Register now for the next MSDN Live Meeting (organized by Microsoft Belgium and Luxembourg) on April 12, 2011: Lunchbox - Developing a Windows Phone 7 Application at Microsoft leveraging Windows Azure.
Timing
April 12, 2011 - 14:00 – 15:30 (Belgian time: GMT +01:00)
Abstract
The Lunchbox Windows Phone 7 application was developed by a group of enthusiast people within Microsoft to showcase the Microsoft application platform. We have found that in developing an application that requires some server-based components, a level of complexity gets added to your design. In this session, we will focus on the complexities that come with developing an application with client and server components. Specifically, we’ll talk about using the Windows Azure Platform to host the server components, implementing asynchronous server logic and how to perform authentication and authorization to protect your data.
* If you attend this webcast you will get a FREE Windows Phone 7 Dev Hub T-shirt! *
Speaker
Nick Trogh is an ISV Developer Evangelist for Microsoft Belgium & Luxembourg and responsible for helping Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to be successful by building software on the Microsoft Platform. Before that he has been an application development consultant for over 10 years, of which 5 years at Microsoft Consulting Services. It’s within MCS that he’s been involved in developing the Lunchbox Windows Phone 7 application. Nick blogs at http://blogs.msdn.com/b/nicktrog/.
>> Register now for this free webcast.
The newly released Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone 7 is designed to make it easier for you to build mobile applications that leverage cloud services running in Windows Azure. The toolkit includes Visual Studio project templates for Windows Phone 7 and Windows Azure, class libraries optimized for use on the phone, sample applications, and documentation.
My colleague Bart Vande Ghinste writes about what what’s included in the Toolkit as well as 3 easy steps to get started.
>> Go to the original article: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/architectsrule/archive/2011/03/28/windows-azure-toolkit-for-windows-phone-7.aspx
Note: You might be interested that Wade Wegner, one of the driving forces behind the toolkit will be doing a Windows Azure Platform session during TechDays 2011 on April 26th in Antwerp. For now, check out his blog post Getting Started with the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone 7.
Earlier this week, Microsoft opened a new Microsoft Cloud and Interoperability Center in Brussels. Here’s a short overview and a link to the full post of Luc Van de Velde below.
Read full article and find link to speeches at http://lucvdv.wordpress.com/
When you read this, you know it’s good:
“We believe that HTML5 and related technologies, in conjunction with faster and faster browsers, finally give developers the tools they need to create experiences that are just as vivid, interactive and high-fidelity as what you have come to expect from native applications without the need for plug-ins. We want to see what you can do unplugged. Push HTML5 to its limits and compete for over $40,000 in prizes. The Grand Prize winner will receive $9,000 in cash and a fully-loaded trip with a Golden Ticket to the Future of Web Apps Conference in Las Vegas on June 27th 2011. “
Microsoft launched the {Dev:unplugged} contest to push the limits of HTML5 and related technologies. Basically, build an awesome HTML5 application that uses only HTML/CSS/JS on the client side and works on Internet Explorer 9, Firefox 4 and the latest stable version of Chrome.
More info:
Stay up to date with the latest news from MSDN and TechNet in Belgium and Luxembourg via our new desktop gadget for Windows Vista and Windows 7. It’s free, easy to install and very practical: you won’t miss anything of the latest tech news, blogs, videos and event registrations, as they are all fed right into your desktop!
Small & Large
Once you’ve installed the gadget, you’ll see that there are 2 formats available: the small format rotates the latest news, the large format consists of 4 tabs (News, Events, Blogs and Videos). Every post has a small abstract allowing you to quickly scan it and click to the full story if you want to know more. Search via Bing and links to the MSDN & TechNet Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages are integrated as well.
Functionalities
- Language You can easily change the language of the content that will be fed into the gadget: Dutch or French (both options will include English posts as well). - MSDN or TechNet or both? You can choose which feeds you would like to have on or off. Are you only interested in news from MSDN or would you also like to receive info from TechNet? Just tick the right boxes to create your very own combination of feeds. - Background The default Windows 7 background can be changed to an MSDN or a TechNet background, as you wish.
Local info
It’s important to note that most of the info that’s fed into this gadget is coming from the local MSDN & TechNet team in Belgium and Luxembourg. This is the perfect tool to stay informed about local events that Microsoft is organizing for developers and IT professionals, insights from the Belgian MSDN & TechNet team and locally produced video recordings with technical community leaders.
>> Download it now!
The Expression team has just announced the availability of Service Pack 1 of Expression Web 4. This service pack adds quite a few interesting features to the product:
>> Download Expression Web 4 SP1 Learn more at the official Expression Web site.
‘Quick tip’ posts are short, useful posts pointing to content and tricks that might otherwise go lost in a typical 140 chars message on Twitterverse.
Looking for good content around Microsoft SharePoint 2010? This new Build a Better App site by Microsoft brings a set of scenarios with screencasts, presentations and tutorials. Scenarios include Content Management, Business Connectivity Services, Visual Studio 2010 Project structure and more.
New content is added regularly so this is certainly a good resource to keep an eye on.
