Terence Lim

Echelon Asia Summit 2015 is an annual tech conference organized by e27, a platform for tech start-up founders, businesses, investors and industry leaders in Asia’s tech industry. The summit celebrated the best of our Asian start-up scene, and took place this year from 23 - 24 June 2015 at Singapore Expo Hall 3. Over the 2 days, there was an estimated 2,500 attendees coming from start-ups, venture capitalists, corporates and the media. Echelon aims to be the focal point for Asia’s technology leaders, innovative businesses, bold investors and forward-thinking industry representatives to leverage on future trends currently shaping Asia’s internet and mobile markets, and this is also achieved through keynote sessions, workshops and panel discussions with over 70 speakers from all around the world. Delegates also had the opportunity to forge new alliances with Asia’s most noteworthy start-ups and investment players, and build long-lasting investment, trade and market-access partnerships. The different booths and showcases were grouped into a few zones around the exhibition hall, including Top 100 Start-ups, IoT Showcases and Drone Zone. Nicholas, May and I from the Microsoft Developer Experience and Evangelism team joined in the summit and here are some of the highlights! [caption id=“playme” align=“alignnone” width=“100%”] Augmented reality application by Playme [/caption] [caption id=“vibease” align=“alignnone” width=“100%”] Stay Intimate Beyond Fantasy by Vibease [/caption] [caption id=“6estates” align=“alignnone” width=“100%”] Real-time digital ethnography by 6Estates[/caption] [caption id=“workshop” align=“alignnone” width=“100%”] Enthusiastic participants during a workshop by IBM [/caption] [caption id=“workshop” align=“alignnone” width=“100%”] Workshop on start-up culture [/caption] [caption id=“3divi” align=“alignnone” width=“100%”] 3-D computer vision by 3DiVi [/caption] [caption id=“neopop” align=“alignnone” width=“100%”] Light up your pet with Neo Pop [/caption] [caption id=“xbox” align=“alignnone” width=“100%”] Challenge your friends to a game on Xbox [/caption] [caption id=“doob” align=“alignnone” width=“100%”] Chill out with doob bean bags [/caption] [caption id=“dronematters” align=“alignnone” width=“100%”] Fly some drones with Drone Matters [/caption] [caption id=“refershments” align=“alignnone” width=“100%”] Recharge with some refreshments [/caption] [caption id=“qlipp” align=“alignnone” width=“100%”] Perfect your tennis swings with Qlipp [/caption] During the summit, we also had the opportunity to interact with some of our Microsoft BizSpark start-ups who were actively sharing their awesome ideas to the attendees. They shared about their entrepreneurship experiences thus far and also their roadmap for the subsequent journey. Their enthusiasm and passion in what they do sure inspire us a whole lot! If you have a start-up idea and would like to embark on one, be sure to check out our Microsoft BizSpark programme, where you can get up to $750 per month of FREE Azure cloud services for 3 years for up to 5 developers, and also free software and tools such as Visual Studio and Microsoft Office!

Have you ever experiencing website something like this? Linux in Azure you can easily resolve this. We will be sharing on Virtual Private Network and Proxy Server in Azure Virtual Machine using Linux OS. You can also bring your own laptop for a hands-on-workshop to create a VPN and Proxy server in Linux. See you there. :) The Azure Community meetup is conducted every week. Come join us to learn from one another some of the interesting things you can do on Azure!

Thousands across Asia have tried their first hour of code. Have you? Take your first step at the Microsoft Code for Change event! Microsoft invites students to join us at the launch of Code for Change on July 1, 2015, 14:00 to 17:00 (registration starts at 13:30). Venue details*: Main venue: NTUC Auditorium 4 satellite sites: • ITE College Central • Nanyang Polytechnic • Ngee Ann Polytechnic • Temasek Polytechnic Please contact sgmktg@microsoft.com should you require additional details. We look forward to see you at the event!

Microsoft Build is an annual conference event held by Microsoft aimed towards software and web developers using Windows, Windows Phone, Microsoft Azure and other Microsoft technologies. For the very first time, Build is coming to Singapore, and we’re like to invite you to join us! The Microsoft Build Developer conference was held in San Francisco on 29 April - 1 May 2015, where many interesting and cool things were announced. TL;DR, here’s a quick summary on how Microsoft is welcoming you to Windows 10: ...

