One of our local MVPs, Sainath K.E.V is featured on TechNet Radio. Tune in to this TechNet Radio to hear from him about his view on cloud computing. He also talked about his expereinces on System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 and Hyper-V related deployment from his actual day job, more importantly he talked about Cloud Security. Take action and try out System Center 2012 products yourself, download System Center 2012 through one Single download today!

Get the latest Windows Server “8” technical information by joining your peers at the upcoming Singapore Windows IT Pro Group meet up on 28 March 2012. The SWUG has specially arrange two main topics for this meet up - What’s new with Hyper-V in Windows Server “8” and Overview of Hyper-V Networking in Windows Server “8”. Register now by emailing the following details to admin@sgwindowsgroup.org - SWUG ID - Name - Email Address Note: There won’t be an event confirmation. Just turn up, we don’t turn people away. However, please register if you’re coming. Session 1 – What’s new with Hyper-V in Windows Server “8” Learn on the upcoming changes and feature updates with Hyper-V in Windows 8 Server compared to the current version of Hyper-v in Windows 2008 R2 SP1. We will cover some of the new features in Windows 8 Server Beta which will impact and benefit the deployment of a virtual infrastructure on Hyper-V such as the new Server Manager and NIC Teaming. In this session you will see why Hyper-V in the next release of Windows will be the platform of the future for deploying your server virtualization and private cloud infrastructure. Session 2 – Overview of Hyper-V Networking in Windows Server “8” ...

Apps are going to be at the center of the new Windows 8 experience. As a developer, you will be given unprecedented access to millions of Windows users worldwide. Microsoft is proud to bring Build for Windows 8 to Singapore, a free, fun, no-fluff event for developers, by developers. This full day event will let you experience developing on the new Windows 8 platform. You will learn from experts in a low-key, interactive way and then you’ll get to apply what you’ve learned. Spaces are limited, register at bit.ly/buildforwin8 now! Time and Date - 9am to 5pm, 30th March 2012 Location - Level 22, Microsoft Singapore,1 Marina Boulevard, One Marina Boulevard, Singapore 018989 ...

If you are looking to learn about the new SQL Server 2012. Here are some great resources to help you. Over at Microsoft Virtual Academy , there are 5 FREE online training modules for SQL Server 2010. Sign up for FREE and enjoy the great content. Breakthrough Insights using Microsoft SQL Server 2012 - Analysis Services Breakthrough Insights using Microsoft SQL Server 2012 - Scalable data warehouse Breakthrough Insights using Microsoft SQL Server 2012 - Reporting Services Cloud on your terms with Microsoft SQL server 2012: Scale on demand Mission Critical Confidence using Microsoft SQL Server 2012 The Final and Complete edition of of Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012 is also now available for FREE download. Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012 includes 10 chapters: PART I DATABASE ADMINISTRATION (by Ross Mistry) 1. SQL Server 2012 Editions and Engine Enhancements 2. High-Availability and Disaster-Recovery Enhancements 3. Performance and Scalability 4. Security Enhancements 5. Programmability and Beyond-Relational Enhancements PART II BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE DEVELOPMENT (by Stacia Misner) 6. Integration Services 7. Data Quality Services 8. Master Data Services 9. Analysis Services and PowerPivot 10. Reporting Services

Along with the new release of Windows 8 Consumer Preview, Microsoft also launched complete set of development tools that contains Visual Studio 11 Express Beta and Blend for Visual Studio. These are the tool to build Metro style apps for Windows 8. It includes the Windows 8 SDK, templates and enables access to Windows 8 APIs. Microsoft Visual Studio 11 Beta has a new, simpler, refreshed UI, and it includes fully featured code editor, a powerful debugger, a focused profiler, and rich language support that you can use to build apps that written in HTML5, JavaScript, C++, C# or Visual Basic. Visual Studio 11 Express Beta for Windows 8 also includes a device simulator that you can use to test Metro style apps on multiple form factors. Below, we have compiled thorough list of what you need to know to get started on VS 11 Beta. Don’t forget to check out our easy step by step guide on how to develop apps for Windows 8 Consumer Preview. ...

