

Getting started

Download the Windows Phone developer tools
WIndows Phone developer center
Download new WebMatrix v2 Beta with HTML5 and CSS3 support
Kinect for Windows

Early Bird Pricing for TechDays 2012 Extended to December 20. Register now!

Bart Vande Ghinste — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:42:44 GMT

We have good news: the Early Bird pricing for TechDays 2012 tickets will be extended to December 20. If you register before December 21 you can benefit from a 15% discount off the full pricing. Registrations are coming in strong, so be sure to secure your spot before we sell out!

Top Speakers

Developer Track	Bart De Smet	Richard Campbell	Jeff Prosise
IT Professional Track	Corey Hynes	John Craddock	Adam Hall

We are happy to confirm speakers like:

- In the Developer track: Bart De Smet, Richard Campbell, Jeff Prosise, Ben Riga, Steve Sanderson, Carl Franklin, Wade Wegner
- In the IT Pro track: Corey Hynes, John Craddock, Adam Hall, Jeremey Chapman, Ilse Van Criekinge, Rhonda Layfield

Many more are to be announced soon, so stay tuned.

NEW: Entrepreneur Track on February 15

A full day to learn from best practices in the industry, meet the owners of successful startups and learn from their experiences as an IT entrepreneur. Learn more.

About TechDays 2012

Year after year thousands of technology professionals come together to network with peers and experts, while diving deep into Microsoft technologies and learning about the latest products and solutions. Microsoft TechDays is one of the premier technical events in Belgium & Luxembourg and not to be missed.

With more technology areas than ever to explore, TechDays 2012 is the perfect place to get up-to-speed on the latest Microsoft technologies and up-level your skill on the technology you use every day. Content will be delivered by industry experts and Microsoft product team members.

Join our 10^th anniversary edition in a new location (Kinepolis Imagibraine - Braine l'Alleud) and learn about:

• Windows & Internet Explorer
• Windows Server 8 & Hyper-V
• Windows Phone 7 development
• System Center 2012 & Windows Intune
• Tooling and languages with Visual Studio, C# and VB
• Cloud development with Windows Azure Platform
• Web development with HTML5, JavaScript and ASP.NET
• ...

REGISTER NOW

Hope to see you at the TechDays 2012!

Questions? Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook or simply via e-mail.

Devoteam: Interoperability and Openness in the cloud - Serving Java in Azure

Bart Vande Ghinste — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:03:31 GMT

As part of Microsoft’s continued commitment to interoperability, the Windows Azure platform has been built from the ground up with interoperability in mind. Microsoft is clearly committed to interoperability on the Windows Azure Platform, and “first class citizen” support for Java in particular.

Java on Windows Azure not only works, but can be part of a cost-effective strategy for building Java-based (hybrid) cloud applications. Since the proof of the pudding is in the eating, we would like to show you how Java can benefit from the Windows Azure platform through a real case that will be brought by Devoteam.

Come and see for yourself what this is all about in our Executive Briefing Center in Brussels on the 14th of December.

Agenda:

12h: Reception with lunch

13h: Introduction by Rudy Van Hoe, Business Group Lead, Server and Cloud.

Interoperability and Openness in the Cloud.

As the number of Cloud vendors and cloud solutions grow exponentially, the more than legitimate question of customers is how all these different cloud services will integrate with each other in a standard manner. In this presentation, we will provide an overview of the different open standard organizations on Cloud, and discuss Microsoft’s solutions and investment strategy on interoperable and open private and public cloud services. Expect us to disclose an exciting interoperability roadmap of Azure!

14h: Case with live demo by Devoteam :

Building full hybrid and interoperable solutions – Serving JAVA and JBOSS on a bed of Windows Azure

As a Business and Technology integrator, Devoteam has always been at the frontline of the technological evolution. The Business Application Integration practice within Devoteam has been a hybrid practice from the start, using both Microsoft and Open Source/Java technology to cover the needs of their customers. This unique mix of competences fueled them into combining the best of both worlds, and work on a solution to bring complex distributed hybrid Java and .NET Applications to the cloud, in a way which has never been possible before. Typical Java oriented cloud services lack a lot of functionality and flexibility, which prevents companies from bringing their Java applications to the cloud. Devoteam can proudly announce that that time has come to an end. They will guide you through the fascinating and production-grade combination of Jboss and Java on Windows Azure, integrating with other both on-premise and cloud based Java and .NET applications.

