Training on Windows Phone 7 in Moscow - how it was

September 27, 2010, Monday . Despite the fact that Monday is usually considered to be a difficult day, more than a hundred developers gathered at Microsoft’s office to discuss the Windows Phone 7 mobile platform. This was the first Windows Phone 7 event in Russia with a similar scope. It was attended by developers on various platforms, representatives of companies such as Samsung and LG, as well as just a lot of good people. But undoubtedly one thing united everyone - a huge interest in Windows Phone 7.

In order to enjoy the atmosphere of the event, I had to wake up a little earlier, after about 8 hours I was at the office in Krylatskoye, where I was immediately met by Misha and Volodya and handed the phone on Windows Phone 7.

What distinguished this event from the rest is the reduced degree of formality. At the opening of the event, it was announced that the main goal was informal communication, and certain rules were defined, the most important of which was not to photograph what would be shown.
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In fact, the mood for informal communication was determined during the preparation of the event, when just an hour before the event we made some adjustments to the speeches and demonstrations. This, in my opinion, gave the demonstrations more naturalness. For example, I didn’t have time to do most of my demonstrations before the event, but I had a script in my head - so almost all the code had to be written right during the report. I really liked this practice - there is confidence in the audience.

Event reports

The event was opened by Mikhail Chernomordikov with an overview of the Windows Phone 7 platform. The report was short, but it was important - he defined the mood for the rest of the day. Misha said that some moments of Windows Phone 7 still can not be shown to a wide audience (hence the restriction on photographing). Despite this, Microsoft’s Russian office went on to use a device in demonstrations, not an emulator.

After the introductory report, I talked about the development of mobile applications on the Silverlight platform . Despite the fact that a huge number of demonstrations were planned, most of them simply did not have enough time to show. I tried to tell in detail about the basic principles of mobile application development, made several demonstrations on creating a mobile client for the Softkey store and tied the current location to the Bing Maps map, which was controlled by an accelerometer. How well the report has been judged is, of course, not for me, and I will be very happy to hear your comments on it (if possible - in the mail). In fact, the moment that I did not have time to show all the demonstrations is not so bad - there will be something to talk about on the Platform .

I have no photographs from the first two reports, because at that time I was preparing for my report and, in fact, was doing the report itself. The following description is accompanied by photographs.



Following the tight schedule immediately after me, without interruption, Dmitry Soshnikov began to talk about developing games for the mobile platform based on XNA. What is especially nice, Dima supported the given mood and showed more practical things, not slides. In the report he told about how he developed the “Sea Battle” game, which was so popular in the 90s.

During the presentations for the speakers, there was one unpleasant surprise - the microphone needed to be held in the hands. Each speaker tried to solve this problem in his own way: for example, I improved my skills in writing programs with one hand, Volodya Kolesnikov adapted my shirt pocket for this business. Dima, in my opinion, solved this problem most creatively.



According to the plan after the report about XNA was lunch. But the audience was so interested in the report that no one was in a hurry to leave for lunch, and Dima was bombarded with a huge amount of questions about game development. Imagine what it is to keep more than a hundred hungry developers in the audience before dinner? Dima succeeded.

Incidentally, the participants in the event retired for lunch for a while. Literally in a few minutes it was possible to observe a picture where Misha was attacked by a crowd of developers - he had a Windows Phone 7 device!



After lunch Kostya Kichinsky picked up the baton of speakers. He talked about the design of Windows Phone 7 applications and the UI philosophy in the new mobile platform.



In my opinion, such a report is both difficult and easy to do - there are both explicit supporters of the Metro style (used in Windows Phone 7) and obvious opponents. Unfortunately, it so happened that I missed almost the entire report. However, judging by the reviews of other participants, the report was a success.

After these reports, participants were waiting for stories from Spb Software and GALS-Soft about their experience in developing for Windows Phone 7.

The first to take the floor Khitrov Denis from Spb Software. Denis is a great and friendly speaker. At the beginning of the report, he greeted the audience three times (and, therefore, wished health). He spoke about the pros and cons (of which there are not so many) of the mobile platform, showed prototypes of Spb Soft products for Windows Phone 7.



By the way, during the demonstrations of Denis bright sunlight leaked out of the window: this is a sign from above - the light in such a large amount finally shed on the new mobile platform! :)



After the speech of Denis, Alexey Petrovskikh, the representative of GALS-Soft told about their experience and successes. He revealed the secrets of when to use Silverlight and XNA, and also showed his achievements in this area.



After the speech, Alexey had a short break and a huge amount of communication on the sidelines. Unfortunately, this communication had to be interrupted, since the practical part of the event was expected from Volodya Kolesnikov the most. In it, each developer on his laptops could try to make his application for Windows Phone 7 step by step, and those who are especially interested could run it on a real device.



At the end of the event, Mikhail Chernomordikov made a report on the Windows Marketplace. It began with the words "Let's talk about money?". What kind of person would not be interested after that?



In fact, Misha told a lot of useful information about the nuances of making a profit through the Windows Marketplace. As expected, this report caused many questions and a heated discussion, which gradually turned into a buffet.

About the device

Many people asked me about the device. Yes, I really managed to communicate with the device much more than others. It should be noted that those devices that are available now are only prototypes that will never appear on the market. Therefore, to evaluate the ergonomics of the case, the quality of the assembly or the camera does not make sense. However, what can be said for sure - it is really fast, and the user interface in it is nice and responsive. Working with the device is a great pleasure and no discomfort.

Naturally, I did not take photos of the device, based on the previously announced rules.

About Marketplace

Report on the Windows Marketplace has caused a huge number of questions, so more about them. Short squeeze of the report and Q & A session:

• Registration in the Windows Marketplace costs $ 99 per year;
• Registration includes the ability to download an unlimited number of paid applications and 5 free, as well as a certificate from the company GeoTrust, which is needed to host applications in the store;
• To register and pay for participation, you must have a plastic card that has the ability to pay via the Internet (VISA Electron, for example, will not work);
• To receive money from Microsoft after selling your applications, you must have a bank account, funds are received by bank transfer, so the bank must be able to work with international transfers;
• Profit sharing - 70% to application developers, 30% to Microsoft and partners to maintain infrastructure;
• To be able to post applications, you need to confirm: your e-mail address, your identity (call GeoTrust and ask you - is that really you?) And fill in the W8 form and send it to the office in Redmond. Form W8 is needed in order to exempt citizens of the Russian Federation from paying US taxes.

Those. By completing a few simple steps to register and paying a small amount of money, each Russian developer gets the opportunity to sell their mobile apps all over the world!

About people

Pleasantly surprised by the composition of the conference participants. Since we invited developers to the event on completely different platforms, the holivar scenario was not excluded. That did not happen. Participants, on the contrary, were very interested in constructive conversation and information.



It is very important and significant that developers on other platforms have joined the event. There were a lot of people with Mac Book and iPad. There were also developers for Android.



With many I managed to talk on various topics personally. In the discussions, we came to the conclusion that Windows Phone 7, though a young but very promising platform, has enormous potential in the market.

Total

In my opinion, in general, the event went just fine - a sea of ​​communication, information, exchange of views and, of course, the device with Windows Phone 7. This is how the focal technological events should take place.

And of course you need to thank the main instigators of Windows Phone 7 Workshop - Misha Chernomordikov and Volodya Kolesnikov. They really made a lot of effort to make it work.



I think that this is not the last such event. So let's meet, communicate and make this world better! By the way, the next such opportunity will appear on the Platform 2011 . I have already registered, and you?