InnovFest Singapore 2015 was a 2-day festival held over 2 days (28 - 29 April) at Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre. The event featured Asian innovation and brought the best ideas together. 1,500 entrepreneurs, investors, government agencies and researchers had the opportunity to meet, share their knowledge and network. [caption id=“innovfest_001” align=“aligncenter” width=“5184”] InnovFest - where Asian innovation meets the world[/caption] The Guest-of-Honor, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, the Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation initiative, shared in his opening address about the importance of innovation for our survival. He also took pride in sharing how half of Singapore’s cabinet ministers are engineers, and also how our very own Prime Minister can code. [caption id=“innovfest_002” align=“aligncenter” width=“1024”] Dr. Balakrishnan had the opportunity to interact with the innovators[/caption] I had an amazing experience of talking to different innovators and sharing about Microsoft BizSpark, a program which gives startups 3 years of free stuff – software, service, tech support, and Azure cloud services. As I was roaming around different booths, I had the chance to check out all the new and really cool apps, innovations and cutting edge technologies! Some of the interesting ideas include a a watch that helps hook people up with the opposite gender located nearby, a smart home that can automatically light up your room with using a Kinect sensor based on your identity and profile, a bicycle with wheels that depicts engaging displays. [caption id=“innovfest_003” align=“aligncenter” width=“1024”] Bicycle that displays advertisements[/caption] [caption id=“innovfest_004” align=“aligncenter” width=“1024”] Smart home using Kinect sensor[/caption] [caption id=“innovfest_005” align=“aligncenter” width=“1024”] Startup Gamurai showcasing their awesome product[/caption] [caption id=“innovfest_006” align=“aligncenter” width=“1024”] Nicholas sharing with start-ups about Microsoft BizSpark[/caption] Apart from exhibitions, there were also workshops and panel discussions on the latest trends in global & Asian innovations, keynote speeches and a series of satellite events. We have our very own Director of Developer Experience & Evangelism of Microsoft Singapore, Mr. Nobuhiro Ito, sharing about the secrets of Asia’s User Goldmine together in a panel discussion. [caption id=“innovfest_007” align=“aligncenter” width=“1024”] Panel Discussion on Discovering Asia’s User Goldmine[/caption] [caption id=“innovfest_008” align=“aligncenter” width=“1024”] Workshops in InnovFest[/caption] Attendees were treated with a wide variety of delicious food, ranging from an international buffet spread to local delights such as chicken rice and nasi lemak, and also awesome tasting coffee. Over lunch, we also had the opportunity to network with different attendees and exchange ideas around the table. [caption id=“innovfest_009” align=“aligncenter” width=“1024”] Buffet Spread for lunch[/caption] [caption id=“innovfest_005” align=“aligncenter” width=“1024”] The roundtable setting facilitates discussions among attendees[/caption] [caption id=“innovfest_005” align=“aligncenter” width=“1919”] The Cortana boys[/caption] With so many mind-blowing ideas, amazing people and a constant spread of sumptuous meals, it is no doubt Asia’s most exciting innovation conference. I’m definitely looking forward to attending the next one, are you?

One thing I love about Azure Web Apps is how easy it is to quickly set up various online applications and tools for different purposes. More often than not, you don’t even need to write a line of code! Just a couple of clicks from the Azure Gallery and boom, you have a new custom e-Commerce app ready. Want to write your own code? Just link the website to your source control of choice and continuous integration takes care of the rest! Here’s 10 things you might not have known you could do with Azure. Need an account to get started? Sign up for an Azure account before you try out any of these: ...

On the 4th of April 2015 (Saturday), Microsoft Singapore held the final round of the national Imagine Cup competition. The Imagine Cup competition is a global challenge which is comprised of three categories – Games, Innovation, and World Citizenship. Teams from local Polytechnics and Universities compete for an opportunity to present their ideas in the World Finals at Seattle in July and for a chance to win the grand prize of $50,000 USD. This year, our champions who will be moving on to the online World Semi-finals are: • Games - Team Illan (Nanyang Polytechnic) • Innovation – Team 3DiMS (Nanyang Polytechnic) • World Citizenship - Team Mozter (Temasek Polytechnic) [caption id=“attachment_19579” align=“aligncenter” width=“4208”] Team Illan[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_19582” align=“aligncenter” width=“4208”] Team Mozter[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_19591” align=“aligncenter” width=“4208”] Team 3DiMS[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_19580” align=“aligncenter” width=“4208”] Team Blue Monocle[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_19581” align=“aligncenter” width=“4208”] Team Concept Crew[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_19583” align=“aligncenter” width=“4208”] Team eSpeech Therapist[/caption] Team Illan The world as we know it has lost its colours and liveliness. Gifted with special powers, the protagonist of this game goes on an adventure to repaint the world and seek out his true identity. However, his journey will not be easy as mind-boggling puzzles stand between him and his destination. Team 3DiMS 3DiMS (3D Measurement System) is a software running on the Microsoft Surface that performs Intracerebral Haemorrhage (ICH) 3D detection and measurement for rapid stroke patients. 3DiMS is able to measure the ICH volume with reasonable accuracy within a minute using only the Microsoft Surface, with no other additional equipment required. It is fast, convenient and low cost. This capability to rapidly measure ICH Volume at the bedside has the potential to improve the care of stroke patients worldwide. Team Mozter Mozter is a mosquito monitoring platform that leverages on the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud-based technologies to assist vector control officers with national mosquito surveillance and control programmes. The platform comprises of (a) a mosquito detection sensor, (b) the data processing server and (c) a data visualisation platform to tell the story of the data collected from the sensor. Also today on the 10th of April (Friday), our 3 champion teams in the respective categories attended a special session here in Microsoft Singapore. The 3 teams had the opportunity to refine their presentation over the week based on feedback from the 4th April session, and present it to our internal Microsoft teams, where they were given additional feedback. The 3 teams will be working on a video submission of their projects, where they will compete at the APAC level. A total of 6 teams from APAC will eventually be shortlisted for the World Finals in Seattle. [caption id=“attachment_19607” align=“aligncenter” width=“3000”] Microsoft employees listening in to the presentations from the winning teams[/caption]

