Dr. Z's Blog

Soundtracker Builds Global Geosocial Music Service on Multiple Platforms including Windows Azure and Windows Phone 7

zxue — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 02:08:20 GMT

Daniele Calabrese, founder and CEO of Soundtracker, a Microsoft BizSpark One company, discusses with Zhiming Xue the enabling technologies behind their geosocial music service Soundtracker. The free global geosocial internet radio service, which currently supports smartphone and web users with 12 million songs in 10 languages, helps users discover, share and play in real-time their favorite music with friends and anybody nearby. With demos on a Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone, Daniele discusses their mobile-first strategy that focuses on smartphone users, their support for multiple mobile platforms including Windows Phone 7, and several key location aware and social music sharing capabilities of the service. He then explains the high-level architecture for the music service - how Amazon AWS is used to support the infrastructure and Microsoft Windows Azure powers the instant and predictive search function, and how data is managed in the backend and delivered to users. He talks about how HTML5 is used to provide optimized user experience to web users with Microsoft IE 9 and Google Chrome. Finally, Daniele shares their plan to extend the global music service to Windows 8 and XBOX Live users. You can follow Soundtracker at facebook and twitter.

For developers, you can download Windows Phone development tools and Windows Azure SDK, and get a free Windows Azure trial account.

Building Windows for the ARM processor architecture

zxue — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:10:43 GMT

Check out Steven Sinofsky's latest post on the technical foundation of Windows on ARM, or WOA. Click here to read the full blog post, or watch the video below.

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Windows Azure InfoKit for Public Sector February 2012 Update

zxue — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:44:33 GMT

I updated the resource kit to add links to resources for iOS and Android developers. Download the PPT file here.

Developer Tools

Windows Azure SDK /zxazuresdklink – All tools and bits you need to create cloud apps with Microsoft Visual 2010
Windows Phone SDK /zxphonesdklink – All tools you need to create Windows Phone apps
Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone /zxazurephonetoolkit – Build mobile apps for Windows Azure
SharePoint and Windows Azure Development Kit /zxazuresharepointkit – Cloud and SharePoint integration
Windows Azure Pricing Calculator /zxazurecalculator – Windows Azure pricing calculator
WebMatrix/zxwebmatrixlink – Free web development tool
Windows Azure Toolkit for Android/ zxazureandroid – Windows Azure toolkit for Android Developers
Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS/ zxazureios – Windows Azure toolkit for iOS Developers

Learning and Training

Windows Azure Training Kit /zxazuretraining – Learn and get started with building cloud apps
News and Announcements on Windows Azure /zxcloudcover – Join Wade and Steve at Channel9
Windows Azure Team Blog /zxazureteamblog – Find the latest from the Windows Azure team
Windows Azure User Group /zxazureug – Attend current or past Windows Azure presentations virtually
Real World Guidance /zxrealworldguide – Learn tips and tricks from other Windows Azure users

Online Resources

Free Windows Azure Trial Account /zxazuretriallink – Create a free trial account and launch your first cloud app!
Windows Azure MSDN Account /zxazuremsdnbenefits – Activate account through your MSDN benefits
BlobShare Sample /zxazureblobshare – Sample file sharing app using storage and access control
Microsoft Town Hall /zxmicrosofttownhall – Explore Town Hall online and get the cloud app source code
Windows Azure Feature Voting Forum /zxazurevotingforum – Share and vote ideas on Windows Azure
Moving Apps to Windows Azure /zxazurebookmovingtocloud – Free book by Microsoft Patterns and Practices
Windows Azure QA /zxazureqa – Post questions and get answers at StackOverflow.com

Open Data

Open Government Initiative (www.whitehouse.gov/open) – President Obama’s Open Government Initiative
Data.Gov (www.data.gov) – Improve access to Federal data, expand creative use beyond government
Windows Azure Marketplace /zxazuremarketplace – One-Stop Shop for Premium Data and Applications
Voting Information Project /zxazurevip - dataset with official voting information

Cloud-based Solution Helps Campaigns to Reach Voters

zxue — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:54:51 GMT

In a recent post, Kim Nelson, Microsoft US Public Sector executive director of eGovernment, talks about how technology is already playing a central role in elections and voting. She highlights one cloud solution, Campaign Live and writes:

The site contains a database of candidates, races, videos, photos, social media links and campaign features that allow a person to create four online or mobile applications in less than four minutes. Candidates (or issue managers) can build just one application or all four - for Facebook, MySpace, mobile and websites - for a fraction of the cost of hiring an expensive consultant And the site contains all of the analytics to understand the "who-what-where-when and how" so candidates can analyze the impact of their online and mobile campaigns.