>> Go to www.buildabetterapp.com
Check out the live agenda and find out why you should attend TechDays 2011. Review the sessions and speakers and build your own personalized agenda. Today we already have 1200+ registrations so don’t lose time and register now before the event sells out!
If you haven't decided yet, we give you more than just a few reasons why you should not miss this event.
Developer Opening Keynote We are happy to announce Scott Hanselman will be joining TechDays 2011 for the developer Opening Keynote this year. The Main Conference During the main conference on April 26th and 27th, six Developer and IT-Pro tracks bring you a mix of new technology and in-depth content on current technology with over 60 technical sessions planned. With the full agenda now published, you can filter sessions and build your personalized agenda for the event. Deep Dives (post-conference) On the third day of TechDays, on April 28th, we host a Deep Dive day with four different tracks for developers and IT-Professionals. As a developer you can choose between two tracks that go in-depth and focus on Best Practices : Visual Studio Application Lifecycle Management and Cloud (Windows Azure). As an IT Professional you have the following two options : Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (by Corey Hynes) or Direct Access (by John Craddock). Next to learning there is also the networking aspect of this conference. We give you the opportunity to connect with Product Managers from Redmond, meet your peers, talk to our user groups and much more. Don't wait to register before it's too late! PS. You can also follow the TechDays on Twitter and/or Facebook.
Internet Explorer 9 RTW is now available for download. After a first preview at PDC 2009, a first Platform Preview at MIX 2010, a Beta in September 2010 and RC in February 2011: we’ve gone through a lot to bring a more beautiful web.
Actions:
With IE9 officially released, the way to a more beautiful web is being paved. We have been working with Belgian partners to have their sites shine on IE9 and other modern browsers. These partners are implementing HTML5 features and taking advantage of Site Pinning features. Site Pinning features allow users to pin a website to the Taskbar in Windows 7 (note this is not related to HTML5 but simply a feature in the new browser).
Netlog created a new experience available to all their members using modern browsers: they can now take advantage of geolocation API to create location based shouts. If you want to learn more about Netlog’s development, make sure to attend the HTML5 Web Camp (see below) or watch the video of their session after the event.
Here are a few of our Belgian partners taking advantage of the IE9 site pinning experiences.
Pinned site: Autogids and Le Moniteur Automobile
Try it out yourself: http://www.moniteurautomobile.be/ and http://www.autogids.be/
Pinned site: HLN.be and 7sur7.be
HLN.be and 7sur7.be allow their users to pin the website to the taskbar, allowing users to quickly launch the browser or specific channels from within the jumplists.
Try it out yourself: http://www.7sur7.be/ and http://www.hln.be/
Pinned site: Le Soir
Try it out yourself: http://www.lesoir.be
Pinned site: RTL TVI
Try it out yourself: http://www.rtltvi.be
Pinned site: Zita.be
Try it out yourself: http://www.zita.be
Keep your eyes on www.beautyoftheweb.be to discover more experiences soon.
We are also bringing more HTML5 content to the local web developers and designers. Our first HTML5 Web Camp Belux event is taking place on April 6th in Brussels. Just two weeks ago we announced the event, which was fully booked no less than 24 hours later! With such a high interest we went the extra mile and increased the number of seats to 150 instead of the original 100 attendees. Netlog will talk about their Geolocated shouts, LBi, These Days and Ferranti are the other partners bringing you more HMTL5 content like Canvas, WebSockets, jQuery, CSS3 and real world cases.
If you are not registered, it’s unfortunately too late to join the event. However no panic, all the sessions are being recorded and will be posted soon after the event.
Here’s a few of my favorite new HTML5 sites, most of them announced during last night’s IE9 press event.
Foursquare playground After asking the user for access to its geographical information, it positions the user in the middle with all the surrounding foursquare check-ins close by.
Close to my current location I have a hotel (in this case the Crowne Plaza), so I can go in and zoom into that location to see the Mayor and user tips. The more users checking in, the more info.
Try it out yourself: http://foursquareplayground.com/
Never Mind the Bullets This site gives you a comic strip experience enriched by the effects of parallax scrolling, by taking advantage of HTML5 features such as Canvas, <audio> and <video>, CSS 2D Transforms and more.
Try it out yourself: http://www.nevermindthebullets.com/
Mike Tompkins’ Firework
And a last one that’s a real blast: try out the HTML5 video mixer that plays 16 different videos with which you can interact.
Feeling creative? Give the Audio Mixer a try: http://www.beautyoftheweb.com/firework/create.html Fun guaranteed!
Try it out yourself: http://www.beautyoftheweb.com/firework/
Going for HTML5? Why not enter the {dev:unplugged} global competition and win some amazing prizes.
Last week Service Pack 1 for Visual Studio 2010 was officially released. Make sure you go ahead and download SP1 to benefit from new features and fixes such as IntelliTrace on 64bit systems, unit testing, built-in Silverlight 4 profiling, HTML5 schema support and more.
Link: read the official post announcing the release as well as links to list of changes and SP1 compatibility.
Download it here.
