Architect Innovation Cafe Webcasts – Visual Studio Tools for Architects & How To Architect Killer Apps with Windows 7

February 25, 2010 at 1:00pm – 2:00pm EST

Title: Visual Studio Tools For Architects

Abstract: Come learn how the new code visualization, UML, and Architectural Validation tools inside Visual Studio 2010 come together to help you understand existing code bases, model domain specific problem domains, and maintain the proper control and visibility of those software systems.

Event ID:  1032440937

Link to Register:  http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032440937&Culture=en-US

Presenter BIO

Cameron Skinner

Product Unit Manager, Microsoft

Cameron Skinner joined Microsoft in 2005 and is currently a product unit manager on the Visual Studio team. He is responsible for overseeing the Visualization and Architecture capabilities found in Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate. Prior to Microsoft, Mr. Skinner was the CTO and chief architect of application development tools for Embarcadero Technologies. Earlier in his career, he served as CTO for Advanced Software Technologies.

February 26, 2010 at 1:00pm – 2:00pm EST

Title: How to Architect a Killer App for Windows 7

Abstract: Ever since its recent launch, Windows 7 has been enjoying rapid consumer adoption and glowing press reviews. This makes it a great platform to launch your next Killer App! In this session, we will explore how to architect an application to take advantage of several compelling Windows 7 features including multi-touch, integrated search and multi-processor improvements. We will review how others have exploited this growing “Windows 7 channel” to deliver applications ranging from enterprise line of business applications to consumer oriented, “mass appeal” applications (think Social Networking clients). As a bonus, we’ll demonstrate how to quickly build Internet Explorer 8 Web Slices and Accelerators to complement your Killer App and to provide new channels to extend your reach. If you’ve got a great idea for a Killer App, don’t miss this session. If you design, architect, and/or develop applications for fun/profit, then this fast-paced session is for you.

Event ID:  1032441748

Link to Register:  http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032441748&Culture=en-US

Presenter BIO

Allan da Costa Pinto

Architect Evangelist, Microsoft

Allan da Costa Pinto recently celebrated 10 years with Microsoft. In that time he has worked in several roles ranging from software consulting to support to technical evangelism. He is currently an Architect Evangelist focused on jumpstarting software projects with Microsoft’s cutting edge technologies such as Windows 7, Windows Azure and Silverlight. 

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iPads and Slates – New Product Category and New Experiences

With the LOUD release, and all the buzz of the Apple iPad, and the recent announcement at CES by Steve Ballmer and HP regarding the HP Slate, its a real exciting time in my opinion, because although these are cool products, it really reveals new experiences for the consumer and the business user.  This new product category will drive huge investments in new applications and will likely reveal new business models that we have not even imagined.  I thought about adding the Kindle to this discussion, a great innovation in itself, but its simply a “reader”.  The iPad and the HP Slate (and likely other Windows 7 slate devices) are new type of computer IMHO.

It is certain that whenever Apple introduces a completely new product, there is a lot of attention and buzz in the industry.  Apple did not disappoint in that regard with the iPad launch earlier this week.  It was a big deal and everybody seemed to be watching, twittering, blogging, and talking about the iPad.  Although I am hearing many in my industry make comments like “its just a bigger iPhone”, I disagree.  I think the iPhone is being used for things the iPad is better suited for (web browsing, reading, video, etc.). 

Apple did a great job in building an aesthetically beautiful machine, something they do well, and additionally not just releasing a product, but with it, services and rich experiences like iBook (although its not live yet).  They don’t launch new products, they launch new experiences!

However, I think the iPad certainly comes with some significant shortcomings as well.  I have listed some here: no camera, no multi-tasking (that’s right, only one app at a time), no SD slot.

No multi-tasking really hinders its opportunity.  I would think my friends at Pandora would not like that.  As I type this blog in Windows Live Writer, I have one of my Pandora stations playing in one of my browser tabs.  If I want to read a book on an iPad, I can not have music playing in the background…

I do love the 10 hour battery life!  WOW.

Disclaimer:  This is not a product review or comparison.  The HP Slate is not released, and I have not tested or used either product.  My notes here are based simply on what I have read about these products so far.

As for the HP Slate (to be released; see story here), it is going to run Windows 7.  I can use it like I use my laptop – listen to Pandora, read a book, even use the camera for a Skype session, all at the same time.  If I am a developer and want to build apps for it, I can use the same development environment and tools (Visual Studio) I use for any Windows PC device.  Additionally, Windows 7 comes with Windows Touch, so like the iPad, it enables you to use touch gestures with it.

All and all, I think this is an exciting development for client technology when we consider these new innovations, combined with cloud services available for consumer experiences as well business services like collaboration, web conferencing, email, and much more!

What’s next in this space?  My guess is in addition to more Windows 7 devices, you will see some running Android.

Nike’s Jordan Brand uses Silverlight and Windows Azure for Social App

Jordan Brand, a division of Nike, is celebrating its 25-year anniversary during NBA All-Star Weekend February 11-14. With the help of Wirestone, Jordan Brand is leveraging innovative Microsoft technology to engage consumers through rich user experiences.

