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Since the launch of Silverlight several years ago, it has gained tremendous adoption and has proven to be a great platform for building rich media experiences on the web.
I thought I would highlight some great stories here that point to its adoption and success (as well as point to some related posts & case studies for your reading pleasure).
For the recent Winter Olympics Vancover, host nation Canada’s CTV saw 4 million visitors consume over 6 PetaBytes, or 7 million hours of video, peaking at over 130,000 concurrent viewers. Viewers watched videos on the site for an average of 111 minutes per visit – unprecedented and great news for broadcasters and advertisers alike. Here is a case study if you would like to read more.
In the United States, NBC built on its experiences using Silverlight for the 2008 Beijing Olympics (which by the way, NBC Olympics won an Emmy with Silverlight) and NFL Sunday Night Football. For the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, they provided live and on-demand video to an online audience of 16 million viewers, while also delivering a very sophisticated and efficient ad platform to its sponsors, making the best use of planned and spontaneous opportunities for ad insertion. Armed with real-time insights on the size and viewing trends of the online fan base, NBC was able to make quick, informed decisions about when to run ads for maximum effect. Here is a case study if you would like to read more. Or you can also find more information at the Silverlight Team Blog here.
Since broadcast HD TV is relatively new in France, France Télévisions used the opportunity to bring the HD experience to a younger generation who, in many cases, prefer to consume video on a computer. With previous successes using Silverlight and IIS Smooth Streaming to broadcast the Roland Garros Tennis Championships and the Tour de France cycling race, France Télévisions knew it could deliver a multi-platform, high quality live and on-demand video experience for the Olympics. With only two weeks to the event and not a single line of code written, the Silverlight Media Framework allowed France TV to deliver the player on schedule, resulting in an amazing average viewing time of 64 minutes. Here is a case study if you would like to read more.
On April 15th, 2010 Silverlight 4 shipped. It marks the fourth release of the Silverlight platform in the last 2.5 years.
For those of you new to Silverlight, it is a free, powerful development platform, plug-in powered by .NET, for creating engaging, interactive user experiences for Web, desktop, and mobile applications when online or offline. Silverlight is compatible with multiple browsers, devices and operating systems, bringing a new level of interactivity on the web.
Building upon the huge success of it’s predecessor versions, Silverlight 4 contains a slew of new features to help you build the next generation RIA applications. New features include Local fonts, Printing, WCF RIA Services, Webcam, Microphone, Multicast Networking, and much more. To learn more about Silverlight 4 and download it go here.
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.
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.
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/
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.
November 24, 2009 at 11:00am – 12:30pm PST
Title: An Architect’s perspective on Silverlight 3
Presenter: Tim Heuer
Abstract: Many .NET developers are becoming more and more interested in the Rich Internet Application development space, and in particular Silverlight. In this session we will step back from a detailed implementation technology and take a higher level look at Silverlight from the architect’s perspective. We will discuss the types of applications where Silverlight makes sense and some scenarios where Silverlight may not be the appropriate technology. We will also delve into some of the architectural decisions that the architect must consider when writing applications for this platform and where some of the tradeoffs may lie.
Event ID: 1032432980
Link to Register: here
November 25, 2009, 11:00am – 12:30pm PST
Title: Cloud-computing architecture – designing multi-tenant applications on Windows Azure.
Speaker: Joseph Hofstader
Abstract: Cloud computing is one of the hottest topics in information technology today. With all the confusion surrounding acronyms ending in ‘aas’ like Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) it can be intimidating for even seasoned IT professionals. This presentation will briefly discuss the different types of cloud platforms and then address one of the key business scenarios for the cloud: Software as a Service.
Software as a Service is a business model for making applications available over the Internet. One of the key tenets of SaaS is multi-tenancy, or software designed to be used by multiple parties. Designing SaaS applications touches on many of the technologies that comprise the Azure platform: Processing, Storage, Workflow, Database and most importantly security. This presentation will discuss how each of technologies can be utilized to define a flexible architecture for multi-tenant solutions.
Event ID: 1032432981
Link to Register: here
SPEAKER BIOS
Tim Heuer
Tim Heuer is a program manager for Microsoft Silverlight, a web technology aimed at delivering rich internet experiences to users. Before this current role, Tim was a developer evangelist for Microsoft serving the Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Montana and Utah areas aiming to strengthen and support communities and software developers in these geographies.
