Developer

 Microsoft is embarking on its most ambitious product revamp in history. We’re launching or updating Windows, Windows Phone, Windows Azure, Windows Server, SQL Server, Visual Studio 2012, and Office in the next few months. That’s just on the software side. We’re also looking at Surface, Xbox SmartGlass, and other Microsoft hardware. We’re even revamping our online services like Outlook.com and Office 365. It’s time to get in-sync with all that’s going on. To kick start this next wave here in Singapore, we’re inviting all partners to join us in our Mega Partner Briefing happening next week at MAX Atria@Singapore EXPO, 12 Sept, 8:45am - 5:30pm. It’s gonna be packed with visionary speeches, market trend updates, technology and product innovations, deep dives, and much, much more. The afternoon breakout sessions are gonna be very interesting. There are 2 tracks dedicated to developers: ISV & SI Deep Dive and Cloud Deep Dive. Register Now! I’ll see you there.

[caption id=“attachment_11239” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Play classic Atari games are immortalized now on Atari Arcade”][/caption] Forty years ago, Atari revolutionized entertainment and jumpstarted the gaming industry by releasing its first arcade game – Pong. Besides Pong, you may also remember other classical Atari games such as Missile Command, Lunar Lander and Centipede. Last week, the Internet Explorer team announced the launch of Atari Arcade, a new partnership between Microsoft and Atari to bring all of these nostalgic games to the web through the power of HTML5. Games like Pong, Asteroids, Super Breakout and Yars’ Revenge – all reimagined with HTML5 and new multi-player capabilities – come to life on a Windows 8 touch device and IE10. Of course, it also works great in IE9, or on any other modern browser. Bonus: You’ll be able to play against your Facebook friends. The games are free and, yes, they’re just as addictive as you remember. “What you really want to be able to do is have a series of games that you think, ‘Gee, I’ve got 10 minutes before I need to pick up the kids from school, and of course, an hour later, the kids are waiting on the curb,’ ” says Atari founder Nolan Bushnell in a behind-the-scenes video about the new project, below. Developers, game on! For developers, the team has created an opportunity to build your own games for the Atari Arcade platform. An Atari software development kit is available in the developer behind the scenes section of the site, along with new and updated versions of JavaScript libraries (Create.js, Easel.js, Sound.js) and new tutorials for building HTML5 games. All code is available on our IE GitHub repo here. Check it out!

GeekcampSG - A gathering of developers who are passionate about their craft, coming together to share ideas and learn new technologies. [caption id=“attachment_10849” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] geekcampsg was sold out within weeks![/caption] When I first heard about the camp, I immediately signed-up for the event and waited eagerly for its arrival. The event was well-received by the developer community and it was sold out weeks in advance. I was impressed by the camp which was organized by developers, for developers. It was a Saturday morning but there are already tons of people waiting in line as early as 8:30am to get a chance at receiving one of the 100 limited edition GeekcampSG 2012 t-shirts. [caption id=“attachment_10851” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] More than 150 people came early to register for geekcampsg this year[/caption] Here’s shot of the awesome Geekcamp.SG 2012 t-shirt that is coveted by the camp attendees. [caption id=“attachment_10852” align=“alignnone” width=“439”] The geekcampsg tshirt was given to first 100 attendees and was snapped up in the first couple of minutes. Credit: GeekcampSG[/caption] For attendees that are not fortunate to receive one of the 100 coveted limited edition t-shirts, they are able to grab one of the awesome stickers for GeekcampSG 2012. [caption id=“attachment_10853” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] GeekcampSG Stickers were up for grabs as well[/caption] In total, more than 400 developers and enthusiasts attended the camp. The auditorium was filled to the brim, with eager attendees occupying all of the available floor space in the room. Here’s the opening address from the event’s Platinum Sponsor, Windows Azure. [caption id=“attachment_10855” align=“alignnone” width=“457”] Windows Azure[/caption] And off we go! The keynote was presented by U-Zyn Chua on Cryptography: Why Bitcoin is safer than your bank. It was a controversial currency concept and U-Zyn had a challenging and engaging session during Q&A. [caption id=“attachment_10856” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] The talk on Bitcoin was well received by developers[/caption] After a series of morning talks, it was lunch time! Everyone had a great lunch and it was simply awesome to see developers engaging each other in sharing sessions and lighting talks during the break. In my opinion, one of the most engaging and interesting speakers of the day was Yap Neng Ginn, who presented on Windows Azure. Here’s the best analogy that I’ve heard for the main categories of cloud offerings: On Premises – Your Car Infrastructure as a Service – Rented Car Platform as a Service – Taxi Software as a Service – SMRT I ended my day with an interesting talk by Michael Cheng on Continuous integration for PHP with Jenkins and Sonar. Thanks for all the great work put in by the Geekcamp.SG committee. I had a fantastic time mingling with fellow developers who are passionate about their craft. It was also great to see many student developers attending the event and eager to chip in to help for future events. I will definitely be back next year and hopefully I will have an interesting topic to present to all my fellow developers. Did you attend GeekCamp.SG? What do you think of the event? Do you have other great tech events to recommend for us to attend? Do share with us your recommendations in the comments below and we might just do a special report based on your recommendations!