16h: Interaction, networking and drinks

Microsoft Executive Briefing Center for European Innovation
Avenue des Nerviens 85
1040 Brussels

Updated Windows Azure SDK & Windows Azure HPC Scheduler SDK Available Today!

Bart Vande Ghinste — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:51:15 GMT

Today we are simplifying the development experience on Windows Azure with three updates—a new version of the Windows Azure SDK, a new Windows Azure HPC Scheduler SDK, and an updated Windows Azure Platform Training Kit. Whether you are already using Windows Azure or looking for the right moment to get started, these updates make it easier than ever to build applications on Windows Azure.

Highlights:

Windows Azure SDK (November 2011)—Multiple updates to the Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio 2010 that simplify development, deployment, and management on Windows Azure. The full Windows Azure SDK can be downloaded via the Web Platform installer here.
Windows Azure HPC Scheduler SDK— Works in conjunction with the Windows Azure SDK and includes modules and features to author high performance computing (HPC) applications that use large amounts of compute resources in parallel to complete work. The SDK is available here for download.
Windows Azure Platform Training Kit—Includes hands-on labs, demos, and presentations to help you learn how to build applications that use Windows Azure. Compatible with the new Windows Azure SDK and Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio 2010. The training kit can be downloaded here.

More details can be found at the Windows Azure Blog along with the Release notes.

You can start building your application on it in 3 simple and easy to do steps:

1. Download the Tools:

Get Visual Studio Express and the Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio to start building and debugging applications for the Windows Azure Platform at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/sdk/
If you have already Visual Studio installed you can download the tools directly from http://tinyurl.com/toolsforazure.

2. Setup an Account:

Set up an account and obtain a free subscription for accessing the online portals for Windows Azure, SQL Azure and Windows Azure AppFabric. You can learn more about the accounts at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/learn/get-started/ or you can sign up directly and get the trial http://tinyurl.com/getazurefreetrial.

3. Create your First application and Deploy it on the Windows Azure Platform:

First learn how to create a simple ASP.NET application in Visual Studio for Windows Azure and deploy it on Windows Azure at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/learn/tutorials/getting-started-web-tutorial/

When all steps are executed successfully you should have running your first application on the Windows Azure Platform.

Available : Windows Azure Platform Training Kit – October 2011 Update

Bart Vande Ghinste — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:36:36 GMT

The October release of the Windows Azure Platform Training Kit (WAPTK) is now available as a free download. The Windows Azure Platform Training Kit includes hands-on labs (HOLs), presentations, and samples to help you understand how to build applications that utilize Windows Azure, SQL Azure, and the Windows Azure AppFabric. Download the full training kit including the hands-on labs, demo scripts, and presentations here. Browse through the individual hands-on labs on MSDN here.

The October 2011 version of the training kit includes the following new and updated content:

HOL: SQL Azure Data-tier Applications NEW
HOL: SQL Azure Data Sync NEW
HOL: SQL Azure Federations NEW
DEMO: Provisioning Logical Servers using Cmdlets NEW
DEMO: Parallel Computing on Windows Azure - Travelling Salesman NEW
SQL Azure Labs and Demos with the new portal and tooling experience UPDATED
Applied several minor fixes in content UPDATED

Also available is an updated preview of our web installer, which enables you to select and download just the hands-on labs, demos, and presentations you want instead of downloading the entire training kit. As new or updated hands-on labs, presentations, and demos are available they will automatically show up in the web installer. Download the training kit web installer preview release here.

You can start building your application on it in 3 simple and easy to do steps:

1. Download the Tools:

2. Setup an Account:

3. Create your First application and Deploy it on the Windows Azure Platform:

When all steps are executed successfully you should have running your first application on the Windows Azure Platfor

Register now for TechDays 2012 and benefit from 15% Early Bird discount

Bart Vande Ghinste — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 08:56:07 GMT

Starting today (November 2, 2011) registrations for the Belgian TechDays 2012 are OPEN!

About Microsoft TechDays

Year after year thousands of technology professionals come together to network with peers and experts, while diving deep into Microsoft technologies and learning about the latest products and solutions. Microsoft TechDays is one of the premier technical events in Belgium & Luxembourg and not to be missed.

