Player Framework for Windows 8 v1 is now available

3 Replies

Microsoft’s open source, robust video player framework for Windows 8, HTML5, Silverlight, Windows Phone and other application platforms has hit a v 1.0 milestone. This is part of Microsoft’s Media Platform. Its a great achievement by the team(s) working behind the scene to make it happen.  You can download the latest sdk here.

It is also a great opportunity for the developers to leverage this great player framework that enables following (non exhaustive list of) scenarios:-

To learn more about Player Framework visit: http://playerframework.codeplex.com/

WOWZAPP Hackathon : Windows 8 Session

1 Reply

Thank you for attending my Windows 8 talk during WOWZAPP Hackathon.

Quick summary is:

-          Design Chrome-less experiences (use appbar’s for navigation and command)

-          Use Live Tiles

-          Incorporate Search and Share capabilities

-          Use Async calls

-          User Azure as a backend (and focus on great UX for your app)

 

Following are the links the samples that I highlighted in my Windows 8 Design talk.

Live Tiles: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsapps/App-tiles-and-badges-sample-5fc49148

Sharing Source: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsapps/Sharing-Content-Source-App-d9bffd84

Sharing Target:  http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsapps/Sharing-Content-Target-App-e2689782

Search Contract:  http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsapps/Search-app-contract-sample-118a92f5

For all your backend, notifications, state persistence needs do use Windows Azure.

Check out Windows Azure Mobile Services @ http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/mobile/

Here’s a quick sample for your reference:-

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsapps/doto-a-simple-social-todo-7e6ba464

 

Packt Publishing is celebrating 1000 titles giving away free access to its library

2 Replies

Birmingham-based publisher Packt Publishing (that published our Windows Server AppFabric cookbook recently) is about to publish its 1000th title. Packt books are renowned among developers for being uniquely practical and focused, but you’d be forgiven for not yet being in the know – Packt books cover highly specific tools and technologies which you might not expect to see a high quality book on.

During the event, we will be inviting anyone already registered to www.packtpub.com, or who registers before 30th September 2012, to download any one of our eBooks for free. Packt is also opening its online library for an entire week for free to members, offering customers an easy way to research their choice of free eBook.

Get your choice of eBook for free. Find out more here.

Get your choice of eBook for free. Find out more here.

Packt is certain that in its 1000 titles there is at least one book that everyone in IT will find useful right away, and are inviting anyone to choose and download any one of its eBooks for free over its celebration weekend of 28-30th Sep 2012. Packt is also opening its online library for a week for free to give customers an easy to way to research their choice of free eBook.

GET YOUR CHOICE OF FREE BOOK HERE

Packt supports many of the Open Source projects covered by its books through a project royalty donation, which has contributed over $400,000 to Open Source projects up to now. As part of the celebration Packt is allocating $30,000 to share between projects and authors as part of the weekend giveaway, allocated based on the number of copies of each title downloaded.

Dave Maclean, founder of Packt Publishing:

“At Packt we set out 8 years ago to bring practical, up to date and easy to use technical books to the specialist tools and technologies that had been largely overlooked by IT publishers. Today, I am really proud that with our authors and partners we have been able to make useful books available on over 1000 topics and make our contribution to the development community.”

41 HOLs and 35 Presentations on Windows Azure

1 Reply

Windows Azure Training Kit has been updated and was released earlier today. This is one of the best resources out there for learning Windows Azure. This particular release delivers 41 HOLs (Hands On Labs), 35 Presentations including new content on Windows Azure SQL Database, SQL Federation, Reporting and Data Sync as well as Security and Identity.

On top of all the Azure learning goodness, this release also includes an agenda for Azure Dev Camps with 7 new branded presentations.

