The gist:

· Try out a "no credit card needed" free Windows Azure account for 30 days.

· Get it before June 30, 2011

· Go here, select "United States" and enter promo code DPEWR02

Enjoy the benefits!

-Mithun Dhar

Tinkerers Rejoice!

Thursday morning we announced and launched the Kinect for Windows SDK live on Channel 9. The event was very well received and a lot of geeks around the world were excited. And, rightfully so!

The Kinect has been a game changer and has bought in a new paradigm of interactive applications. It really puts Minority Report UI’s to shame. From the day the Kinect device has been released it’s been an instant hit. It’s been on the Guinness book of world records for the fastest selling gadget, ever! It’s loved by everyone, the old, the young, the geeks and the non geeks love it alike! And now programmers have one more reason to love it – there’s an SDK!

Beginning right now, you can download the Kinect SDK (Beta)!

Other Resources: Download the SDK, Check out the Kinect Quick Starts and view the Kinect Project Gallery on Coding 4 Fun

See you at one of the Kinect events…

Be well, do amazing things and stay happy!

-Mithun Dhar

A new paradigm in the computing world is evolving and it’s a beautiful culmination of Natural User Interfaces! It’s code named Windows 8…

Today at ‘All things Digital’ conference Steven Sinofsky unveiled Windows 8 and showcased some of the coolness! It’s a beautiful computing platform that enables us to stay connected and do all that we do in a more beautiful and natural way!

Here’s a first look at Windows 8:

More Awesomeness:

• Previewing ‘Windows 8’, article by Julie Larson-Green
• Official Microsoft YouTube Channel: Building "Windows 8" - Video #1
• BUILD Event Website
• Windows Newsroom
• Exclusive: Making Sense of Our First Look at Windows 8, by Ina Fried
• Microsoft to Woo Developers, Talk Windows 8 at Build 2011 Conference, by Darryl Taft
• BUILDing a bright future, Soma’s blog

HTML5 and Java Script developers are First Class citizens in this new world!

(Read this for a double click view)

While you are at it, don’t forget to Register to attend Build – The definitive Windows Conference for all Developers!

Onward…

-Mithun Dhar

On Friday, we had a Windows Phone Unleashed event (Read Windows Phone Hackathon!) in Bellevue, WA. This event was from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM and we had close to a hundred people participate. Like all other Windows Phone unleashed events, we had 3 winners and the first prize was awarded to Johnny Simmons for his Signature app.

Fore more apps by SimzzDev go to: https://www.appwp.com/developer/501-simzzdev

My Colleague Bruce Kyle did a quick interview with Johnny. Watch the video and learn more about his thoughts on developing for the Windows Phone.

Video Link: Teenager Makes Money Writing Windows Phone 7 Apps with AdCenter

Got you interested? Get started by going to Channel 9 to attend the Free Developer Training Courses for Windows Phone 7!

Free Assistance

My team runs this super awesome program! Come join Microsoft Platform Ready for free assistance in developing and marketing your Windows Phone 7 applications.

If you still have any questions, feel free to contact me. Twitter: @mithund

-Mithun Dhar

I recently got upgraded from Microsoft Communicator to Microsoft Lync (New version, new name!) and there’s a lot more than just the name that’s changed. To begin with, the interface is more streamlined, the connection is much better, the client is much lighter. All good reasons to upgrade to Microsoft Lync.

Enterprise communication has been dormant for a while now and Microsoft brings this new paradigm of Software powered communication and collaboration experiences that drastically reduce both CapEx and OpEx while improving collaboration experience for the end user.

To help developers build custom communication experiences, Microsoft announced the Lync Server 2010 Developer Training Kit this is now available for download on MSDN Downloads.

Another good reference on this topic is, Chris Mayo’s blog. It provides more details of what is in the Developer Kit at his posting at Lync Server 2010 Developer Training Kit Available Now.

This training kit includes the following modules:

1. Getting Started with Microsoft Lync Server 2010 and Exchange Server 2010 Development
2. Integrating Microsoft Lync 2010 Features with the Lync Controls
3. Building Contextual Conversations with the Microsoft Lync 2010 Managed API
4. Building Communications Clients with the Lync 2010 Managed API
5. Web Services Managed API 1.0
6. Getting Started with Unified Communications Managed API 3.0
7. Building Communications Workflows with UCMA 3.0 Workflow SDK
8. Building Advanced Communications Solutions with UCMA 3.0
9. Lync Server 2010 and Exchange Server 2010: Architecture and Deployment

Each module provides a presentation on the topic and hands on labs. You can also get the

• Microsoft Lync Server 2010 180-Day Trial
• Microsoft Lync 2010 SDK

As always, if you have any questions – feel free to contact me.

Regards,

-Mithun Dhar

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: https://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

Flickr WP7 and Slate Apps – download them now

Last week marked the simultaneous launch of Flickr for Windows 7 and Flickr for Windows Phone 7!  This project began the first week of November, and we announced to the world at CES and now we have delivered  the applications on Windows Slate and Phone 7. 