With more technology areas than ever to explore, TechDays 2012 is the perfect place to get up-to-speed on the latest Microsoft technologies and up-level your skill on the technology you use every day. Content will be delivered by industry experts and Microsoft product team members.

Register now

Join our 10^th anniversary edition in a new location (Kinepolis Imagibraine - Braine l'Alleud) and learn about:

• Windows & Internet Explorer
• Windows Server & Hyper-V
• Windows Phone 7 development
• System Center 2012 & Windows Intune
• Tooling and languages with Visual Studio, C# and VB
• Cloud development with Windows Azure Platform
• Web development with HTML5, JavaScript and ASP.NET
• ...

Kinepolis Imagibraine

After 3 great years in Metropolis Antwerp we’re moving TechDays to a new location: Kinepolis Imagibraine in Braine l’Alleud (Eigenbrakel). The movie theatre is easily reachable both by car and via public transportation.

If you’re coming by train: the Braine l’Alleud train station is very well connected with major cities in Belgium:

- Antwerp: direct connection from Antwerpen-Centraal taking approx. 1 hour
- Ghent: 1 hour trip from Gent Sint-Pieters, switching trains once at Brussel-Zuid
- Brugge: 1,5 hour trip switching trains once at Brussel-Zuid
- Hasselt: 1,5 hour trip switching trains once at Brussel-Zuid
- Leuven: 50 min trip switching trains once at Brussel-Noord
- Mons: 1 hour trip switching trains once at Brussel-Zuid
- Namur: 1 hour trip switching trains once at Charleroi-Sud
- Liège: 1,5 hour trip switching trains once at Brussel-Zuid
- Brussels: 15 minutes from Brussel-Zuid

There is a direct bus line (bus 67 from the TEC company) running from the Braine l’Alleud train station to Kinepolis Imagibraine, taking about 10 minutes.

Coming by car? Kinepolis Imagibraine is just 5 minutes from the R0 highway (exit 24). Driving directions are available here.

Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview Training Kit released

Bart Vande Ghinste — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 08:48:11 GMT

Now is a great time to start learning more about Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview. The preview was released during BUILD conference last September. The training kit, October Edition, provides a set of hands-on labs to Visual Studio 11 and the .NET Framework 4.5, ASP.NET 4.5, ALM with Visual Studio 11 and Team Foundation Server 11 as well as Metro style apps.

Getting started

Download the offline or online Training Kit installer
Download any requirements such as the Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview itself or Visual Studio 11 Application Lifecycle Management Virtual Machine
Follow the hands-on labs in the training kit, discover labs like Asynchronous programming in .NET 4.5, RESTful APIs with WCF Web API, Agile Project Management in Team Foundation Server 11, Unit Testing with Visual Studio 11: MSTest, NUnit, xUnit.net, and Code Clone and more.

Learning more

Apart from the training kit itself there are a set of great sessions recordings from the BUILD conference. A few noteworthy picks:

Future directions for C# and Visual Basic

What's new in Visual Studio 11

What's new in Visual Studio 11 for Application Lifecycle Management

Advanced IntelliTrace in production with Visual Studio 11

Save the Date: TechDays Belgium returns on 14-15-16 February 2012!

Bart Vande Ghinste — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 09:08:25 GMT

TechDays Belgium returns on 14-15-16 February 2012! Since we’re celebrating our 10th anniversary it will be a special edition: we’re moving to a brand new location (to be disclosed soon) and will offer you new ways to experience the conference.

For those who aren’t familiar with TechDays: it is the biggest IT event in Belgium, gathering thousands of professionals each year during 3 days. Fascinating technical sessions on both current and new technologies from Microsoft are complemented with many networking opportunities with your peers. And we welcome top notch speakers and local IT community leaders.

Curious? Nostalgic? At www.techdays.be you can relive the atmosphere of TechDays 2011.

Registrations will be open soon, so for now: save the date and don’t miss out!

You can also RSVP already on Facebook or LinkedIn and let your network know you will be attending. If you’re on Twitter, you can join the conversation via #techdaysbe.

Subscribe to our newsletters for developers and IT pros and stay up-to-date about TechDays 2012 (registration, speakers, session content, agenda, ...).

Register for Web & Phone UX Tour Belgium November 3rd: inspiring day on HTML5, Phone, Web and UX

Bart Vande Ghinste — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 22:09:00 GMT

Don’t miss our next event: Web & Phone UX Tour Belgium, taking place on November 3rd 2011 in Ter Elst (Edegem, Antwerp).