Campaign Live was created by an innovative Southern California company called PopRule and leverages the power of Microsoft's cloud platform Windows Azure. Elections officials and political candidates have been among the first public leaders to realize the benefits of cloud computing for their unique seasonal situations, and Azure is especially well-suited for their needs due to the platform's scalability, reliability and low cost.

You can read the detail of the blog post here. To get started with developing Windows Azure cloud solutions, you can download Windows Azure SDK, and get a Windows Azure Free Trial Account.

Top 10 Tips for Building a Windows Phone App

zxue — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:04:39 GMT

In this Visual Studio magazine article, my colleague Max Zilberman shares top 10 tips for developers to build Windows Phone apps in a right way.

Embrace Metro
Leave Some Space
Respect Margins
Get Controls out of the Way
Make Navigation Predictable
Learn How to Pin Tiles
Limit Results on Map Control to What the User Can See on the Viewport
Tombstoning Should Be Transparent
Properly Manage Network Failures
Avoid UI Thread Blocking

Read the full article here.

To get started, developers can download free tools including Windows Phone SDK.

Vimeo Windows Phone App Available Now

zxue — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:30:54 GMT

If you’ve watched Vimeo videos from the web, you can now do so on Windows Phone. The newly released free Vimeo Windows Phone app provides the following capabilities.

• Watch and manage all your existing Vimeo videos
• Watch videos from your Vimeo inbox, Watch Later queue, or videos you have liked
• Easily like, comment on, and add videos to your Watch Later queue
• Discover new and fascinating featured videos
• Quickly search for videos on Vimeo
• Easily upload your footage in HD
• Pause and resume uploads
• Replace existing videos
• Edit titles, descriptions, tags, privacy settings, and credits
• Share via Facebook, Twitter, email, or SMS
• Add videos to your Groups, Channels, and Albums
• Get stats on plays, likes, and comments

For developers, you can get started with developing Windows Phone by downloading the free tools Windows Phone SDK.

Deploying LightSwitch Applications to Windows Azure

zxue — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:03:28 GMT

Microsoft Visual Studio LightSwitch is a simplified self-service development tool that enables you to build business applications quickly and easily for the desktop and web. How do you deploy a web-based LightSwitch application to Windows Azure? Read Mike Wade MSDN article here.

Get Windows Azure SDK, Windows Azure Free Trial Account, InfoKit, Windows Phone SDK, WebMatrix

Video: What is LightSwitch?

View this video as a WMV

Kinect For Windows SDK Available for Download

zxue — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:15:28 GMT

The Kinect for Windows SDK enables developers to create applications that support gesture and voice recognition, using Kinect sensor technology on computers running Windows 7, Windows Embedded Standard 7, and Windows 8 Developer Preview (desktop applications only). Click here to download the SDK.

Commercial Kinect for Windows Sensor

The newly released Kinect for Windows hardware is optimized for use with computers and devices running Windows 7, Windows 8 developer preview (desktop applications only), and Windows Embedded-based devices. Some of the changes to the hardware include:

Near mode

Enables the camera to see objects as close as 40 centimeters in front of the device without losing accuracy or precision, with graceful degradation out to 3 meters.

Shortening USB cable and small dongle

Ensure reliability across a broad range of computers and improves coexistence with other USB peripherals.

Support and software updates

The Kinect for Windows hardware includes a one-year warranty, support, and access to software updates for both speech and human tracking.

What's the difference between the Kinect for Windows sensor and the Xbox sensor?

The new Kinect for Windows sensor is tailored to support and enhance the Kinect experience on Windows with features such as "near mode," skeletal tracking control, API improvements, and improved USB support across a range of Windows computers and Windows-specific acoustic models. Microsoft has also dedicated a large team of engineers to continual improvements of hardware and software associated with Kinect for Windows, and is committed to providing ongoing access to Microsoft's deep investment in human tracking and speech recognition. Simple changes include shortening the USB cable to ensure reliability across a broad range of computers and the inclusion of a small dongle to improve coexistence with other USB peripherals.

Kinect for Xbox 360 was built for and tested with the Xbox 360 only, not with any other platform, which is why it is not licensed for general commercial use, supported, or under warranty when used commercially on any other platform.

