Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Subscribe
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Subscribe
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Development
    • Mobile

    Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Developer Tools Are Final

    Written by

    Nicholas Kolakowski
    Published September 16, 2010
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

      Microsoft’s Windows Phone Developer Tools are final, and released to the Web. Developers hoping to create apps for the company’s upcoming smartphone platform will need to download this newest version of the tools.

      Twitter, Netflix, OpenTable, Flixster and Travelocity will be some of the higher-profile companies with apps available for Windows Phone 7 upon the platform’s release. In order to build an app storefront capable of competing against Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Marketplace, though, Microsoft is encouraging third-party developers to begin designing for Windows Phone 7.

      “Any application built with a previous version of the tools will fail application certification in the Marketplace,” Brandon Watson, Microsoft’s director of developer experience for Windows Phone 7, wrote in a Sept. 16 posting on The Windows Phone Developer Blog. “When you do submit your application, you can expect it to take about five days to pass or fail certification, though you can check the status of your app submission at any time at the developer portal.”

      The developer-tools download includes Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone, the Windows Phone Emulator, Expression Blend 4 for Windows Phone and XNA Game Studio 4.0. It’s only available in English at the moment, although French, Italian, German and Spanish are expected to be available in the next few weeks.

      Last year, Microsoft executives publicly announced a target of 600 apps at launch for Windows Mobile 6.5. They missed. This time around, the company remains tight-lipped about the number of apps it expects for Windows Phone 7.

      “We’re really focused on quality; we have pretty lofty aspirations,” Watson told eWEEK in a Sept. 15 interview. “We have to show developers that they can build applications, that they can make money. So we’re really focused on the quality of the applications.” Microsoft has specific internal targets for the size of its app storefront, he said, but will keep those under wraps.

      Watson added, “If you want apps, you need to get the developers excited about the platform.”

      Controls available with the developer tools include Pivot, which allows for the filtering of massive amounts of data, and Panorama, which extends an application’s actionable area into what Watson, in his blog post, termed “a long horizontal canvas that extends beyond the confines of the screen.” Pivot and Panoramic elements are already baked into the Windows Phone 7 interface.

      Developers can also leverage the Bing Maps control, which Watson described to eWEEK as encapsulating “all our Bing Maps products into a single app.” More monetary-minded developers will be interested in the Mobile Advertising SDK, which will pair with a real-time, bid-based mobile ad exchange.

      Microsoft hopes that Windows Phone 7 will prove popular enough to reverse the company’s market-share slide in the smartphone arena, where it faces substantial competition from the likes of the Apple iPhone, Google Android and RIM’s BlackBerry franchise. The first smartphones running Windows Phone 7 are rumored for release in October.

      In a possible stumbling block toward the smartphones’ adoption, however, Bloomberg is reporting that Verizon will not sell Windows Phone 7 devices in 2010-although a spokesperson is paraphrased as saying the carrier will “probably release” one in 2011.

      Nicholas Kolakowski
      Nicholas Kolakowski
      Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air.

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Artificial Intelligence

      9 Best AI 3D Generators You Need...

      Sam Rinko - June 25, 2024 0
      AI 3D Generators are powerful tools for many different industries. Discover the best AI 3D Generators, and learn which is best for your specific use case.
      Read more
      Cloud

      RingCentral Expands Its Collaboration Platform

      Zeus Kerravala - November 22, 2023 0
      RingCentral adds AI-enabled contact center and hybrid event products to its suite of collaboration services.
      Read more
      Artificial Intelligence

      8 Best AI Data Analytics Software &...

      Aminu Abdullahi - January 18, 2024 0
      Learn the top AI data analytics software to use. Compare AI data analytics solutions & features to make the best choice for your business.
      Read more
      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Video

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2024 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.