Who could ever forget Tom Cruise’s cool futuristic augmented reality computer in “Minority Report” where he effortlessly navigates the computer user interface using a series of natural gestures. I never thought that it was practical till I saw Piano Reality: an app where a user can use the camera feed to recognize the piano keys that are drew on an ordinary piece of paper, and then lets you play that piano. [caption id=“attachment_10828” align=“alignnone” width=“384”] Piano Reality - Click to watch the video[/caption] When Transformers 3 – Dark Side of the Moon was released in July 2011, Paramount Pictures introduced an augmented reality app for iOS called Defend the Earth. Movie fans can download the app, locate a Transformers 3 poster, and scan the poster code to unlock an augmented reality, first-person shooter game. [caption id=“attachment_10829” align=“alignnone” width=“350”] App - Transformers Defend the Earth Poster - Click to watch video[/caption] And the excitement does not stop there. The market has started to recognize the importance of augmented reality with the introduction of devices such as LEAP Motion, Asus Xtion Pro, and Google Glasses. Leading this technological trend is the Kinect. Introduced in November 2010, Kinect still holds the Guinness Book of Record for being the fastest selling consumer electronic device of all time. To support the developer community, Microsoft has released its Kinect SDK in June 2011 where developers can develop Kinect apps using C++, C#, and Visual Basic.NET. In addition to Windows Kinect SDK, you can also develop Kinect apps using these two open source APIs: 1. Open Kinect ...

So you’ve decided to leverage on open source web frameworks to build your mobile apps to take advantage of the exciting opportunities in the emerging mobile app environment. But there are so many data storage options to choose from, how do you know which works best for you? Here’s a list of HTML5 data storage APIs and their browser support: Adapted from http://www.html5rocks.com/en/features/storage Let’s take a closer look at some data storage APIs that you can use to build your mobile app: SQLite ...

Achieving that Spiffy, Modern User Interface. [caption id=“attachment_10786” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Facebook for Windows 8 Concept from The Verge”][/caption] Some time ago Joyce posted about designing the new user interface that comes with Windows 8 and Windows Phone. Here are some elements that are key to the new interface. Typography. Type is beautiful. Not only is it attractive to the eye, but it can also be functional. The right balance of weight and positioning can create a visual hierarchy. Additionally, well placed type can help lead you to more content. Motion is what brings the interface to life. Transitions are just as important as graphical design. By developing a consistent set of motions or animations, a system is created that provides context for usability, extra dimension and depth and improves the perceived performance of the whole interface. Content not Chrome is one of the more unique principles of Metro. By removing all notions of extra chrome in the UI, the content becomes the main focus. This is especially relevant due to the smaller screen size and gesture-based interactions. Honesty. Design explicitly for the form factor of a hand held device using touch, a high resolution screen and simplified and expedited forms of interaction. In other words, be “authentically digital”. Today I will introduce some prototyping tools, and finally one awesome resource for those modernized icons. If you use Adobe Illustrator you’ll love this: Windows 8 Vector Templates. The nice folks at migration.mobi have created a beautiful Illustrator .ai template with lots of Windows 8 vectors that you can use to make beautiful app wireframes. [caption id=“attachment_10787” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“ItemsViewPage”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_10788” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Plethora of Vectors”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_10789” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“One of my earlier app wireframes”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_10790” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Made just using AI and PS!”][/caption] Check it out and get the Illustrator files here. To those who love traditional sketching, however, check this out: UI Stencils’ “Windows 8 Stencils Kit” and “Windows 8 Sketch Pad”. This kit was co-developed by the design team over at Microsoft. Using both the Sketch Pad and the Stencils Kit helps one to make amazing designs, and it does allow one to see what is readily available in the Modern UI design. [caption id=“attachment_10791” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Stencils Kit and Sketch pad”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_10792” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Windows 8 Sketch Pad”][/caption] A word of warning though, shipping is not cheap. Recently Syncfusion Metro Studio was updated to version 2, which saw 800 new icons being added. This brings the total number of icons to… Not 500, not 1000, but an amazing 1700! The best part about Metro Studio 2, it’s FREE. All 1700 icons are free, no strings attached. They’re easily to use too! [caption id=“attachment_10798” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“So many icons!”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_10794” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Easy to search for icons”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_10795” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Simple customization, multiple ways to export”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_10796” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“New in Metro Studio 2 – Projects”][/caption] Getting Metro Studio 2 is easy. Visit their website here, then register for a download. The installer will then be downloaded and a free product key will then be sent to your email. Now get out there and start prototyping!