Windows Azure Discovery Events

zxue — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:57:48 GMT

We would like to offer you the opportunity to attend the Windows Azure Platform Discover Event. A Discover Event will provide a business and technical overview of the Windows Azure Platform. The target audience for these events includes BDMs, TDMs, Architects, and Development leads. The sessions are targeted at the 100-200 level with a mix of business focused information as well as technical information.

DATE	LOCATION	TIME	Registration
January 31, 2012	Redmond, WA	9:00 AM – 1:00 PM	Click Here
February 8, 2012	Boulder, CO	9:00 AM – 1:00 PM	Click Here
February 27, 2012	Mountain View, CA	9:00 AM – 1:00 PM	Click Here
March 1, 2012	Irvine, CA	9:00 AM – 1:00 PM	Click Here

Choosing Between Windows Azure Queues and Service Bus Queues

zxue — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:40:16 GMT

Windows Azure supports two types of queue mechanisms: Windows Azure Queues and Service Bus Queues.

Windows Azure Queues, which are part of the Windows Azure storage infrastructure, feature a simple REST-based Get/Put/Peek interface, providing reliable, persistent messaging within and between services.
Service Bus Queues are part of a broader Windows Azure messaging infrastructure that supports queuing as well as publish/subscribe, Web service remoting, and integration patterns.

Read the MSDN article by Valery Mizonov and Seth Manheim that provides a detailed comparison of Windows Azure Queues and Service Bus Queues and provides suggestions to solution developers and architects when to consider using Windows Azure Queues and when to consider using Service Bus Queues.

Windows Azure InfoKit for Public Sector January 2012 Update

zxue — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:30:18 GMT

I published the resource kit a while back and have since added a few links to it. Download the PPT file here.

Developer Tools

Windows Azure SDK /zxazuresdk – All tools and bits you need to create cloud apps with Microsoft Visual 2010
Windows Phone SDK /zxphonesdk – All tools you need to create Windows Phone apps
Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone /zxazurephonetoolkit – Build mobile apps for Windows Azure
SharePoint and Windows Azure Development Kit /zxazuresharepointkit – Cloud and SharePoint integration
Windows Azure Pricing Calculator /zxazurecalculator – Windows Azure pricing calculator
WebMatrix/zxwebmatrix – Free web development tool

Learning and Training

Windows Azure Training Kit /zxazuretraining – Learn and get started with building cloud apps
News and Announcements on Windows Azure /zxcloudcover – Join Wade and Steve at Channel9
Windows Azure Team Blog /zxazureteamblog – Find the latest from the Windows Azure team
Windows Azure User Group /zxazureug – Attend current or past Windows Azure presentations virtually
Real World Guidance /zxrealworldguide – Learn tips and tricks from other Windows Azure users

Online Resources

Free Windows Azure Trial Account /zxazuretrial – Create a free trial account and launch your first cloud app!
Windows Azure MSDN Account /zxazuremsdnbenefits – Activate account through your MSDN benefits
BlobShare Sample /zxazureblobshare – Sample file sharing app using storage and access control
Microsoft Town Hall /zxmicrosofttownhall – Explore Town Hall online and get the cloud app source code
Windows Azure Feature Voting Forum /zxazurevotingforum – Share and vote ideas on Windows Azure
Moving Apps to Windows Azure /zxazurebookmovingtocloud – Free book by Microsoft Patterns and Practices
W indows Azure QA /zxazureqa – Post questions and get answers at StackOverflow.com

Open Data

Open Government Initiative (www.whitehouse.gov/open) – President Obama’s Open Government Initiative
Data.Gov (www.data.gov) – Improve access to Federal data, expand creative use beyond government
Windows Azure Marketplace /zxazuremarketplace – One-Stop Shop for Premium Data and Applications
Voting Information Project /zxazurevip - dataset with official voting information

Windows Azure App Helps Americans Living Abroad Vote in U. S. Elections

zxue — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:31:04 GMT

According to TechFlash, Democracy Live is using the Windows Azure platform to host LiveBallot, a service that makes it easier for US military personnel and other citizens living abroad to vote in elections in the United States.

Democracy Live helps make ballots and election materials available electronically for all American citizens, including military and overseas voters and voters with disabilities. After initially building its LiveBallot software on the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud platform, Democracy Live switched to Windows Azure from Microsoft. The company found that Windows Azure programming is well supported by the robust Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 development system, and Windows Azure offers security and stability features that simplify development. In the 2010 elections, 250 local jurisdictions used LiveBallot, and they were able to markedly increase the participation of voters who live overseas or who have disabilities, while simultaneously reducing the cost of distributing voter materials and conducting elections. To find more info, read the case study “Electronic Balloting Experts Switch to Windows Azure to Improve Election Efficiency” here.

