We’re in full prep mode for the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference and the trucks with the Microsoft Surface units are now officially on their way to New Orleans! It's less than two weeks away, so get ready.
We’re stoked to have a BIG presence this year with more than 25 units across the conference loaded with apps that were created for WPC. If you’re going, you won't miss us!
Eric
Back at Remix Australia we heard about a proof-of-concept demo created by Amnesia Razorfish for Lonely Planet. Those of us outside AU weren't able to see the video. I've managed to get a hold of it from Shane and posted it to the Microsoft Showcase.
You can get the full story on Shane's blog.
Cheers mate!
Eric
Here we've got a video from RAPP Cannes-Cast filed under "comedy". I think the comedy label comes from riffing on the fact that Microsoft Surface is not just a giant iPhone, and not our own James Maki's demoing ability. James takes us through our Concierge application and the debut of a new application we're calling Conference Connector. Conference Connector blends Twitter and Flickr feeds with a way for conference goers to connect and share contact information. (Don't forget to follow our Twitter feed.)
Thanks RAPP Cannes-cast for the video and to James for the great demo job! Enjoying yourself in the relaxed Cannes lifestyle?
You can find Microsoft Surface at the Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals conference in Anaheim this week. We'll be there through Thursday. You can follow the Microsoft Hospitality team - Barry Fridley on his blog or his Twitter feed or Michael Raheem on his Twitter feed. Learn more about Microsoft's participation here.
Hope to see you at HITEC!
Microsoft Surface is proudly attending the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival '09 along with our friends in Microsoft Advertising. If you're at the festival, check out Microsoft Surface at the Cyber Lounge or the Beach Club. If you're there, send a Tweet and tag it #canneslions. If you do, it'll show up on the Microsoft Advertising site and the Microsoft Surface units at the festival. So will your Flickr photos if you tag them CannesLions.
If you're there, give a shout out to Microsoft. We're there all week.
Enjoy!
The great thing about developing on Microsoft Surface is that it's based on standard Microsoft tools and practices. If you're a .NET developer working with WPF or familiar with XNA, you can get up and running on Microsoft Surface relatively quickly.
Once you've purchased Microsoft Surface, the first thing developers will want to do is get access to our customer community site. If you are a Microsoft Partner, you can get an early start by using your Microsoft Partner Program ID to sign into the Microsoft Surface QuickStart site.
Whether or not you are ready or able to get up and running on the steps above, here are some resources for getting started in developing on Microsoft Surface.
Jennifer Marsman just completed a series of five helpful posts on development:
- What is Microsoft Surface?
- Surface Controls
- ScatterView
- Reacting to Physical Objects
- Future and Resources
In addition, here are just some of the many other great resources from Microsoft colleagues in their blogs and from talks at conferences.
Our all-time most popular development videos was one of the first by Robert Levy showing how to create a simple Microsoft Surface application. It gets referenced again and again in blog posts on the topic. So, here it is:
<![CDATA[<br/><a href="http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=6acfce98-17d3-416f-b2c0-679356c5ce79" target="_new" title="The Microsoft Surface SDK In Action">Video: The Microsoft Surface SDK In Action</a>]]> Cheers!
Eric
As some of you may know Microsoft Surface arrived in Europe just a few months ago, on March 2nd.
At http://pauldendulk.com/ Paul den Dulk shows BruTile, an open source tiling library for geo data. From Paul’s blog, it looks like this was their first encounter with the Microsoft Surface SDK. Pretty neat!
Over at the The Windows Blog they've got a new post up introducing the Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7. Here at Microsoft we're all excited about Windows 7 and Windows Touch. On the Microsoft Surface team, we've got an additional reason to be excited. We have been working very closely with the Windows team on bringing multi-touch to Windows 7 and some of the very special applications in the Microsoft Touch Pack. They are highlighted in the blog post today as the one year anniversary of the Windows 7 multi-touch demo at D6. Go check it out and learn about all the multi-touch goodness coming to Windows 7.
At Microsoft Surface we're into touch and non-traditional computer interaction. We have colleagues across Microsoft who do too and are putting out some really cool products. If you haven't had a chance to glimpse the Zune HD yet.. The 3.3 inch OLED screen looks awesome. It also supports HD radio and HD video out, wireless and a web browser and will be coming out later this year. Go check it out on the Zune Insider.
-Eric
Hot on the heels of our Microsoft Surface SP1 release today, Devin Coldewey released this video and an article on CrunchGear. He was in our offices last week to get a sneak preview. Check it out.
- Eric
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Here at Microsoft Surface we've been actively engaged with our Community of customers and nearly 180 Microsoft Surface Partners in 11 countries. And in response to the feedback we received, we developed Service Pack 1 to allow for faster and easier development of innovative, natural experiences on the Microsoft Surface platform. The SDK supports development on any .NET framework and is optimized for WPF and XNA.
As we announced last week, we'll be sharing all the good stuff about the Microsoft Surface Service Pack 1 at Microsoft TechEd 2009 today. In their session, Robert and Doug will be going through many of the new features with real code so you can see what it's like to actually develop a Microsoft Surface application. Their presentation at PDC '08 had excellent reviews, so.. If you're at TechEd today, make sure to get to Session DTL337 from 2:45-4pm in room 408B.
Here's a sneak peek at some of the Service Pack 1 feature highlights..
Application Development
- API enhancements, WFP library and menu controls
- Stress testing tool
- 128-big identity tag resources
New platform capabilities
- Enabling users to quickly switch between applications using tagged object routing
- Background service application support
Improved User Interface
- Improved "Access Points"
- Single application mode
- Touch/contact feedback and visualization
Plus..
- Localized end-user and administrative interface in available counties
- New calibration guides removing need for external display during configuration
- Microsoft Update integration
- Microsoft Management Pack support
- Eric |
 Contact Visualizations
 Library Control
 Menu Control
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Fast Company posted a great article titled "11 Killer Apps for Microsoft Surface". It includes some screenshots and videos of some really cool Surface Applications.
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/chris-dannen/techwatch/11-killer-apps-microsoft-surface-videos
Enjoy,
-Luis.
Robert Levy and Doug Kramer will be presenting at Microsoft TechEd 2009 next Monday. This is an intermediate breakout session where they will go through some of the highlights and features in the upcoming release of SP1 for the Microsoft Surface platform.
If you’re an existing Microsoft Surface developer interested in the enhancements or someone looking for a taste of development with the Microsoft Surface SDK, this session is for you.
Session DTL337 is scheduled to be held from 2:45-4pm on Monday, May 11th in room 408B. Get there early to get a seat!