Windows Dev Center RTM updates are now live! Two weeks ago we announced that Windows 8 released to manufacturing (RTM). Since then we’ve been preparing builds for distribution as described in the Windows 8 has reached the RTM milestone post on Windows Team blog. I’m happy to let you know that we are now ready with early access builds for developers. In this post I’ll give you some pointers on the best way to get and install the RTM build and I’ll also point you to resources you can use to get your apps up and running on Windows 8 RTM. ...

We had a very special HackWeekend on National Day which saw several quality apps and the first meet up of the year for the Microsoft Student Partners team. It was definitely an amazing experience to have a chat with the mixture of developers and students with a flow of brilliant ideas, with everyone mingling with each other. The day started off with the Microsoft Student Partner Kick-off for FY13, where we were introduced to the responsibilities and perks of a MSP by Yizhe, our Academic Developer Evangelist. After the briefing, we had a short prize presentation to our Champ Programme Graduates who all received Xbox 360 consoles. We then had an amazing buffet lunch and time to talk with each other in preparation for Dream . Build . Launch. Terence also brought us all on a tour of the Microsoft Technology Center. [caption id=“attachment_10749” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Playing with the Microsoft Surface”][/caption] The demonstrated apps this HackWeekend were much more polished than the first and second. It’s definitely encouraging to see the hard work developers are putting into their apps, working towards the launch of Windows 8 this October. [caption id=“attachment_10753” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Video Draw - an app that helps you to annotate directly on e-learning resources such as videos.”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_10741” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Best Health Care”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_10743” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“eZ-MRT helps you to decide the quicker route to take on the MRT”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_10742” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Drop Zone is a casual game by Tianyang from Tyler Projects!”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_10752” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Photo Narrate helps you organized your photos and tell a clear story!”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_10754” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Xin Videos lets you catch up on TV from XinMSN”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_10751” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“My Little Pony Portal for all MLP fans out there!”][/caption] Once that was over, we had a Live Telecast of the National Day Parade where everyone gathered around the screens that were set up while we ate dinner. As the day drew to a close, we had a brilliant view of the National Day fireworks from our window. Our Hackweekends are coming to a close - but you can still work on your Windows 8 applications. Look out for our upcoming events!

Background: Primarily as a developer, I always wanted an online service which is free for me to put my projects under source control. I could find few paid TFS hosted services but I was not ready to put sample projects or source code which has no real dollar value associated under a paid service. Secondly, I used to give sessions on TFS & source control and main problem for my students was to perform hands on practice when they are not at the lab. I used few alternatives like CodePlex by using community projects, VPC and Handson Lab environment at MSDN etc. but all those were/are still workarounds. Lastly, deploying & implementing TFS is a relatively big effort for companies who want to ’test the water’ first before diving deep. It sometimes becomes a real challenge to coordinate TFS implementation and promote usage among teams without a ’test’ or ‘dogfood’ environment. Team Foundation Service: TFS as a service by Microsoft at http://www.tfspreview.com This is a positive step towards developer empowerment. Specially - this will be helpful for all small, medium and large enterprises where developers and IT teams struggle to set the working environment for learning TFS and source control practices. Also not only this, it will be a boost for all freelance developers who struggle to maintain source control for their code & delivery while keeping the cost to the client low. While the service is in preview mode, the feature-set is still very rich and most importantly users can get started for free. The website has a mention that when the service is out of preview mode, the free services will still continue(* - may have reduced functionality or may be not) and there will be paid services as well. I sincerely hope Microsoft will continue to offer free services at least for Source Control and Continuous Bulds. Learn: The website also has a menu named “learn” and the content are amazing. It is mostly step-by-step and easy to understand and practice. Here is a direct link for ‘Learn": http://tfspreview.com/en-us/learn/start/connect-to-vs/

Big Data has become one of the latest buzzwords of the industry. But few people actually understand what it is and how it’s applicable to our daily lives. For this week’s Infographic Friday, we’d like to explain to you what Big Data is about through this inforgraphic. Simply put, Big Data is data that is too large, complex and dynamic for any conventional data tools to capture, store, manage and analyze. The right use of Big Data allows analysts to spot trends and gives niche insights that help create value and innovation much faster than conventional methods. Check out this inforgraphic from WIPRO to find out more! [caption id=“attachment_10688” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“BigData - Click to view the larger version”][/caption]