Developer Resources: Windows Azure SDK, Free Trial Account, InfoKit, Windows Phone SDK

Developing Windows Phone Apps Webcasts on Jan. 24 and Jan. 26, 2012

zxue — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:23:18 GMT

In collaboration with ComponentOne, Microsoft Public Sector (DPE) is delivering a series of webcasts designed to explore building Public Sector mobile solutions on Windows Phone that consume Open Data.

Session I: Fast Track Your First App, Tuesday, January 24, 2012 11:00 AM

Session II: Give Your Apps Some POP, Thursday, January 26, 2012 11:00 AM

Developer Resources:

Get Windows Phone SDK
Windows Azure SDK, Free Trial Account, InfoKit

Transforming IT with Microsoft Private Cloud, Virtual Event Tuesday, January 17th

zxue — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 02:29:33 GMT

Update: The recording of the virtual event is available here.

Register Now for the virtual event Tuesday, January 17th 8:30 AM PST | 16:30 UTC

Hear from other senior IT professionals about how cloud computing can help you gain maximum competitive advantage with minimal risk.
Learn about Microsoft cloud offerings, including private, public, and hybrid cloud models.
Experience Microsoft private cloud solutions through the Microsoft Technology Center.

The definition, business value, and technology benefits of the “the cloud” have been hotly debated in recent months. Most agree that cloud computing can accelerate innovation, reduce costs, and increase business agility in the market. In 2012, cloud computing will transition from hype and discussion, to part of every enterprise’s reality, and IT is uniquely positioned to lead this transformation and help business reap the benefits of cloud computing.

Join us for a virtual event designed to help you explore your cloud options. It’s your chance to interact with Microsoft experts and with IT leaders like yourself, who have been putting cloud technology to work in their own organizations. You’ll be among the first to hear the latest private cloud news from Microsoft.

Transforming IT with Microsoft Private Cloud

Private cloud discussion with Microsoft executives: Insights and news. 8:30AM PST | 16:30 UTC

Satya Nadella, President, Server and Tools Business, Microsoft
Brad Anderson, Corporate Vice President, Management and Security Division, Microsoft

Executive panel and Q&A: Guidance and best practices. 9:00AM PST | 17:00 UTC

Brad Anderson, Corporate Vice President, Management and Security Division, Microsoft
Jacky Wright, Vice President, IT Strategic Services, Microsoft IT
Rand Morimoto, Chief Executive Officer, Convergent Computing

Envisioning Your Private Cloud: A scenario based demonstration from the Microsoft Technology Center in Redmond, WA.
9:30AM PST | 17:30 UTC

ScottGu’s Windows Azure Talk

zxue — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 02:22:30 GMT

You can watch ScottGu’s Windows Azure talk from last month or download his slides here. For samples, download the Windows Azure training kit.

Get Windows Azure SDK, Free Trial Account, InfoKit.

Windows Phone $100 Challenge at CES 2012

zxue — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:29:07 GMT

At CES 2012 Ben Rudolph of the Windows Phone team gives away $100 to other smartphone users who can beat him in getting a task done faster than him. Watch the youtube video to find out how he is doing.

US Public Sector CIO Summit 2012, 2/28-3/1

zxue — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:12:19 GMT

Registration for US Public Sector CIO Summit
February 28 - March 1, 2012
Microsoft Conference Center, Redmond, WA

Just Announced: Steve Ballmer speaking at the CIO Summit!

The Transformation of IT for a Better Tomorrow

Never before has the role of technology been more vital to enabling public sector organizations to meet the significant demands they are faced with. Organizations today are looking to enhance and promote innovation in technology to help increase the effectiveness of public sector organizations.

We would like to cordially invite you to the 10^th Annual Microsoft US Public Sector CIO Summit on February 28 - March 1, 2012. This summit will bring together leaders from Federal, State & Local Governments, Education and Health organizations throughout the US to discuss the key issues facing public sector organizations and discover new innovative technology solutions.

We will share Microsoft's vision, technology roadmap and showcase innovative solutions designed for public sector organizations. This summit is more than just a technology conference. It's a dynamic event that will also provide you with the opportunity to meet with Microsoft executives, product leaders, our public sector teams and Microsoft's strategic partners. In addition, you will be provided with the opportunity for face to face executive exchanges, networking with your peers, in depth thought leadership sessions, case studies and much more. The Microsoft US Public Sector CIO Summit will give attendees the tools they need to put their organization ahead of the IT curve.

