November 11, 2011 By 30 Comments

Microsoft TechDays 2011 in Vancouver

I’m excited to be presenting at Microsoft TechDays 2011 in Vancouver on November 15th and 16th 2011. If you are a software developer that loves staying up to speed on the latest trends, tools, and strategies for developing software effectively, you need to attend TechDasy 2011.  I’ve been doing the Microsoft TechDays tour since they started a few years ago, and every year they continue to get better and better. This year in Vancouver will be no exception with the likes of Scott Hanselman, Mary-Jo Foley and others presenting live.

My sessions are focused around my passions. User Experience, and Windows Phone. I strongly believe that as a software developer, you need to be focusing on honing your user experience skills and expanding your wings. With the consumerization of information technology, users of the software you develop are no longer just expecting applications that function.  They are also expecting beautiful user experiences that capture and engage them. If you are in Vancouver, and have a chance to come to TechDays 2011, make sure you head over to my sessions that are sure to keep you entertained, and also provide you with some real world tips and strategies you can take back with you and use immediately. Here are the two sessions I will be presenting. Don’t miss them!

Windows Phone User Experience Design Using SketchFlow

This session is an instructor-led lab where you get to roll up your sleeves and get your hands on the software. In this lab, you discover principles of good user experience design and you start to build a prototype for an application using the SketchFlow Template for Windows Phone and Expression Blend. Prototyping in Sketchflow allows you to add sample data, customize the look and feel of your data, and add interactivity with objects that you create right in Expression Blend, or that are imported from other sources, such as Adobe Illustrator. There will be a limited number of machines provided to complete the lab for those who are unable to complete the exercises on their own laptops.

Windows Phone 7.5: An Overview and Architecture Deep Dive

Windows Phone is a different kind of phone, architected to put the focus on end users while enabling developers to build compelling, connected experiences that enhance the phone. Peer under the covers to see how the architecture evolved to deliver powerful functionality for users and developers: enabling rapid seamless transitions between applications; delivering continuous user experiences in the background; combined Silverlight/XNA in a unified UI; sharing data between phone and applications; sensor fusion for integration of the physical and virtual worlds; and many more. Along the way, we will demonstrate how Microsoft brought together these features to deliver experiences that are responsive and battery efficient.

Make sure you take the time to register today for TechDays 2011 in Vancouver at the beautiful Vancouver Convention Centre

[This Article Also Appears on Miguel Carrasco.com - Where Marketing and Technology Intersect]

Filed Under: Microsoft, Microsoft Expression, Windows Phone 7 Tagged With: , , , , ,
October 12, 2011 By 65 Comments

Next XBOX 360 is Under Development

When a new XBOX 360 arrives before Christmas 2012, it will usher in a new era of software development opportunities for many of you. The ability to write applications for XBOX 360 and place them in the Microsoft Marketplace is going to be an awesome opportunity. Game development studios are already underway in their development efforts to bring the next generation video games to your television sets near you. Rare, the famous video game studio that brought you games like Killer Instinct and Donkey Kong Country are already working on some new and exciting games. People within Microsoft have recently updated their LinkedIn status to reflect their new roles within Microsoft that clearly shows the next XBOX 360 is about a year away.

Many questions should be answered at next years E3 event, but for now, it’s always fun to speculate what the future of video gaming may hold. To think that the current XBOX 360 is nearly 7 years old and still the number one selling video game console is absolutely remarkable. I’m not sure what the next XBOX is going to hold for us, but what I do know is the plans are to make it the centerpiece of our home’s entertainment system.

 

Filed Under: Microsoft, XBOX Tagged With: ,
June 26, 2011 By 128 Comments

Google Chrome Pain for Web Developers

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This is one of my favorite videos that played at Mix 2011. It explains very clearly why web developers and users need to be wary of browsers that release updates every week.

Grab a cup of coffee, sit back, relax, and get ready to laugh.

While this is all fun and games, the reality is with recent announcements like Firefox dropping support for Firefox 4 business customers are headed for times where they are going to have to start dropping open source browsers.

