Microsoft has a facebook app available for the ZuneHD.

Learn more here

        

Yesterday Microsoft announced the long awaited Windows Phone 7 Series which by my account is still in the "long awaited" category.  Look  here for more information.

At first glance it looks like I thought it would look.  The Zune HD was a clue as to where Microsoft would be going with their mobile experience and the Windows Phone 7 interface is absolutely an evolution of the Zune.  I consider this to be a good thing especially if the new Windows Phones come with hardware that is comparable to the Zune HD.  My household contains iPods and a Zune HD and there is no doubt that the Zune is the superior media player with its OLED screen, processor, graphics card that supports 720P and overall user experience.  It makes my iPods seem downright clunky and passé.

Looks aside I cannot believe that in such a competitive business environment that Microsoft would choose to release the phone during Holiday 2010.  This is February dammit!  We Windows Mobile developers are dying with a phone people are ceasing to purchase while other platforms are moving forward at breakneck speed.  They need to get in the game sooner than their announced dates.  I want to believe that when they said "Holidays 2010" they meant Cinco de Mayo or perhaps July 4th Independence Day.  Every month they waste is another month of lost customers and another month of developers leaving to other platforms.

Developers, Developers, Developers!
I think most software developers have seen the Steve Balmer clip where he freaks out to get the crowd fired up.
If you have not look here if you are brave enough.  When I got past the how sweaty, funny, geeky the whole episode was I realized that Balmer was getting "it".  He knew the lifeblood of his company was all the non-Microsoft developers that were choosing to write software on Microsoft platforms.  I have developed a lot of software for the Windows Mobile platform and made a lot of money in the process but what started out as something with a lot of promise has now made me feel like a refuge wandering the desert.  While other companies have advertised and developed a complete mobile strategy, Microsoft has floundered over the past few years.  Windows Mobile 6.5 still does not have a fully released SDK and all those cool HTC Windows Mobile phones are cool due to the interface work HTC and others have done, not Microsoft.  To me this has been a large strategic failure on their part.

How they got into this position I have no clue.  Successful technology companies are built on vision, passion, and balls not risk management. Perhaps the mobile failures are the same structural failures that causes the Vista debacle.  Windows 7 gives me hope that the Windows Phone will do well upon release.  It will have to succeed, failure is not an option.

One thing that I think needs to be very clear to those in charge at Microsoft is that while the developers that leave are "mobile developers", they also write a lot of non-mobile software.  Now they are exposed to other platforms and are making money on them.  Getting them back is going to take a special effort, without slipups.

A sign of the times or bad marketing?
I took a trip to AT&T in December to pick up my HTC Tilt 2.  It was a microcosm of all the problems I have just discussed.

Excuse me sir.  Where are the iPho...  Oh never mind. I see the huge display now.



Now the 2nd photo of me attempting to find the new HTCs running the cool Windows Mobile 6.5 UI, I mean the HTC touchFlo interface.



What is really needed?
First is flawless execution, which should include doing the following... 

• Advertise and do alot of it!  Microsoft should not be afraid to go for the jugular of its competitors.  The Justice Department will tell them if they need to slow down or stop.
• The development environments and emulators need to be released NOW.  Microsoft cannot afford to release their phone OS and then have the SDK released months later.  That would be a disaster.
• Reduce the pricing of Azure cloud services for developers writing Windows Phone apps.  As a matter of fact, make it free for any developer that has apps in the Windows Phone app store.
• Make Visual Studio free for mobile development.  It didn't cost me anything to download the Android or Blackberry environments.
• Windows phone should run on hardware superior to any other phone in the market.  Out Apple, Apple.
• Leverage Bing until it hurts.  Make all the services available to developers to embed in their applications.
• Bring back the MEDC conference thus recognizing that mobile needs focus, not just a learning track at Tech Ed.

The second thing that is needed is marketshare and lots of it.  This is where it gets expensive for Microsoft.  In my opinion they do not have time to grow Windows Phone, they need to buy other companies.  I have read about rumors of a RIM buyout and I think that would be a good fit for Microsoft.  I also still believe that HTC should be acquired and they should stop letting others make their hardware for Windows Phone.  Marketshare is what will ultimately bring developers back into the fold, it is the one thing that trumps all others. 