What can you expect?

An inspiring day event addressing User Experience and Development for the Web and Phone, with sessions delivered by top international speakers paired with local experts. We’re starting off with a general session on Microsoft Design: Multiscreen experiences and the Future. After that we split into two rooms with a UX track and a Developer track.

UX Track: focus on Windows Phone Design and Responsive Web Design.
Developer Track: focus on JavaScript Patterns, HTML5, CSS3 and Windows Phone Development.

Speakers

You don’t want to miss Arturo Toledo and Corrina Black from the Windows Phone Design team, or Elijah Manor’s first visit to Belgium! They are joined by Christophe Peerens, Gill Cleeren and Thomas, Bram and Simon from Netlash-b-Seen. An international mix promising to give you an immersion in User Experience and Development of websites and phone apps.

Agenda: a quick view

9:00 – 9:45	Registration and welcome coffee
9:45 – 11:00	Microsoft Design: Metro, Multiscreen Experiences, Kinect and the Future (General session)
11:00 - 11:15	Change rooms
	User Experience Track	Developer Track
11:15 - 12:15	THINK. Sketch, Wireframe, Prototype Windows Phone Apps	Good JavaScript Habits
12:15 – 13:15	Lunch
13:15 - 14:15	DESIGN. Visual, Interaction, Motion and Best Practices Windows Phone Apps	How to Develop your first Mango app?
14:15 – 14:30	Change rooms and coffee
14:30 - 15:30	BUILD. Make it XAML with Expression Blend – Windows Phone Apps	What is HTML5 and CSS3 and how can I use it today?
15:30 – 16:00	Coffee break
16:00 - 17:00	Responsive Web Design: Get Started	Do the Mango: what’s new in Windows Phone 7.5
17:00	Closing drink and networking

You can find the full agenda, speaker and session details on the event site.

Register now!

This is a free event but registration is mandatory. Please register soon as we expect the event to be fully booked soon.
You can choose to register for the UX or the Developer track. And yes: you are welcome to switch tracks during the day, this is just to help us better split up the rooms according to registrations.

We looking forward to spending an inspiring day with all of you!

Full agenda and registration details on the site.

New Windows Azure SDK 1.5, Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 2010

Bart Vande Ghinste — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 05:46:00 GMT

I am happy to announce the availability of the Windows Azure SDK 1.5 and Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 2010. You can download the tools here using the Web Platform Installer. All three of these releases are aimed at simplifying development, deployment, and management on the Windows Azure platform.

The Windows Azure SDK includes the following new features:

Re-architected emulator enabling higher fidelity between local & cloud developments & deployments.
Many fundamental improvements (performance of emulator and deployment, assembly/package validation before deployment)
Support for uploading service certificates in csupload.exe and a new tool csencrypt.exe to help manage remote desktop encryption passwords.
Many enhancements and fixes to Windows Azure SDK 1.4.

Also available are several new enhancements in Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio for developing & deploying cloud applications. These enhancements include:

Add Windows Azure Deployment project from Web Application project.
Profile applications running in Windows Azure.
Create ASP.NET MVC3 Web Roles.
Manage multiple service configurations in one cloud project.
Improved validation of Windows Azure packages.

Read the full announcement here.

You can start building your application on it in 3 simple and easy to do steps:

1. Download the Tools:

Get Visual Studio Express and the Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio to start building and debugging applications for the Windows Azure Platform http://tinyurl.com/learnaboutazure. If you have already Visual Studio installed you can download the tools directly from http://tinyurl.com/toolsforazure.

2. Setup an Account:

Set up an account and obtain a free subscription for accessing the online portals for Windows Azure, SQL Azure and Windows Azure AppFabric. You can learn more about the accounts http://tinyurl.com/getazureaccount or you can sign up directly and get the trial http://tinyurl.com/getazurefreetrial.

3. Create your First application and Deploy it on the Windows Azure Platform:

First learn how to create a simple ASP.NET application in Visual Studio for Windows Azure on your local machine http://tinyurl.com/localazureapplication. Once successfully created, learn how to deploy this application on the Windows Azure Platform http://tinyurl.com/deployazureapplication.

When all steps are executed successfully you should have running your first mobile application on the Windows Azure Platform!

