It’s no secret that Windows Phone 7 developers love the support that they get from Windows Azure! In making this bond stronger, Windows Azure announced a toolkit for Windows Phone 7 specifically! This is a huge milestone and will be a crucial piece in making the App story sweeter for developers.

Download it from here: Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone 7.

The main goal of this toolkit is to make it easier for developers to build phone applications that leverage cloud services in Windows Azure! Once you have downloaded the toolkit, you can use the phone and compute emulators to get a new WP7 app running.

The toolkit provides you with:

• Binaries for your Windows Phone 7 applications
• Project templates to optimize new phone application creation
• Sample applications in both C# and VB.NET (VB Dev’s rejoice!)
• A dependency checker that checks the prerequisites required by the toolkit
• Setup and configuration documentation, toolkit content review, a getting started walkthrough, and troubleshooting tips

Before you get started, be sure to read Wade Wegner's blog post, "Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone 7" and also take a peek at Getting Started with the Toolkit.

(Image: Courtesy Steve Marx) 

These are exciting times for developers. It’s the future and is available to Windows Phone 7 developers today!

-Mithun Dhar

HTML 5 is the  Next Big thing and it’s here today! If you are a rockstar web developer show us your webdev prowess by entering into the Dev Unplugged contest.

Dev Unplugged is a contest that challenges web developers to push the limits of a modern browser without the use of plug-ins. HTML5 and related technologies, in conjunction with faster and faster  browsers, finally give developers the tools they need to create experiences that are as vivid, interactive and compelling as anything they have seen in native applications. We intend that Dev Unplugged becomes a forum where developers around the world showcase their talents and inspire people to see where the web is going. So truly in Microsoft’s spirit, we encourage you to be what’s next!

Enter Here: http://www.beautyoftheweb.com/dev/unplugged

Important Dates:

• 3/1 – Contest Opens
• 4/5 – Submission gallery opens to the public and community voting begins
• 5/9 – Submission deadline
• 5/12 – Top-40 Finalists are announced
• 5/23 – Winners are announced

Come join me in beautifying the web!

-Mithun Dhar