Microsoft announced plans to deliver final Windows Phone 7 development tools on Sept. 16. The company says there have been more than 300,000 downloads of the Windows Phone tools.
Microsoft
announced plans to deliver final Windows
Phone 7 development tools in September, as the company gears up for an
October launch of its Windows Phone Marketplace ahead of actual Windows Phone 7
devices hitting the shelves.
In
an Aug. 23 blog post, Brandon
Watson, director of developer experience for Windows Phone 7, said
Microsoft will ship the final version of its Windows Phone 7 developer tools
on Sept. 16. Watson also said there have been more than 300,000 downloads
of the Windows Phone developer tools to date, which suggests that there could
be an abundance of Windows Phone 7 apps available for the phones when they
become available. The Windows Phone developer tools have been in beta for
several months.
Moreover,
in his post, Watson said: "All developers will have equal opportunity to
capitalize on the first mover advantage of having their apps or games ready at
launch. In order to do that, there are a few things developers will need
to do:
Register at the marketplace today
Finish your application or
game using the beta tools
Download the final Windows
Phone Developer Tools when they are released on Sept. 16
Recompile your app or game
using the final tools
Have your XAP ready for
ingestion into the marketplace in early October when it opens
Watson
acknowledged that the final tools will likely have some minor breaking changes
from the beta tools, so developers may have to fix some bugs that arise.
"The final tools will also include several highly requested Silverlight
controls which will make it even easier for developers to deliver high quality
Windows Phone 7 experiences," he said. "Also in the Sept. 16
final release, the panorama, pivot and Bing maps controls will all be available
to drop into applications."
In
addition, Watson said Microsoft has updated its Windows Phone Marketplace
policies. "Further, in the coming weeks we will be conducting a limited beta
test cycle of our app submission and certification process," he said. "We're
also working on significant changes to our developer portal that reflects
feedback from the community. In those changes, you'll see enhancements meant to
simplify and streamline the path for developers to get the information they
need."
Watson
said Microsoft has been working with a broad group of application and game
developers, including: Adenclassifieds; Allocine (including sister brands:
Screenrush, Filmstarts, Sensacine); APPA Mundi; Artificial Life;
eBay; Esurance Insurance Services; Flixster; Intelligent Touch
Solutions; Jobsite UK (Worldwide); Kelley Blue Book; Le
Figaro group; My Interactive Limited; Open Table; Pageonce;
Panoramic Software; Photobucket; Realtor.com Real Estate
Search; Red Badger Consulting; rising systems
networks GmbH; Seesmic; Sequence Collective; TBS Field Mobility Solutions;
The Associated Press; Touchnote; Trip Mate; Tx3 Solutions;
vente-priv??«e.com; Viadeo S.A.
"Lastly,
we aren't just building a marketplace to deliver apps and games, but rather
testing and certifying every one for quality and performance - all the while
maintaining a fully open and transparent process to support the developer and
their Marketplace success," Watson said in his post. "Our rich developer
ecosystem is creating a variety of quality apps and games that take advantage
of the phone's unique features and design."
Meanwhile,
in related news, Microsoft's XNA Creator
Club announced a new set of educational materials on Aug. 23. A
statement on the XNA Creators Club site,
said:
"Today, we've launched a whole new area on our site completely dedicated to
helping all our amazing creators learn about developing games for Windows Phone
7! Our Getting Started page under the Education section of our main navigation
bar now leads to a series of developer education content that will help you
learn how to -Create
Games for Windows Phone 7!'"
The series kicks off with:
2D Touch Game Lab (Catapult Wars)
2D Graphics Sample
2D Particles Sample
Sound + Music Sample
Landscape/Portrait Orientation Sample
2D Asset Types Article
Gestures Article
Intro to C# from Objective-C and Java Article
Darryl K. Taft covers the development tools and developer-related issues beat from his office in Baltimore. He has more than 10 years of experience in the business and is always looking for the next scoop. Taft is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and was named 'one of the most active middleware reporters in the world' by The Middleware Co. He also has his own card in the 'Who's Who in Enterprise Java' deck.
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