Check out:

- Flickr for Windows 7 – www.windowsproductscout.com or https://www.flickr.com/windows7 (requires a touch device)

- Flickr for Windows Phone 7 - zune://navigate/?appID=2e49fb07-592b-e011-854c-00237de2db9e

Flickr for Windows 7 represents Flickr’s first slate application – they have no other touch driven app on a tablet form factor.  Flickr also believes that their Windows Phone 7 sets the standard for what Flickr should be on a mobile device.  It’s the best way to experience Flickr on a phone, period.

What makes these two channels really special, however, is how Flickr chose to use Azure.  Engaging with users across multiple channels in as seamless a way as possible is a key metric for Flickr – this means that your Flickr experience should continue, regardless of which device you’re at.  Flickr chose to use Azure to sync their user’s experiences between their Slate application and their Phone app.  Browse to a photo on one, and pick up in exactly the same place on the other.

The Flickr experience will feature the first-ever 1^st-party Flickr app from Yahoo and will provide a unique multi-screen experience across Windows Phone 7 and Windows 7 tablets.  The application enables capturing/ light consumption of images.  There is also a companion multi-touch Slate application for consumption, organization, review and sharing of images. 

Technology:  Windows 7 Slate, Windows Phone 7, Silverlight, Azure Storage Service

All of this was possible by the incredibly talented team we have. It was great collaboration between UX, PM, Platform Evangelists and partners. While you are at it, check this Native Extension for Silverlight (NESL) which makes all this much easier by exposing new Windows 7 features such as Sensors and Location in Silverlight, and the Silverlight OOB Installer work which makes it easy to install these like native apps.

-Mithun Dhar

All the sessions were exceptionally good, well received and got great feedback. As promised, we have all the content posted online. All the files and the videos are posted below.

Please visit, watch, download and give us feedback about what can be made better.

We look forward to hearing back from you. For an immediate response, please tweet me at: @mithund

Session 1: SharePoint Development Everywhere – Keynote – Eric Swift

Click to Watch Session Recording:

Session 2: SharePoint 2010 Developer Overview – Mark Michaelis & Allen Greaves

Click to Watch Session Recording:

Session 3: SharePoint Developer Tools Overview – Paul Yuknewicz

Click to Watch Session Recording:

Session 4: SharePoint Online and Office 365 – Learn and understand from a Developer Angle! – Chris Mayo

Click to Watch Session Recording:

Session 5: Integrating SharePoint 2010 with Office 2010 – Donavan Follette

Click to Watch Session Recording:

Session 6: Integrating SharePoint 2010 and Windows Azure – Steve Fox

Click to Watch Session Recording:

Session 7: Integrating SharePoint with Silverlight – Paul Stubbs

Click to Watch Session Recording:

Other Resources:

1. SharePoint Sideshow - https://channel9.msdn.com/shows/sharepointsideshow 
2. SharePoint Team blog - https://sharepoint.microsoft.com/blog/Pages/default.aspx
3. Download the base SharePoint VHD image – https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=751fa0d1-356c-4002-9c60-d539896c66ce&displaylang=en
4. SharePoint 2010 Training: https://channel9.msdn.com/learn/courses/SharePoint2010Developer/
5. SharePoint 2010 Hands on Labs: The downloadable Training Kit contains all of the HOLs. https://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9702451
6. Office 2010 Training: https://channel9.msdn.com/learn/courses/Office2010/
7. Office 2010 Hands on Labs: The downloadable Training Kit contains all of the HOLs. https://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9702452
8. Build a Better App - https://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/buildabetterapp/
9. Get Social - https://twitter.com/sharepoint

As always, I am looking for ways to make the event experience better. If you have any feedback you would like to share – please email/tweet me at @mithund.

Regards,

-Mithun Dhar

So I am assuming you read the 'Dataquest Insight: Application Stores; The Revenue Opportunity Beyond the Hype' Gartners new report on App/Mkt place. To summarize, this report says by the end of 2011 the App Marketplace will generate revenues north of $15 Billion USD. It also goes on to speak about how the tipping point occurred in 2010 with Android and Apple market places taking the lead, And it goes as far as saying that by 2014 – the market place will generate revenues up to $58 Billion dollars. That’s a 10x increase from 2010. Impressive, certainly! Over-optimistic and callous, a little bit of both – yes!

So developers, there are 58 billon reasons for you to develop the next greatest app! From that perspective my team has built this awesome content to help you get started. As always, your feedback would help us deliver quality content in the future. Please feel free to send the information to me via my blog.

Content:

*NEW* 6 Windows Phone Virtual Labs (released 01/25)

Quickly evaluate or learn how to build great applications for Windows Phone through a series of guided, hands-on labs for which can be completed in 90 minutes or less. The best part is, the MSDN Virtual Labs don’t require any installation and are available to you immediately for FREE. Start by selecting the lab you’re interested in from the list below.

· MSDN Virtual Lab: Building your First Windows Phone 7 Application New!

· MSDN Virtual Lab: Hello Windows Phone New!