Enough with the blogging,  More details on the MSDN download page at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8396:

 

For direct download from any of your following favourite sources:-

 

Windows Azure Training Kit on GitHub In addition to downloading the training kit contents, you can also browse through the content, report any issues with the content, and make your own contributions on GitHub.   You can find the training kit content on GitHub at http://windowsazure-trainingkit.github.com

Windows Azure Training Kit – Full Package (WATK-August2012.exe) The full package enables you to download all of the hands-on labs and presentations to your local machine.  To use the full package, simply download and run the WATK-August2012.exe.  This file is a self-extracting executable that will extract all of the training kit files to the directory you specify.   After the content is extracted, the starting page for the training kit will be displayed in your default browser.  You can then browse through the individual hands-on labs, demos, and presentations. Download here: http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/7/C/A7CF725D-A215-4294-B0DC-2C01BDB01397/WATK-August2012.exe

Windows Azure Training Kit – Web Installer (WATK-WebInstaller.exe) The Web Installer allows you to select and download just the specific hands-on labs and presentations that you need.  The Web Installer is a much smaller download so it is recommended in situations where you cannot download the full package.  To use the Web Installer, simply download and run WATK-WebInstaller.exe.   The Web Installer will then display a list of the content in the training kit.   You can then select the hands-on labs and presentations to download.  After selecting the content proceed through the steps in the application to download the files to the directory that you specify.   Download it here: http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/7/C/A7CF725D-A215-4294-B0DC-2C01BDB01397/WATK-WebInstaller.exe
Enjoy!

Windows Server AppFabric Cookbook has been published.

5 Replies

Earlier in March I shared with you that the book that I have been working on since last year is available for pre-order.

AppFabric Cookbook

Today, it gives me a great pleasure to share with you that “Windows Server AppFabric Cookbook” has been published and is en-route to the book shelves near you. Of course you can get an e-book  (PDF, epub, packtlib, mobi) version right away for your favourite reader (Kindle, Nook etc.). Once you purchase the book, the source code is available for download as well.

Some highlights from the book :-

Elevator Pitch:

This book has over 60 recipes that cover Caching, Hosting, Monitoring and Security aspects of Windows Server AppFabric. This book also delves deep in to additional capabilities added by Microsoft AppFabric 1.1 for Windows Server.

Overview:

  • Gain a solid understanding of the capabilities provided by Windows Server AppFabric with a pragmatic, hands-on, results-oriented approach with this book and eBook
  • Learn how to apply the WCF and WF skills you already have to make the most of what Windows Server AppFabric has to offer
  • Includes step-by-step recipes for developing highly scalable composite services that utilize the capabilities provided by Windows Server AppFabric including caching, hosting, monitoring and persistence

What will you learn from this book? 

  • Download, install, configure and get up and running with Windows Server AppFabric quickly
  • Learn how to take advantage of distributed caching for providing high performance and elastic scale on-premise today
  • Take advantage of the enhanced hosting capabilities that Windows Server AppFabric has to offer including Auto-Start and a greatly simplified configuration experience
  • Enable support for long-running composite applications that are resilient and fault-tolerant while maximizing computing resources
  • Gain insight into the health of your composite applications seamlessly, both proactively and when something goes wrong
  • Learn how to scale Windows Server AppFabric by leveraging farm deployments

 Want to know more?

Heard over to Rick’s blog and read more about the book.

In the end…

I have worked very hard on this book for over a year and I have been fortunate to have Rick Garibay co-author it with me. We sincerely hope that this will be a valuable addition to your libraries and you will learn quickly and effectively on how to utilize Windows Server AppFaric’s capabilities to build scalable, distributed and loosely coupled enterprise scale applications.

Feedback:

I will be really glad to hear your feedback. So please drop me a note at hammad[dot]rajjoub[at]gmail.com or a mention @hammadrajjoub.

 

Windows 8 Platform Presentation at Microsoft Campfire

1 Reply

I had a great time presenting on Windows 8 platform at Microsoft Campfire last month. What made it even more special was the presence of our new colleague Bruce Wang (who joins Microsoft Singapore as a Senior Developer Evangelist).

I tried to be funny but my jokes werent good enough to make audience really laugh. But I think overall it went well. The good thing is that it was captured on video so you can see it for your self.

 

Let me know how you like it…

Hosting a Panel Discussion at Virtualization and Storage Symposium (Singapore)

5 Replies

 

I am invited to host a panel discussion on “Managing Big Data” later today at Virtualization and Storage Symposium Singapore.  Big Data (along with Cloud Computing ) is one of the things that are very close to my heart and I am super excited about being part of this event.

One of the important thing about this event is that we are going to focus on Singapore and Asian context !

