Windows Phone 7 to offer both Silverlight and XNA development
A week after Microsoft formally announced the forthcoming release of Windows Phone 7 at the Mobile World Congress event, the software giant remains mum on what the new platform means for developers, promising their questions will be answered at its MIX event taking place in Las Vegas next month. In the meantime, documentation is already beginning to leak, presumably from Microsoft's OEM partners, and the details indicate that WinPhone 7 development will rely almost exclusively on managed code--Microsoft will enable developers to write their apps in two frameworks, one based on Silverlight (its cross-platform .NET environment rivaling Adobe Flash and Adobe AIR) and the other based on its XNA gaming platform.
"In addition to the standard Windows Phone Application Platform that will be publicly available to all developers, partner applications will have access to an extended set of managed APIs and a limited set of native APIs," reads one leaked Microsoft document. "The extended managed APIs are meant to support extending the phone experience with functionality that is specific to a phone or network. This set of APIs supports functionality such as camera mode extensibility. Access to native APIs is limited to a defined subset that is driven by partner needs, and adherence to that subset will verified during application submission." Microsoft adds the requirements of OEMs and mobile operators "necessitate the exposure of added functionality."
Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 and Microsoft Expression Blend are the primary tools for developing applications for Windows phones, the documentation continues. "Microsoft Visual Studio, combined with phone-specific tools like a Windows phone emulator, provides an excellent environment for defining, designing, debugging and deploying applications," it reads. "Expression Blend helps you design and create compelling user interfaces."
Microsoft also emphasizes the growing role on cloud computing in the Windows Phone 7 ecosystem. "This platform is designed to support the 3 Screens + the Cloud world that consumers live in... The 3 Screens + the Cloud concept covers the screens consumers are using--Phone, PC, TV--all equally important and all tied together by the Cloud, which connects all the relevant information together, providing users with all the information they need as they move from device to device. Common user experiences make it easy to move between devices, and a common development platform makes it easy to develop applications for all the device types."
For more on the Windows Phone 7 documentation:
- read this WMPoweruser.com article
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Comments
Posted by Information Manager | February 22, 2010 - 1:04am
I guess the Silverlight / XNA combo is fairly predictable.
The enterprise users who previously inhabited the Windows Mobile Classic platform have really been left in the cold. I feel sure that most will migrate to Android.
No native code for Series 7. I can see that Mozilla will bypass Series 7 for that reason. Without an alternate browser, users will be stuck with Internet Explorer as the only browser on that platform.
Posted by Anonymous | February 22, 2010 - 2:41am
Why do you think the enterprise users have been left out in the cold? You think Microsoft Phone 7 won't support enterprise users? Are you crazy?!!! Silverlight will offer power to develop all types of apps.
Posted by Harmanhansenhansen | March 1, 2010 - 10:27pm
> the Windows Mobile Classic platform have
> really been left in the cold. I feel sure
> that most will migrate to Android.
If you're talking enterprise apps, you're talking iPhone, not Android. Look at the number of companies deploying iPhone, look at the number of apps.
The development tools for iPhone are way, way ahead of Android. Working in C is a huge advantage of iPhone all by itself. The iPhone development tools are what was used to create the World Wide Web. They are very enterprise friendly.
When Windows Phone 7 ships, the 4th generation iPhone will be 6 months old. There will be 200,000 iPhone apps, almost all of which also run on cheap iPods and big iPads also which provides a lot of flexibility. For example, the US military deploys iPod touch to run their custom apps because they don't need phone features. At less than $200 each they are essentially disposable. Android devices and Windows Phone 7 devices are $400-$600.
Windows Phone 7 is going to be a tough sell in late 2010.
> Silverlight will offer power to develop
> all types of apps.
It *will*, that is future tense. The original point was the existing apps won't run. Starting fresh means you might as well switch to another platform that has a multiyear head start on Windows Phone 7.
Another key point is that Windows Phone 7 lacks HTML5, which features thousands of mobile-optimized apps that run on iPhone, iPod, iPad, Android, Nokia, Palm, Mac, Firefox, Chrome, and coming soon to Blackberry. Not being able to run these apps on Windows Phone 7 is a major disadvantage, especially if you are deploying multiple phones like most companies.
A key thing with Windows Phone 7 that Microsoft is not used to is that the users are picking their own phones now, not like it used to be where IT just gave you whatever they wanted. So Microsoft will have to please users as well as IT.
Posted by cell phone | March 11, 2010 - 11:07pm
I think as a subsequent competitor, Windows Phone 7 surely has less competitiveness. But it owns a very large advantage that windows users will operate it more easily.
http://www.sourcinggate.com/mobile-phone-c-4.html
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