Watch Steve Ballmer’s Keynote Live at 2012 CES Jan. 9, 6:30pm PST

zxue — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:15:20 GMT

Watch the Keynote Live Jan. 9, 6:30 p.m. PT on Monday as Steve Ballmer keynotes the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show, and for more materials throughout the week.

Use the Caching Service for your Windows Azure Applications

zxue — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:35:23 GMT

Caching increases performance by temporarily storing information from other backend sources, and can reduce the costs associated with database transactions. Similar to the caching services available for ASP.NET web applications, the Windows Azure Caching service provides a distributed, in-memory, application cache service for Windows Azure and SQL Azure applications. You can learn more about the caching services here. I also suggest that you read the January 2012 MSDN article “Windows Azure Caching Strategies”.

To get started with Windows Azure application development, get Windows Azure SDK, Free Trial Account, InfoKit, Windows Phone SDK.

Windows Phone App Diagnoses Malaria From Drop Of Blood

zxue — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:55:03 GMT

LifeLens is smartphone application that provides a robust and low-coast mobile diagnostic solution for malaria testing. The project team of LifeLens participated in Microsoft Imagine Cup 2011 competition and was one of the four winning finalists.

To understand how the application works from user perspective, read Jennifer Hicks’s article on Forbes. To understand how the application works from technology perspective, read the excerpt from the LifeLens website.

Lifelens devices are equipped with proprietary image analysis algorithm written in .NET with Visual Studio. The software is built in Visual Studio for a Windows Phone 7 using Microsoft Silverlight. Diagnosis is conducted using proprietary computer vision algorithms, written in C#, which can detect the presence of a malarial parasite within a patient’s blood cells. There are future plans to include Windows Azure into the system for data aggregation and reporting.

To get started with Windows Phone application development, you can download Windows Phone SDK.

Windows Phone Apps for Microsoft HealthVault Personal Health Record Platform

zxue — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:58:56 GMT

Sean Nolan reported that HealthVault for Windows Phone is available to Windows Phone users. The app provides mobile access to the health information in your HealthVault account. Use it to track and manage chronic conditions, enter health data on the fly, and keep family emergency information handy. You can also check out a few special apps on Windows Phone, for example, Livescape for keeping track of nutrition, exercise and more, SkinScan for tracking moles, and Weight4Me for watching your weight.

Internet Explorer 9 Top Browser on Windows 7

zxue — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:43:57 GMT

Roger Capriotti wrote in a recent post that “As of November, IE9 usage share on Windows 7 worldwide was higher than all versions of Chrome and all versions of Firefox – second only to IE8.”

If you are running IE9 (or IE10 Preview), you can see a number of demo apps here that demonstrate browser speed, HTML5, graphics, videos and developer features.

Microsoft Kinect Effect Reaches Into Hospitals, Senior Centers

zxue — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:42:55 GMT

Tiger Place, an independent living center in Missouri, uses technology such as Kinect to closely monitor seniors’ movement to help prevent functional decline that can lead to falls and decreased mobility. More info here.

Developers can create rich experiences by using Kinect sensor technology on computers running Windows 7 and Windows 8 Developer Preview. Download the Kinect for Windows SDK here which includes APIs, sample code, and drivers.

Introducing the Cloud Fundamentals Video Series

zxue — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:24:00 GMT

Tim Rains, Director of Trustworthy Computing at Microsoft, is introducing the Cloud Fundamentals Video Series over the next few weeks in which he will discuss with some of Microsoft’s senior leaders responsible for managing Microsoft’s cloud service offerings the importance of these topics related to cloud security, privacy and reliability.

Introducing the Cloud Fundamentals Video Series

Cloud Fundamentals Video Series: Cloud Computing & Business Agility

Get Started with Silverlight 5

zxue — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:54:57 GMT

Silverlight 5 has just been released. You can download the developer runtime (32-bit or 64-bit), Silverlight Tools for Visual Studio including the SDK and Silverlight toolkit here and start creating Silverlight 5 applications.

There are many online learning resources of Silverlight. You can find some of them here.

One of the new features of Silverlight 5 is its support for 3D with GPU acceleration. You can view a live example (Babylon 3D Engine) hosted on Windows Azure and download its source code here. Note: The Silverlight Toolkit comes with a number of demos. See a description of the demos here.