Josepher Hofstader
Joseph Hofstader is an architect/evangelist in Microsoft Communications Sector. Joe has spent his career architecting, designing and developing solutions in the telecommunications industry. Over the last 5 years, he has been involved in architecting solutions that provide telecommunications services in the cloud. Joe presents regularly at industry events sponsored by organizations like the TMForum and the National Association of Broadcasters. In his spare time Joe is an adjunct professor in the department of Information Technology and Electronic Commerce at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business.
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.
October 27, 2009 at 11:00am – 12:30pm PST
Title: An Architect’s perspective on Silverlight 3
Presenter: Tim Heuer
Abstract: Many .NET developers are becoming more and more interested in the Rich Internet Application development space, and in particular Silverlight. In this session we will step back from a detailed implementation technology and take a higher level look at Silverlight from the architect’s perspective. We will discuss the types of applications where Silverlight makes sense and some scenarios where Silverlight may not be the appropriate technology. We will also delve into some of the architectural decisions that the architect must consider when writing applications for this platform and where some of the tradeoffs may lie.
Event ID: 1032427862
Link to Register: An Architect’s perspective on Silverlight 3
October 28, 2009 at 11:00am – 12:30pm PST
Title: Deploying Windows 7 from an Infrastructure Architect’s Perspective
Presenter: Doug Klokow
Abstract:
We’ll discuss 5 key areas centered on deploying Windows 7: Developing business justification – Evaluate the capabilities provided by Windows 7 and develop a plan for how to realize business value from these solutions; Where are you today – Explore the differences of preparing for Windows 7 based on your current desktop operating system; Application readiness – Explore the tools and resources available to gain insight into your readiness to deploy Windows 7, Internet Explorer 8, and/or Office 2007/2010; Deployment readiness – Explore the tools and resources available to create a design and deployment solution for your enterprise; Training your employees – Discuss available resources for training your IT Staff and End Users.
Event ID: 1032427863
Link to Register: Deploying Windows 7 from an Infrastructure Architect’s Perspective
SPEAKER BIOS
Tim Heuer
I currently work for Microsoft as a program manager for Microsoft Silverlight, a web technology aimed at delivering rich internet experiences to users. Before this current role, I was a developer evangelist for Microsoft serving the Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Montana and Utah areas aiming to strengthen and support communities and software developers in these geographies.
Doug Klokow
Part of Microsoft Consulting Services for 9 years focused on client desktop deployment solutions. He is part of the Virtual Deployment Practice that is focused on driving early customer deployment on Microsoft client technologies and is also supporting Microsoft’s Desktop Virtualization capabilities and service offerings.
Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of The Wizard of Oz, and the re-release by Warner Brothers of an HD version of the movie, Netflix has launched a website to stream the movie for FREE to anyone in America on October 3rd.
Netflix also hosted a free, live concert and outdoor movie screening on Tuesday, September 29th, in New York City’s Central Park at Rumsey Playfield. The concert featured songs from “The Wizard of Oz” performed by Jennifer Hudson, Julianne Hough and ?uestlove. 
New renditions of “Wizard of Oz” songs from the concert are also posted on the site here.
The site has been implemented with Smooth Streaming, an IIS Media Services extension, that enables adaptive streaming of media to Silverlight clients over HTTP. Smooth Streaming provides a high-quality viewing experience that scales massively on content distribution networks, making true HD media experiences (720p+) a reality.
Enjoy!!!
In the world of rich internet applications (RIA), Flash is very well known and often compared to Silverlight. Many web developers and designers are discovering the latest cool features and benefits of Silverlight version 3, and now building RIA in Silverlight. Many are making the switch or planning to.
Jason Campbell is a User Experience Evangelist for Microsoft, and a former Flash Designer. He has a terrific blog, Silverlight | Switch, that features many topics that Flash programmers and designers are interested in as it relates to Silverlight. He also includes events, tips & tricks, and video tutorials, like this one on SketchFlow.
Check it out!
![clip_image001[6]](http://jcstame.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/clip_image00161.jpg?w=121&h=70 "clip_image001[6]")
I interviewed Ward Bell recently and we discussed using Silverlight for building Rich Internet Applications (RIA’s) for UFC Gyms and New Evolution Fitness.
You can view the interview on Channel 9’s ARCast.TV here.