An example is the Mosaic 23/25, also known as the “Social Mosaic”.  This is an innovative web application that allows enthusiasts to personally connect with the Jordan Brand by allowing them to upload photos of themselves with their Air Jordan shoes.  Collectively those photos form a ‘mosaic’ (containing thousands of images) that construct a holistic master image.  Powered by Silverlight, the Social Mosaic leverages both Deep Zoom, which provides the ability to interactively view high-resolution images, and Multitouch capabilities.  In addition to the innovative user experience, the ability to quickly develop the Social Mosaic and host it in the cloud was of paramount importance to the Jordan Brand team, so they turned to the Windows Azure platform.

Jordan Brand’s use of Silverlight and Windows Azure for this innovative application enables them to creatively market their new “Air Jordan 2010” collection across a multitude of channels.

You can learn more about this at the Silverlight Team Blog, as well as at the Windows Azure Team Blog.

UFC Gym Innovates with WPF and Silverlight

Over this last year, I had the pleasure of working with Ideablade and FitBPO and supporting them on their innovative work with UFC Gym (jointly owned by UFC and New Evolution Fitness).  To support the opening of a global network of fitness gyms, UFC Gym needed a club management solution that would be easy for new staffers to learn and would support multiple operations of the business.  FitBPO, partnering with IdeaBlade (and its DevForce product), decided to go with Windows Presentation Foundation and Microsoft Silverlight 3, and created a powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use solution that supports new-member registration, facilities scheduling, program-results monitoring, and more.

Matt Masteller said “…after reviewing Windows Presentation Foundation and Silverlight, we figured right away that these technologies were best for providing the intuitive user interface we wanted for staff and other users and for supporting the extension of our brand.”

Read (download) the Microsoft Case Study here and learn how they built the solution using Microsoft technologies and Ideablade’s DevForce product.

Together with FitBPO, IdeaBlade, and Microsoft, UFC Gym is planning more new, exiting, and innovative solutions as they launch their network of innovative fitness gyms.

Windows Azure Platform Presentation

One of my favorite Architect Evangelist, David Chou, that I have had the pleasure to work with, has a great Windows Azure overview slide deck available on Slideshare.  I have posted it here.

Windows Azure Platform

View more presentations from David Chou.

Architect Innovation Cafe – Online Webcasts | December 2009 Series

Each month through June 2010, we’ll bring you a 90-minute Architect focused Webcast to educate on the latest trends/topics and how new technologies can align with your business needs.

December 22, 2009 at 11:00am – 12:30pm PST
Securing REST-Based Services with Access Control Service
Michele Leroux Bustamante
The Access Control Service (ACS), part of Windows Azure platform AppFabric, makes it easy to secure REST-based services using a simple set of standard protocols. In addition to enabling secure calls to REST-based services from any client, the ACS uniquely makes it possible to secure calls from client-side script, and enables federation scenarios with REST-based services. This webcast will provide a tour of ACS features and demonstrate scenarios where the ACS can be employed to secure REST-based WCF services and other web resources. You’ll learn how to configure ACS, learn how to request a token from the ACS, and learn how applications and services can authorize access based on the ACS token.

Link to Register:  http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032435379&Culture=en-US

For session recordings and content from the December 2009 series, please visit http://blogs.msdn.com/sac/pages/cafe-2009-12.aspx.

For information on other events part of the Architect Cafe series, please visit http://blogs.msdn.com/sac/pages/architect-cafe.aspx.

Want to join our team – Looking for a Sr. Architect Evangelist

We are still looking for a Sr. Architect Evangelist to join our West Region team in the Microsoft Developer and Platform Evangelism (DPE) group.  If you are passionate about new, bleeding edge technology, and helping companies envision how that technology solves business problems, this is a great role for you!  The role focuses on innovative new Microsoft platform technologies and works with both customers and partners.

If you are interested or know someone that might be interested, see the job posting here.

Seesmic Desktop on Windows

Really cool work by Seesmic for a real rich Twitter experience on Windows!  Manage and view multiple Twitter accounts, lists and searches in separate columns and more!  Download the Seesmic Desktop!

The Underground at PDC09 – Live Streaming!

Can’t make it to Los Angeles for The Underground @ PDC?  You will miss hanging out with the Lakers Girls, 500+ techies, drinks, etc.; but you can still be a part of the action!

The Underground will live stream these special presentations so no matter where you are, you can to hear from Microsoft and tech community leaders announcing Microsoft’s Technology roadmap and newly released developer strategies. Tune in and don’t miss our special keynote from Scott Guthrie!

Wednesday, November 18 at 7:00 PM

LIVE at www.undergroundatpdc.com

Twitter: @undergroundpdc

PDC 2009 Starts Today – Watch Live!

Today, 11/17 (and tomorrow) will be very big days for announcements @ Microsoft PDC 2009.

Announcements are expected around various key cloud technologies (Windows Azure, SQL Azure, .NET Services, etc) along with some surprises that promise to be unexpected (even to most of us Microsoft employees).

You can watch today’s live Keynote at 8:30am PST (11:30am EST) here: http://microsoftpdc.com/, they will be using Silverlight and Smooth Streaming so it should be a wonderful experience.

Also during the day Channel9 folks will be holding live sessions with your chance to participate and ask questions over Twitter. The biggest names in Microsoft development will be there and the full schedule is online here:

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/NicFill/Channel-9-Live-at-PDC09-Schedule/