See the reality is for consumers, the latest and greatest browser might be ok.  But for corporations like banks, governments, and companies you rely on to keep your information secure, the latest browser that could have a potentially unsecure exploit or bug, is killer.  Unless of course you’re ok with your data being broadcast all over the internet.

Filed Under: Software Development Tagged With: , , ,
June 21, 2010 By 160 Comments

Windows Live Messenger for iPhone

windows_live_messenger_iphoneMicrosoft has completed the development of their fourth application for the iPhone.  It is now available on the App Store, so go check it out!  It is definitely a beautiful application that takes advantages of the form factor very well.  The new app includes support for the new Windows Live Messenger Wave 4 features.  This means you will have complete integration with Facebook, Flickr, and Skydrive files.

Windows Live Messenger is the most popular IM client in the world, so its move to the iPhone should be welcomed by many!  With the application, you can chat with all your Live Messenger contacts, as well as Yahoo! Contacts.

Windows Live Messenger

For those have been looking for an easy way to read your Hotmail on your iPhone, the wait is over.  You can now read your Hotmail right in the Windows Live Messenger application.

So there you have it.  You can now stay connected with nearly everyone via your iPhone!

Filed Under: iPhone, Microsoft Tagged With: , ,
January 7, 2010 By 132 Comments

Microsoft Changing the “Game” in 2010

Steve Ballmer CES 2010
Today’s CES Keynote presentation by Steve Ballmer really got me excited about where technology is headed. It was the second time Steve Ballmer was taking the stage to deliver the traditional Microsoft CES Keynote Address since Bill Gates stepped down from the role. Although things started slightly late due to a power outage, once the show was in full swing, I was glued to my seat.

Slate Devices

Traditional PC’s have been the ugly boxes you hide in a corner somewhere, and don’t want to display to people on purpose.  Over the years cases have gotten better, sizes have gotten smaller, lights have been added, but overall they have stayed the same.  Microsoft tried to push the envelope years ago with Tablet PC’s, but the hardware just wasn’t there yet. It looks like in 2010, Slate Devices are going to come fast and furious.  Check out this beautiful demonstration of HP’s Windows 7 powered Slate Device that was shown today:

In fact, Microsoft next month is planning on unveiling its own slate device, the Microsoft Courier.  The reason I love these devices is they have all the power of Windows 7, in a smaller form.  If I could carry around a mobile device, and a Slate PC that ran Windows 7, I probably wouldn’t need a laptop.  Check out the Microsoft Courier in this video:

Microsoft Project Natal

The reason I am so pumped about Project Natal is because it’s a total game changer.  It will forever change the way we interact with computers.  This means the way we interact with our Televisions, our games, movies, even telephones.  Everything is about to change.  If you listened closely to Robbie Bach, he explained that Microsoft literally hired rocket scientists to develop Natal, and they have been working on this for nearly 10 years.  I can’t even begin to explain how many ripple effects this kind of innovation and technology is going to have on technology.  Combine Natal with touch computing, the speak recognition research Microsoft has been doing for years, and all the devices that run Microsoft software in your life, and you have an extremely powerful game changing, life altering ecosystem of technology at your fingertips.  Check out this video of Project Natal in action:

Natal leaves everything else out there in the dust.  Sure there will be clones that come out after Natal’s launch, but nothing will be as unique as Natal and work as well.  What the iPhone did for mobile devices, Project Natal will do for interaction and user interfaces.  It will leave every company out there trying to either partner with Microsoft to make games for the XBOX 360, or use Natal’s patented technologies embedded on their televisions, blue-ray players, or other devices that want to kill remotes.

These were the two big announcements of the Microsoft CES Keynote this year and what got me extremely excited as a software developer and technology professional. I can’t wait to see the kind of tools we are going to be using to develop the software and the games that will be played and used on these new devices, and manipulated with these new Natural User Interface technologies.

Filed Under: CES Tagged With: , , ,
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