Following is an excerpt from the event agenda:-

Big data is the new challenge for global corporations. The sheer volume of data, different types and sources post big operational challenges. The return from big data of course is that a huge amount of valuable information is stored in this data and businesses can analyze, exploit and apply this for their competitive advantage. This panel will discuss the above challenges and how corporations are preparing for the big data challenge.

If you are going to be at the event then please drop by and say hello. I will look forward to meeting you all.

Edited: Fixed grammar mistakes. No wonder I wrote the original post while in a cab trying to find my way to a meeting place.

First Windows 8 Developer Event in Singapore

4 Replies

I am super excited that we will be hosting our Build for Windows event in Singapore on this coming Friday i.e. 30th March 2012.  We have an exciting agenda where we will cover the following topics:

 

Build for Windows 8 – Singapore

9:30 – 9:45:  Opening Keynote

9:45 – 10:45: The Windows 8 Platform for Metro Style Apps

10:45 – 11:00: Tea Break

11:00 – 12:00: Designing Apps with Metro Principles and Windows Personality

12:00 – 13:00: Lunch Break

13:00 – 14:00: Building Windows 8 Metro Style UIs

14:00 – 15:00: Integrating with Windows 8 Experiences

15:00 — 15:15:Tea Break

15:15 – 16:15:  Building Metro Style Apps With XAML: What .NET Developer Needs to know

16:15—17:15:  The Developer Opportunity: Introducing the Windows Store

17:15 – 17:30: Closing Note / Q n A

 

For more details please check out Spiffy.SG post here

Direct registration of the event is available here

 

Have you booked your copy of Windows Server AppFabric Cookbook yet?

11 Replies

Windows Server AppFabric CookbookBack in August I wrote a blog post about a book that I am writing for Packt Pub on Windows Server AppFabric. This post intends to summarise updates on this front.

 

Co-Authoring with Rick Garbay:

I have been extremely lucky to have my friend, MVP and an industry expert Rick Garibay co-author this book with me.

 

Updated for Windows Server AppFabric V1.1:

This book is up to date with the latest release of Windows Server AppFabric 1.1 which means that readers get to know the latest and greatest features of Windows Server AppFabric. Although v1.1 was released late last year we decided to update our work so that we really offer the best value to our readers.

Current Status of the book:

Last few months have been really busy for us and we have been going through arduous cycle of writing, editing, reviewing and then re-writing with the help of our editors and technical reviewers ( I will write a spearate post on technical reviewers later on). At the moment the book we are “text complete” (anlogous to code-complete terminology) and the book is available for pre-order at Amazon (with free shipping in the UK).

Next Steps:

In next few weeks myself and Rick will be sharing some of the content from the book as blog posts/articles to give you a glimpse of what to expect in the book.

Asks:

If you are invested in WCF and WF technologies and use Windows Server 2008 (or the upcoming Windows Server 8 ) you should definitely consider buying this book. Windows ServerAppFabric cookbook offers 60+ recipes that help and guide readers in utlizing the power of Windows Server AppFabric. We have covered Caching, Hosting and Moniting scenarios in a very detailed and easy to follow recipes.

Web Science and Open Data Workshop by A*Star & University of Southampton

Leave a reply

I will be speaking at Web Science and Open Data Workshop organized by A*STAR and University of Southampton on 12th of March 2012.  Following is a quick synopsis of my talk followed by event registration and venue details.

Marketplace for Open Data:

The internet is a source of vast quantities of data, both public domain and commercial content. Many organizations publish datasets in a wide variety of disparate formats, to which customers can subscribe. However, it can be difficult for customers to locate and subscribe to these datasets. Furthermore, it can be challenging to use these datasets in ways that add value.  During this presentation we will learn about The Windows Azure Marketplace which is a global online market for customers and partners to share, buy, and sell premium datasets as well as Software-as-a-Service applications in a standard, secure and open way.

Venue

12 March 2012 (Monday)
0900-1430
INFUSE Theatre,
Level 14 Fusionopolis Connexis South Tower , Singapore

Registration

If you are interested in attending this workshop, please email to gree@i2r.a-star.edu.sg(name, designation, company) by latest 7 March 2012.