· MSDN Virtual Lab: Launchers and Choosers New!

· MSDN Virtual Lab: Using Pivot and Panorama Controls New!

· MSDN Virtual Lab: Application Lifecycle New!

· MSDN Virtual Lab: Windows Phone Navigation and Controls New!

We all need a ready reckoner for those awesome features WP7 has to offer. Here’s an awesome compile that our partners and colleagues at www.msdev.com have put together.  Please note that these are all bite sized videos that help you learn fast!

Windows Phone 7 in 7: Introducing Windows Phone 7

Windows Phone 7 in 7: Getting Started with Windows Phone 7

Windows Phone 7 in 7: The Windows Phone 7 Application Architecture

Windows Phone 7 in 7: Silverlight and Windows Phone 7

Windows Phone 7 in 7: XNA and Windows Phone 7

Windows Phone 7 in 7: Windows Phone 7 Controls

Windows Phone 7 in 7: Connecting to Web Services

Windows Phone 7 in 7: Windows Phone 7 and Data

Windows Phone 7 in 7: Using Isolated Storage

Windows Phone 7 in 7: The Application Bar

Windows Phone 7 in 7: Developing for the Windows Phone 7 Web Browser

Windows Phone 7 in 7: Globalization and Localization

Windows Phone 7 in 7: Building a Location-aware Application

Windows Phone 7 in 7: Push Notifications

Windows Phone 7 in 7: Security and Windows Phone 7

Windows Phone 7 in 7: Using the Accelerometer

Windows Phone 7 in 7: Using Media in Windows Phone 7 Apps

Windows Phone 7 in 7: Manipulations

Windows Phone 7 in 7: SIP Layout

Windows Phone 7 in 7: Using the Windows Phone 7 Cameras

Windows Phone 7: How Do I: Use MVVM in a Windows Phone 7 Application?

Windows Phone 7 Developer Tools

Windows Phone 7: How Do I: Make Windows Phone 7 Applications Support Orientation Changes?

Windows Phone 7: How Do I: Use Page Turn Animation in a Windows Phone 7 Application?

Windows Phone 7: How Do I: Use Touch Manipulation in a Windows Phone 7 Application?

Windows Phone 7: How Do I: Implement Tilt Effects in a Windows Phone 7 Application?

Windows Phone 7: How Do I: Use XNA for Gestures and Collision Detection in a Windows Phone 7 Application?

Windows Phone 7: How do I: Use Push Notifications in a Windows Phone 7 Application?

Windows Phone 7: How Do I: Use Push Notifications for Tile Customization in a Windows Phone 7 Application?

Windows Phone 7: How Do I: Save Images to the Pictures Hub and Retrieve them back from the Hub in a Windows Phone 7 Application?

Windows Phone 7: How Do I: Implement Tombstoning in Windows Phone 7 Applications?

Windows Phone 7: How Do I: Use XNA for Game State Management in a Windows Phone 7 application?

For Android & iPhone Developers:

Windows Phone 7 for Android Developers: The User Interface

Windows Phone 7 for Android Developers: Data

Windows Phone 7 for Android Developers: Graphics

Windows Phone 7 for Android Developers: Performance

Why Windows Phone 7 for the iPhone & Android Developer

Windows Phone 7: How Do I: Migrate an Android Application to a Windows Phone 7 Application?

Windows Phone 7 for Android Developers: Visual Studio 2010

Windows Phone 7 for Android Developers: Java to C#

Windows Phone Developer Tools for the iPhone Developer

Windows Phone 7: How Do I: Migrate an iPhone Application to a Windows Phone 7 Application?

MVP Program:

As you know we are now accepting new applicants for the Windows Phone 7 Developer MVP Program. If you or anyone you know excels in WP7 development, engages often with the breadth community (developer, consumer, forums, etc) or is simply passionate about helping and working with the community – contact us. You can send me the details via my blog (or tweet me for more details – @mithund)

Special Offers:

$99 Windows Phone Marketplace Rebate

Get a $99 rebate for your Marketplace fee when you successfully publish two Windows Phone 7 apps that are profiled in the Windows Phone 7 Developer Program (Microsoft Platform Ready for WP7) and in the Marketplace by February 15th, 2011.*

*Offer good only in the 50 United States (includes D. of C.) to profiled users (new and existing) of both the Windows Phone 7 Developer Program, (which is located at phone.microsoftplatformready.com and create.msdn.com/ready), and the Windows Phone Marketplace, having paid the $99 Marketplace fee.  Registrants must use the same LiveID registered with Marketplace as the Windows Phone 7 Developer Program.  Offer good until Feb 15, 2011 for companies or individuals to successfully publish two Windows Phone 7 applications to Windows Phone Marketplace.  This offer is non-transferable. Limit one rebate per company or individual. Taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the recipient. Microsoft is committed to complying with government gift and ethics rules and therefore government entities and employees are not eligible for this offer. Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing of your rebate. Any rebate returned as non-deliverable will not be re-sent.

Now that I have your interest, let’s get started!

Stay in touch!

-Mithun Dhar