Last weekend, my friends and I took part in BattleHack, a hackathon that is held in 14 different cities around the globe, hosted by PayPal and Braintree. During the event, participants were tasked with developing a range of applications, aimed to solve a challenge of their choice. On top of winning a real battle axe that glows (how cool is that!), the winning team of 4 will be flown to the finals at PayPal’s headquarters in Silicon Valley to battle it out with teams from around the world for the $100,000 grand prize. The event kicked-off with a huge bang at 11am, where developers were introduced to all the cool event partners that they may leverage on during the competition. Also, lots of cool swags were given out! Partners for BattleHack were eagerly sharing their individual hardware gadgets and services. Some of them include Hoiio - a software company that provides cloud communication and apps to businesses, Rainmaker Labs - who gave developers the opportunity to use their beacons to trigger actions on mobile phones, 12 Geeks - which brought a cool eyewear that allows developers to create apps on their mobile phones and view them in a 3D-like space, and JustGiving - a platform which helps in fundraising. Well, since a picture speaks a thousand words, I’ll let them do the talking… Keep a look out for all the awesome food provided over the event. They feed us so well, makes us wonder if we’re actually here for a buffet-athon rather than a hack-athon, haha! They even brought in a bartender serving alcohol! As the clock ticks past midnight into the wee hours, I got to see the perseverance of many developers. Of course, there were also those who KO-ed and lost to the Z-monster. If you look hard enough at the photos, you’d spot some teams who would cherish a game of DotA more than their sleep! And finally… the moment we were all waiting for. The sharing session to hear about all the different cool ideas that surfaced from the 24 hours! Ideas ranged from apps that does Twitter Analytics, a mobile phone selling/buying platform, web services that handles memory of your loved ones, mobile services that handles queue problems, food ordering systems, and even crazy ideas that aims to help our rag-and-bone man in their work … and many more! It was truly an amazing experience, and I’ve made lots of friends from different countries and exchanged ideas. Can’t wait till BattleHack 2016, and hope to see everyone again next year :) 

Microsoft has just released an initial SDK preview for Windows 10 developers to start experimenting with the new platform capabilities for building Windows 10 apps. Just to explore the new platform and see how quickly I can launch a new app, I installed the latest Windows 10 Technical Preview Build 10041 through the Windows Insider program, and also the latest Visual Studio 2015 CTP 6 and the Windows 10 developer tools. The cool thing about the Windows 10 Universal App is that it is able to run on all Windows 10 devices - PC, Tablet, Phone, and even Xbox! How awesome is that! Similar to building Apps for Windows 8, the templates allow developers to select a language of their choice, such as C#, VB, C++ and JavaScript. For my case, I chose to use JavaScript. I added in a few of my designs for my app logo and updated their path in the package.appxmanifest. For a quick trial, I reused the code for a Windows 8 app I made in the past. After adding in the code, I can deploy my app for testing purposes on the different platforms. In this preview, the feature to deploy the app to a phone running Windows 10 and Xbox is not yet supported. In the meantime, I can deploy it on the Windows 10 Local Machine, as well as a Windows 10 Phone emulator. Subsequently, I tried to run my Windows 10 app on my Local Machine and Phone Emulator, and this is what I see! As I was checking out on Windows 10 Universal App development, something interesting that I thought was worth mentioning is the Application Insights, which is a service that now allows developers to monitor their published apps and visualize data such as application usage or diagnostic reports in the Azure Preview Portal. Here is a guide that shows you how this can be added to your Windows 10 Universal App. Interested in creating your first Windows 10 Universal App too? There’s a lot of free resources available on Microsoft Virtual Academy, such as A Developer’s Guide to Windows 10 Preview, that you can leverage on! It will show you how you can quickly set up your “Hello World!” app, extension SDKs, App Services and more. Also, if you are familiar in developing on Windows 8, it also guides you on the migration process. Do check it out :)

Are you a maker, a developer, an innovator, an aspiring entrepreneur or a tech-geek? The Transport & You(th) Hackathon is looking for tech-savvy youth, hungry for a social challange. There’s just one objective: Enhance commuter travel experience through use of technology. Make use of rich land transport datasets available at the Hackathon. Team up with your friends to co-create innovative land transport solutions. Think you can make a student’s public transport more entertaining? Want to revolutionize the ecosystem for bus commuters with special needs? Ready to create the next big transport app? This Hackathon is for you. For registration and more information, please visit the official hackathon website. ...