Resources:
As Luc Van de Velde writes, Microsoft is nominated in the 2011 Data News Awards for Excellence. We are in the running for two categories:
Software company of the year (in 2010, we offer you the broadest set of software solutions, Windows Azure Platform, Office 365, Dynamics CRM Online, and Windows Intune, …) Most innovative company of the Year (Kinect, Windows Phone 7, and much more)
Software company of the year (in 2010, we offer you the broadest set of software solutions, Windows Azure Platform, Office 365, Dynamics CRM Online, and Windows Intune, …)
Most innovative company of the Year (Kinect, Windows Phone 7, and much more)
Excerpt from Luc’s post:
“On top of all that, Microsoft Belgium & Luxemburg is a local company, employing 300+ employees and thousands of partners implementing our solutions. For every $ Microsoft earns, the local economy makes 7. That’s the result of innovation.”
Please read the full post and cast your vote!
During the first Web Camp Belgium in January we asked you to indicate your interest in future Web Camps. Response was huge and many of you pointed out HTML5 and related technologies. So here is our answer: on April 6th we’ll be hosting the first HTML5 Web Camp in Belgium with a full afternoon of sessions presented by Belgian partners and agencies.
What: HTML5 Web Camp Belgium – a full afternoon of sessions presented by the Belgian web companies followed by a reception Where: Living Tomorrow Indringingsweg 1 Vilvoorde When: April 6th 2011 13:30 to 18:00 – Sessions by Netlog, Ferranti, These Days and LBi 18:30 to 22:00 – Reception (optional registration) Type: free event
>> Register for HTML5 Web Camp Belgium
Looking for more information about HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Geolocation, Canvas, jQuery, WebSockets? This is your opportunity to learn from the Belgian agencies on how they are using the new functionalities today on customer projects.
We are very excited to have Netlog join us to speak about a brand new service they are launching on their website taking advantage of the Geolocation API of HTML5 to let users create location based shouts. After Netlog’s session These Days is on stage bringing you inside info on how to take advantage of Object Oriented JavaScript to minimize the amount of HTML code needed. These Days is using the case of the Frameratefest.com contest site to illustrate how it’s done. Jef Claes from partner Ferranti then joins us to cover WebSockets in HTML5. Since WebSockets is still in experimental phase it will be illustrated by taking advantage of the HTML5 Labs prototypes. To finish off we’ll have LBi taking the stage to showcase a project from a big Belgian customer in which they take advantage of jQuery and CSS3, while still supporting older browsers and using less code!
13:00
Welcome and registration
13:30
Welcome and introduction to the event (Katrien De Graeve)
14:10
Location-aware shouting Speaker: Frank Desmettre, Netlog
HTML5 offers several solutions for augmenting the experience of users on the web. One of these solutions is providing an accurate location of a user. Most of today's smartphones already support the technique of requesting your location through GPS but now an HTLM5 compatible browser can also pinpoint your location based on the IP of your device and nearby wireless access points.
At Netlog we've been using the Geolocation API to add location information to user messages (shouts) both on the web version and the mobile site. This location is used to place them on a map that can be easily navigated using HTML5. This way we enable users to find out what's going on around them or on a location of their choice.
15:20
How Object-Oriented JavaScript can help your HTML5 site Speakers: Pieter Helsen and Bram Verdyck, These Days
We all know that we now have a new Canvas element and some other very cool HTML5 tags, but how do you get to implementing these correctly? The www.frameratefest.nl site for example, is a mere 200 lines of HTML. How is this possible? Say Hello to OO JavaScript.
By using the Frameratefest site These Days will explain how this concept has helped develop the site. We'll dive into code!
16:30
WebSockts on Fire Speaker: Jef Claes, Ferranti
While the WebSockets API specification is not stable yet, various browser vendors have already implemented a prototype in their latest browser versions. Microsoft released their WebSockets prototype in December 2010. While there is no native implementation of WebSockets in IE9 just yet, for now they are providing a solution which works cross-browser, relying on a Silverlight client. Server-side a Windows Communication Foundation server is made available, which implements the latest version of the WebSockets protocol.
In this session, Jef covers the WebSockets fundamentals, demonstrate a proof of concept that could be used in various fire department web applications and deep-dive into the code of this proof of concept.
17:25
Creating cross-browser designs with CSS3 and jQuery in a SCRUM methodology Speaker: Tim Vermaelen, LBi
As today's web applications are growing in complexity, making them cross-browser is still key to success. Since history of web design we've seen all kinds of techniques that tackle browser issues. Still, they are very time consuming and expensive. This presentation will give you a quick look on what's possible these days with CSS3 and jQuery and how you can save time creating cross-browser web applications. Throw away half of your HTML code, half of your background images and start using more flexible techniques. This session is going to be based on a case of a big Belgian company, to be shown during the session.
18:30
Cocktail Reception (optional)
What if you’re not able to make it? The good news is all sessions are recorded and will be available for on-demand viewing shortly after the event.
Blog bling: you’re welcome to invite peers and colleagues to attend. Here’s two banners you can use:
Using this link: http://bit.ly/html5webcampbe