Microsoft Patterns & Practices: A Guide to Claims-Based Identity and Access Control - 2nd Edition

Bart Vande Ghinste — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:45:53 GMT

Imagine a world where you don't have to worry about authentication. Imagine instead that all requests to your application already include the information you need to make access control decisions and to personalize the application for the user.

In this world, your applications can trust another system component to securely provide user information, such as the user's name or email address, a manager's email address, or even a purchasing authorization limit. The user's information always arrives in the same simple format, regardless of the authentication mechanism, whether it's Microsoft® Windows® integrated authentication, forms-based authentication in a web browser, an X.509 client certificate, or something more exotic. Even if someone in charge of your company's security policy changes how users authenticate, you still get the information, and it's always in the same format. This is the utopia of claims-based identity that A Guide to Claims-Based Identity and Access Control describes.

This is the second edition of this popular guide. It has been extensively updated to include new features and changes to the underlying technologies; and extends the coverage to encompass Windows Azure® Access Control Service, REST-based service authentication, and the use of claims-based authentication in Microsoft SharePoint® 2010. As you'll see, claims provide an innovative approach for building all types of applications that must authenticate and authorize users.

This edition also has a set of associated Hands-on-Labs that will help you to better understand the way that the example application works, how you can extend it with additional functionality, and how you can implement some of the advanced scenarios described in the guide.

Component

Description

The Guide

An Introduction to Claims explains what a claim is and provides general rules on what makes good claims and how to incorporate them into your application. It's probably a good idea that you read this chapter before you move on to the scenarios.

Claims-Based Architectures shows you how to use claims with browser-based applications and smart client applications. In particular, the chapter focuses on how to implement single sign-on for your users, whether they are on an intranet or an extranet. This chapter is optional. You don't need to read it before you proceed to the scenarios.

Claims-Based Single Sign-On for the Web and Windows Azure is the starting point of the path that explores the implementation of single sign-on and federated identity. This chapter shows you how to implement single sign-on and single sign-out within a corporate intranet. Although this may be something that you can also implement with Integrated Windows Authentication, it is the first stop on the way to implementing more complex scenarios. It includes a section for Windows Azure™ technology platform that shows you how to move the claims-based application to the cloud.

Federated Identity for Web Applications shows how you can give your business partners access to your applications while maintaining the integrity of your corporate directory and theirs. In other words, your partners' employees can use their own corporate credentials to gain access to your applications.

Federated Identity with Windows Azure Access Control Service is the start of a parallel path that explores Windows Azure Access Control Service (ACS) in the context of single sign-on and federated identity. This chapter extends the scenarios described in the previous chapter to enable users to authenticate using social identity providers such as Google and Windows Live® network of Internet services.

Federated Identity with Multiple Partners is a variation of the federated identity scenario that shows you how to federate with partners who have no issuer of their own as well as those who do. It demonstrates how to use the ASP.NET MVC framework to create a claims-aware application.

Federated Identity with Multiple Partners and Windows Azure Access Control Service extends the scenarios described in the previous chapter to include ACS to give users additional choices for authentication that include social identity providers such as Google and Windows Live.

Claims Enabling Web Services is the first of a set of chapters that explore authentication for active clients rather than web browsers. This chapter shows you how to use the claims-based approach with web services, whereby a partner uses a smart client that communicates with identity providers and token issuers using SOAP-based services.

Securing REST Services shows how to use the claims-based approach with web services, whereby a partner uses a smart client that communicates with identity providers and token issuers using REST-based services.

Accessing REST Services from a Windows Phone Device shows how you can use claims-based techniques with Windows Phone™ wireless devices. It discusses the additional considerations that you must take into account when using claims-based authentication with mobile devices.

Claims-Based Single Sign-On for Microsoft SharePoint 2010 begins a path that explores how you can use claims-based identity techniques with Microsoft SharePoint 2010. This chapter shows how SharePoint web applications can use claims-based authentication with an external token issuer such as ADFS to enable access from both internal locations and externally over the web.

Federated Identity for SharePoint Applications extends the previous chapter to show how you can use federated identity techniques to enable users to authenticate using more than one identity provider and token issuer.

The companion samples

The samples illustrate all scenarios covered in the book. They provide a “single box” experience with minimal infrastructure requirements.

Click here to download this release.