Windows Phone 7 “Mango” adds a lot of great new features to Live Tiles . An app can now create Secondary Tiles that are controlled programmatically and deep link directly into the app. One feature that I could not find, however, is the ability...

Perhaps you’ve heard already about Windows Phone OS (codenamed “Mango”)? Here is a list of some of my favorite great new features of the update. · Windows Phone OS (codenamed “Mango”) is a free update for all...

Last time I gave some specific guidance on  Dynamic objects, OAuth and HttpWebRequest versus WebClient.  This time, I’ve got a hodge podge of different topics for you! NB: Code presented here is of example quality only. Please don’t cut and...

Last time , I gave some motivation and context for this series and discussed a couple of topics.  This time, we will look at identifying the user (Authentication) using  OAuth and calling web services using HttpWebRequest . NB: Code presented...

I’ve been working on these things quite a bit …   We call them “slates” … specifically Windows 7 slate form factor PCs.  They are pretty cool devices.  I’ve worked on some projects and there are others on Product Scout .  I’ve learned...

Or “Why is my RootPictureAlbum null?” Download the code for this example . In order to get programmatic access to the available media libraries on Windows Phone 7, you need to use some XNA libraries even in a Silverlight application.  I will give...

Download Source A customer asked me recently “I would like to see a plain text version of selected emails without sending them to the junk folder.”  I looked for a rule, but I couldn’t find one.  I looked for a setting, I couldn’t find one. ...

Sometimes I get down on myself. You see, dear reader, I’ve been trying to think up a good application to write for WP7. I’ve thought of a few good apps, a couple of mine are actually up in the marketplace and earning money. But, then I say...

We just published a great paper on the Economics of the Cloud .  It does a very thorough analysis of current IT practices and gives some concrete ways that the Cloud (both Public and Private ) can lead to IT cost savings.  Unfortunately, it...

I must tell you, I hate training.  I hate it! I hate it! I hate it! This is me in a training class … Just a sad sack. Why? Because most training sucks, that’s why!  I always feel like give an equivalent amount of undisturbed time, I could learn...

If you’ve been playing around in the Windows Phone 7 marketplace or downloading apps to your shiny new Windows Phone 7 (w00t!), you may have noticed something interesting. Some applications seem to require a lot more privileges than you’d...

Download source: RxTests.zip No, this is not an attempt to get spidered by putting every hot technology in the title!  It’s actually self-induced attempt to give myself a brain hemorrhage by stuffing as many new to me technologies in one sample application...

If you’ve been using the beta tools to develop for Windows Phone 7 , you’ve had to do without for a little while – but no longer. The RTM tools are available for download ! There are a ton of great things included in the package and...

MAVIS uses speech-recognition to enable searching audio and video content.  You can check it out in action with an amazing way to search through videos from events like PDC .  Check it out!

Last time we discussed various categorizations of the cloud and determined that there were three dimensions against which we could categorize a Cloud offering. Those dimensions are Service Model, Deployment Model and Isolation Model. Given that the cardinality...

I’ve been thinking about the Cloud a lot lately.  I’ve also been talking to a lot of customers both large and small about Azure .  I’m getting some fairly consistent messages.  On the good side, most of my customers indicate that they are...

There are several different tools that one can use to interact with a SQL Azure database. Each tool has scenerios that it is best for and an audience to whom it will appeal. Here are three along with some thoughts on each. Method #1: Tried and True...

Some interesting and in-depth WP7 Previews hit the wire today. Check them out! http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/19/windows-phone-7-in-depth-preview/ http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-20010780-85.html http://www.winsupersite.com/mobile/wp7_handson_03b...

[Everything I write on this blog is my own opinion and not that of my employer.] I read with interest the InfoWorld article entitled Windows Phone 7: Don't bother with this disaster .  I was surprised at the level of vitriol contained in the article...

We work in a field populated by brilliant people.  But, like any field, it is also populated by charlatans.  I’m not trying to name call, but when I see a flagrant Security Development Lifecycle violation such as information disclosure of Personally...

I’ve been to two separate technology demonstrations lately wherein the presenter has eschewed the generally well accepted Hello World program as a first example in favor of something different.  As you know, for many years the K&R example has...

Seadragon enables smooth browsing of images as well as Deep Zoom experiences.  It’s the power behind the PhotoSynth technology I mentioned earlier. To operate a Deep Zoom experience like this Michael Jordan one I like, you click where you want to...

Over the past few days, I have done a completely unscientific survey about SkyDrive.  This test was conducted among three adult males over two days.  Here are the results … Q: Do you know about SkyDrive? Yes: 0 No: 3 Q: Do you know about Live...

A (quick) look back Hey!  Remember ‘98-‘99? I do!  We had a bit of a run-up if you recall … Will that ever happen again?  Beats me, but I’m probably not the right guy to ask!  I remember when Ask Jeevs went public. I went to the site...

I’ve worked with a lot of guys with gray hair in my career.  And by “guys with gray hair”, I mean guys who have been doing software development for a very long time.  These are the type of guys that have such a breath and depth of experience...