MPN East

In an effort to keep our East Region BizSpark startups informed of events in the region, we’ve set up a new BizSpark East Facebook page. We’ll post upcoming events and information of interest to our startups in the region. I made a TinyURL for this at http://tinyurl.com/bizsparkeast.

Direct link to the Facebook page below:

Facebook | BizSpark East

By popular request, I’ll also be setting up a LinkedIn group for this purpose and I’ll post that when it’s ready.

Developer’s Roadmap to Windows Phone 7 Launch Timing

2010-08-23T18:33:08Z

The WP7 info for developers keeps rolling in. This is fresh off the WP7 Developer Blog. Read the whole thing for details.

A Developer’s Roadmap to Windows Phone 7 Launch Timing

Of course, it’s not just the big names in development who are going to bring great titles to Windows Phone 7 customers. There are many multiples more of lesser known developers who are looking to be in the Windows Phone Marketplace. Large or small, all developers will have equal opportunity to capitalize on the first mover advantage of having their apps or games ready at launch. In order to do that, there are a few things developers will need to do:

Register at the marketplace today

Finish you application or game using the Beta tools

Download the final Windows Phone Developer Tools when they are released on September 16^th

Recompile your app or game using the final tools

Have your XAP ready for ingestion into the marketplace in early October when it opens

The final tools will likely have some minor breaking changes from the Beta tools, so developers may have to fix some bugs that arise. The final tools will also include several highly requested Silverlight controls which will make it even easier for developers to deliver high quality Windows Phone 7 experiences. Also in the September 16^th final release, the panorama, pivot and Bing maps controls will all be available to drop into applications.

Windows Phone 7 Jump Start Training

2010-08-19T15:29:28Z

New training from the Windows Phone 7 MVPs. Check it out at the Windows Phone Developer Blog…

Windows Phone 7 Jump Start Training

Today we are publishing the first in our training content led by our MVPs. Rob Miles and Andy Wigley led an incredibly well received live training course about a month ago, focused on getting developers trained up on building amazing applications and games for Windows Phone 7.

We recognize that providing as much technical content as we can for the full range of developers is what developers deserve. While we plan on having more live training sessions in the coming weeks and months, we are also committed to making that content available as quickly as possible to as many developers as possible. Since this round of content is based on Beta Windows Phone Developer Tools, we will not be localizing it. For our non-English speaking developers, we will be providing localized training once we have released the final developer tools.

Andy and Rob provide a good bit of humor along with their incredible depth of knowledge on the topic of building apps and games for Windows Phone 7. We think they have covered a fair amount ground, but if there are topics you feel we need to cover more in depth, don't hesitate to let us know.

There are 12 sessions in total, each about :50 minutes in length. Think of this as a semester's worth of class time to help you in your quest to be an awesome Windows Phone 7 developer. It's self-paced, and both Rob and Andy are pretty approachable. Head on over to their blogs if you want to get more plugged into what they are doing.

Windows Azure One Month Pass

2010-08-11T17:28:25Z

If you’re looking to check out Azure development without a commitment, this program will give you access to Azure without a credit card for a month.

Windows Azure One Month Pass
Windows Azure One Month Pass
•Learn about the Windows Azure platform with no steep learning curve
•With Windows Azure you pay only for what you use, scale up when you need capacity and pull back when you don't. We're offering a Windows Azure One Month Pass*, so you can put Windows Azure and SQL Azure through their paces. No Credit Card Required.

Lots of resources on the page also. I’ve added them below for convenience.

Use the pass with the online training below to learn more about Windows Azure:

Learn why Azure is a great cloud computing platform with these fun videos

Learn how to put up a simple application on to Windows Azure

Learn about SQL Azure Database video

Learn about PHP on Windows Azure

Take the Windows Azure virtual lab

Read about Developing a Windows Azure Application

View the series of Web seminars designed to quickly
immerse you in the world of the Windows Azure Platform

Get the Tools

Download Microsoft Web Platform Installer

Download Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio

Dig Deeper into Windows Azure

Download the Windows Azure Platform Training Kit

Visit the Windows Azure Platform partner HUB

Visit the Windows Azure Platform partner page

Windows Phone 7 Development Steps

2010-08-09T20:28:43Z

Joe Healy has a great post up with some instructions for getting started with Windows Phone 7 development. Well worth a bookmark:

7 Steps to Get You Going on Windows Phone 7 Dev
Posted on 8/9/2010 2:34:05 PM

Windows Phone 7 is hot right now, and I'm getting a ton of Qs on how to get started. Many different ways you could approach present themselves, but what's the best? Actually, I don't know but here's DevFish's Top 7 Steps to Windows Phone 7 Development ...

INSTALL THE DEVTOOLS - easy enough. Click once on the installer and down come all the goodies, including Expression Blend for WP7 and VS2010 Express for WP7. Click on "Download the Developer Tools" here , and while you're at it, explore some of the other links

WORK THROUGH THE TRAINING KIT - The WP7 Training Kit is a fine piece of work (if you're like me and love Hands On Labs to plod through at your own pace). Seven Hands-On-Labs covering basics, navigation, controls, push notifications, game dev with XNA, launchers, tombstoning, and more. Download from here .

READ PETZOLDs FREE EBOOK - Over 11 Chapters (and growing) of top notch "petzold-level-content" with source code even - Charles, I promise I'm buying a copy when it comes out - well worth downloading and printing (pine trees are a renewable resource) - find it here .