The Lumia series represents a significant milestone of Microsoft & Nokia’s partnership in bringing a new experience to Windows Phone users. Developers play a big role in shaping this experience with us. To allow more developers in Singapore the experience of developing on the Windows Phone platform, we announced the #WhereIsMyLumia campaign a little over two months ago. So far we have been overwhelmed by the response, with more than 100 developers applying with their wonderful app ideas. Although we couldn’t give everyone theirs this time, we are still committed to supporting you with the resources needed in the development process. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION AND SUPPORT! Look out for our upcoming campaigns and training sessions for the Windows Phone and Windows 8 platforms as well! We sincerely thank you for you support and feel free to drop us an email, a tweet or facebook message if we could help you with anything else. In meantime, here’s a sneak peak of the first few apps developed from #WhereIsMyLumia: 1. SG Promotions by Steve Teo - sg.promotions is a locator that allows bargain-hunters to find promotions in Singapore For the lite version. 2. Gradulator by Tan Jianhao Steve - Gradulator is a one-of-a-kind application that allows users to aim for the grades that they want, by calculating how much they need for their final exam! (Definitely a handy app for all students out there.) 3. Pics on Geo by Lim Hong Wei Kelvin - Pics on Geo automatically geo tags the users photos when taken. At the same time, users can see photos geo-tagged and recommended by other friends. 4. SP Render by Tan Eik Chor Christopher - This app is particularly useful for those thinking of taking a course in Digital Media. It showcases the best works by the graduating cohort of 2012, School of Digital Media and Infocomm Technology (DMIT), Singapore Polytechnic (SP), with award-winning spectra of projects. Congratulations again to all the developers who took part in #WhereIsMyLumia and got their Lumia 800! We’re looking forward to your apps and hope you have a fun time developing them. Look out for our upcoming campaigns for Windows 8 and Windows Phones as well!

You won’t find a more relevant discussion about the current state of startups in the United States than in Clt-Alt-Compete. The documentary, which is screening privately at the moment, follows the lives of 5 startup founders and their teams. While shot in the US, I think many of the issues raised, mindsets showcased, also reflect the attitudes of startups here in Singapore - minus the flamboyance and with a little less ego. I refuse to spoil the movie for you, because I’m insisting that everyone interested in the startup scene should watch it. The show is peppered with tonnes of great quotes from superstar entrepreneurs like Tony Hsieh of Zappos, Micah Baldwin of Graphic.ly, Ben Huh of Cheezburger and venture capitalist Mark Suster of GRP Partners (who is somewhat a demi-god VC author at Both Sides of the Table). Some of these scenes from Clt-Alt-Compete left a lasting impression on me, particularly: ...

“A day in the life” at Contoso - Work Smarter with Future of Productivity (5 Series) Date: 21st March Time: 7:00PM - 9:00PM Location: Level 21 Auditorium, Microsoft, No.1 Marina Boulevard, One Marina Boulevard, Singapore 0189189 SharePoint, Office and Messaging Talk user groups are co-organizing a series of meet ups on Future of Productivity! The activities in this whole series is represent a day in the life of the characters at work during a busy period. Karen starts her day remote and on the go. Along with her fellow Contoso employees, she will be keeping up with email, responding to a sales request and finding people and information in order to effectively analyze data needed to complete a sales proposal and presentation. Karen involves Allie and the Contoso Singapore office to complete a sales proposal and presentation for a customer, A. Datum. This will break out into 5 different Series (5 meetup) Series 1 - Be Productive on the go Series 2 - Stay on top of your inbox Series 3 - Communicate and connect in real time with customer Series 4 - Gain business insights Series 5 - Create content collaboratively Come and experience how Microsoft can help you in productivity. *Note: Due to there is not enough of laptop, please bring your own laptops with Office 2010 installed to participate by accessing SharePoint 2010 and be a part of the experience as well.

Microsoft researchers are one step closer to making the Babel Fish from Douglas Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” a reality - minus the fish. The team demonstrated the software, which learns the sound of your voice and uses it to speak in another chosen language. The potential in this is to make language learning software more personal, or to make tools for business or casual travelers. Microsoft research scientist Frank Soong showed off his software, which could immediately read out text in Spanish using the voice of Rick Rashid, Chief Research Officer at Microsoft . In a separate demonstration, Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer, was given the ability to speak Mandarin using the same software. Check out the really cool demo that took place in Redmond for Techfest 2012 here. (The demo starts at around the 12th minute) The new software can also be used to help people learn a language by hearing foreign phrases in a their own voice. Frank also demonstrated how the system could allow a synthetic English voice on a navigational phone app read out text written on Chinese road signs as it relayed instructions for a route in Beijing. While it is still in training mode, it’s exciting to imagine how powerful this piece of technology could be when integrated with smartphones. No matter which part of the world you may be, you will potentially never be lost in translation again!

Learn how to develop a Windows Phone 7 application with various user interface design aspects in less than 10mins.This sample demonstrates a simple application to work with panorama control, apply themes in Windows Phone 7 application and develop custom application bar. Watch now!