If all things I mentioned sound overly negative, it is, and should be considering where Microsoft has slipped to on the mobile pecking order.  That being said I think they have some very good people working on Windows Phone and the issues are beginning to get attention from the top which is translating into action.  They just need to realize that time is not on their side and successful execution is required for success.  The developers are watching.

Copyright 2010 Darren Flatt, All rights reserved
 

        

I find it crazy that any defense department or contractor would use publicly available mail networks and storage.  Keep that info private people...

Read more here

        

Merge replication for Windows Mobile is probably one of the most important technologies for devices running business applications "out in the field". Mobile software development projects seem to start quite easily and everyone is happy until the questions, "how do we get this data back into our servers" or "how to we populate the devices database", come up. Typically data replication is an afterthought for most mobile business application project planning. A line item of a project plan that really isn't considered until it is needed. What most people do not realize until it is too late is that it is the most important thing to plan for in a project. Whether your project has planned well or not at all for data replication, you can benefit from Rob Tiffany's latest book on merge replication for Windows Mobile devices.

In my opinion Rob has created merge replication manual on steroids. If you have any question on how to go set up a database for replication, it is answered. If you need to know about the different security strategies for setting up the SSCE Server Agent, it is covered. If you need information on setting up a publisher, distribution database and how to properly set up the tables, it is explained. If you need information how to set up your device databases as subscribers, Rob has provided that also.

Some of the most valuable information pertains to performance tuning. You will never find field proven information regarding merge replication tuning in any documentation or manual but it is in this book. There is also an appendix section that covers network load balancing should your servers require such an arrangement.

One thing I found most convenient in this book is the use of chapter takeaways at the start of each chapter that gives the reader a "heads up" as to why the chapter is important and what to look for in the chapter's content. Each chapter is summarized nicely so you make sure you have read and understood all the information. As for the server configuration sections, Rob provides detailed step-by-step instructions and explanations along with screen shots to make it a snap to get all the server pieces up and running.

This book is valuable to most serious compact framework developers who deliver business applications. The book will pay for itself easily on the performance tuning sections alone. SQL Server DBAs who support such systems could benefit greatly from owning this book. System Architects should also seriously consider purchasing this book because, as I stated earlier, data replication should be planned and designed at the beginning of any project.

To restate, this book is a must have for any serious Microsoft Windows Mobile developer, architect, or database administrator.

You can purchase this book here.

        

Well we are in the middle of summer and there has been no announcement on pricing for Microsoft Azure.  I think that the pricing should have been released long ago.  I doubt Microsoft had planned Azure without doing some financial analysis and thus determining what could be charged.  Many companies, including my own, need cloud computing for cheap scalability and global reach but the longer the release date and pricing details slip the more I have to consider moving to another cloud platform.

I have been looking at this page for too long.

        

I am attending TechEd once again. 

I look forward to the announcement of Windows Mobile 6.5

I will also be helping out at one of the booths for the Windows Mobile group.  Come by and say hi. 

        

http://blogs.msdn.com/robtiffany/archive/2009/04/09/memmaker-for-the-net-compact-framework.aspx

        

This approach may have a profound impact on mobile technology in the future.  Battery life could be extended much longer than is currently possible.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6252697.html

        

This is an interview on .Net Rocks with Rob Tiffany from Microsoft.  It covers some latest developments on mobile technology and development.

Click Here to Listen

        

The morning started out at Shingle Creek Golf club, or as I call it, a sauna...


I golfed with two engineers Mike and Zach.  Good Guys.



Then it was on to the Convention Center to work the LOB booth.  The LOB accelerator is a really great resource for companies just starting to develop solutions on Windows Mobile for their businesses.  It has code, help, and other samples that you can utilize to get up and running fast.

In the evening we all went to Shula's steakhouse in the Dolphin hotel.  A great time was had by all.