Read the rest on devfish.net.

Patterns and Practices Symposium - 18-22 Oct 2010

2010-07-29T17:51:22Z

The Microsoft patterns & practices Symposium is the event for software developers and architects to have engaging and meaningful discussions with the people creating the technologies and guidance aimed at addressing their scenarios.

This 5-day event provides an environment to learn about and discuss a broad range of Microsoft development technologies and the opportunity to drill into the details with p&p and product team members and industry experts.

Symposium Highlights

· Keynote Sessions by Senior Microsoft Executives and Technical Industry Leaders including Jason Zander, Yousef Khalidi, and Charlie Kindel

· 3 Developer Workshops on Enterprise Library, Prism and Windows Azure

· 25 Thought-provoking sessions on Windows Phone 7, SharePoint, ASP.NET, Dependency Injection, Agile practices, and much more including patterns for how to apply these technologies in proven ways

· Evening Networking Reception with entertainment, food and drinks

· Symposium Party on Thursday Night at Lucky Strike Billiards in Bellevue

· “Ask The Expert” Lunches and several Open Space sessions

Register before August 31^st and save $300 per person. Space is limited so don’t delay.

Let me know if you’ll be attending by dropping me an email at john.mcclelland@microsoft.com

Learn more about the Symposium on the web at
patterns & practices Symposium
@pnpsymposium #pnpsym
Facebook

Technorati Tags: Event,Symposium,Microsoft,Windows Phone 7 Series,WP7,Windows Phone,Enterprise Library,Agile,ASP.NET,Patterns and Practices,Developers,Workshop,Windows Azure,Prism,p&p

Windows Phone 7 Developer Resources

2010-07-08T13:25:02Z

Sometime later this year, Windows Phone 7 will hit the market and we’re looking for startups that are building on the platform. If you’re a BizSpark startup in the Eastern US and you’re building for Windows Phone 7, drop me a note. (brianjo@microsoft.com) If you want to learn more about developing for Windows Phone 7, I have a list of good resources right here:

Windows Phone 7 Developer Training Kit

Windows Phone 7 promises to be an amazing mobile phone operating system given its innovative user interface and functionality, as well as its great development platform upon which you can quickly and easily build games and applications. With a myriad of new devices, a powerful and immersive software platform, and a new marketplace to attract developers and provide easy access to applications, consumer demand for Windows Phones will be high, and developers will quickly adopt the Windows Phone platform to capitalize on this growing mobile marketplace. This Training Kit will give you a jumpstart into the new Windows Phone world by providing you with a step-by-step explanation of the tools to use and some key concepts for programming Windows Phones.

Windows Phone on MSDN

Programming Windows Phone 7 Series (Free e-book by Charles Petzold)

I’ve been working through Petzold’s book and it’s been a lot of fun. I don’t think I’ve done any serious mobile coding since I was technical editor on Programming Microsoft Windows CE (2nd Edition I think.) Things have certainly gotten a lot easier over the years. :)

#WorkWednesday: Show Off Your Awesome

2010-06-30T15:40:49Z

Work Wednesday is a chance for each of us to help out in reducing unemployment by using the power of our social networks to make connections between the seekers and the seekees.

There’s an awesome new way of finding top talent and the coolest companies to work for in the Boston area: Greenhorn Career Connector.

We already love Greenhorn Connect for helping us find the coolest startup events in Boston, and so we weren’t too surprised to see they came up with a great new way of connecting talent and companies. Their vision is to help “companies and job seekers to connect by emphasizing a company's culture and what they're about instead of just a job description and qualifications.”

“What makes companies truly great to work for is their culture and the people behind it”

Job postings emphasize company culture to help you highlight the reasons that make people want to work for you:

“You should be excited to apply for a job”

We agree! And we love that Greenhorn Career Connect gives companies a “medium to show off their awesome” and job seekers the information they need to find a company they’ll love.

And, it’s free to post jobs to this summer! So what are you waiting for?

» Companies: Post your company

» Job Seekers: Find your dream job

BizSpark Startup Solvate is recruiting Microsoft-Certified Talent

2010-06-14T19:55:05Z

BizSpark Startup Solvate matches high-end talent with companies that need work done. They’re looking to add more Microsoft-certified talent to their ever growing network.

Solvate is actively recruiting Microsoft-Certified Talent

Our Gig Economy-inspired Solvate500 campaign to recruit 500 of the best independent professionals in the country to our Talent Network continues this week with a focus on Microsoft-Certified talent.

We have opened fifty spots for independent Microsoft-Certified professionals with experience working with top brands and with expertise spanning Microsoft Office, Visual Studio, .NET frameworks and Servers like BizTalk, Exchange, Sharepoint and SQL, as well as professionals familiar with the just released Office Web Apps.

We are making a concerted effort to recruit in Microsoft-Certified talent because Microsoft is one of the most comprehensive platforms small businesses run on, from Office to Sharepoint, and we want to support our clients there – by giving them access to the best consultants on Microsoft platforms, completely on demand, one hour or project at a time.

For those looking for talent, Solvate has a special offer BizSpark members and readers of the MPN East Partner Blog. Use coupon code “BIZSPARK” on your Request for Talent and you’ll get your first hour of work free.

Solvate did an awesome Pivot demo at DEMO this year. Check out the video: