A test version of Smiles running on my WP7 device.
In between chatting with developers who dropped by today’s Coffee and Code in downtown Toronto and getting some work done, I’ve been playing Smiles(pictured above), an incredibly cute and incredibly addictive puzzle game by London, ON-based development shop Sykhronics.
Here’s a video of Smiles’ gameplay in its “Drop” mode:
Mike Kasprzak of Sykhronics was kind enough to send me an early test version of Smiles to show off the Phone’s game capabilities as well as the level of “polish” that Windows Phone 7 developers should be aiming for in their apps. Mike’s got some pretty high standards and is working to make sure that Smiles for WP7 meets them, and it shows! Even in this test version, Smiles looks and feels like a polished arcade classic, and when it’s done, it’s going to be a must-buy.
Keep writing those apps, and aim high! We’ll do what we can on our end to help out, which includes:
Articles on Windows Phone 7 development in Silverlight and XNA
Articles on good mobile user interface design and marketing your apps
Announcements of upcoming Coffee and Codes and WP7 Deployment Clinics across Canada
Coverage of “Phone Heroes”: People building apps for Windows Phone 7 – and hey, you could be one of them!
Pointers to useful tools, resources and other things to help you build WP7 apps
Deployment clinics are a little more formal than Coffee and Codes. You can book an exclusive timeslot to deploy and test apps to a Windows Phone 7 device, and there’s one taking place all day at Microsoft’s Montreal office (2000 Avenue McGill College, 4th floor) on the 30th. Email Christian Beauclair to reserve a time slot.
Coffee and Code Today in Toronto
I’ll be at the Starbucks at King and Yonge (4 King Street West) from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with a Windows Phone 7 for you to play with and deploy your apps to. I’ll be at or near the big table in the back — come on down!
TechDays comes to Edmonton next week, taking place on October 5th and 6th, and with it will come CloudCamp Edmonton (October 4th) and Windows Phone 7 Coffee and Code Edmonton (October 7th). Watch this blog for more details!
Assisting me – albeit indirectly – will be Justin Bieber, in sprite form. Starting from the humble “File –> New”, I’ll code up some simple 2D gaming fun where we’ll learn about XNA and 2D game development basics and play with pop’s most annoying star in the process!
Today, Wednesday, September 29th, join “les bons gars”, Developer Advisor Christian Beauclair and Regional DirectorGuy Barrette, who’ll be holding a Coffee and Code at Le Café de la Citéon 75 Queen. They put on a professional appearance, but we all know qu’ils vont ecrire des «fart apps»! They’ll be doing it in both official languages: Silverlight and XNA!
XNA is the game development framework that makes it easier to develop games for Windows, Xbox and Windows Phone, and it lets you do it with managed code – that is, using C# instead of C++. In this video, Microsoft’s Shawn Hargreaves and Charles Cox talk about all things XNA, including:
Want to share your .NET knowledge in front of an audience? Got some special pearl of wisdom that you’d like to pass to your grateful, applauding peers? Want to win prizes for your scintillating oratory?
“La Communauté .NET Montréal lance un grand concours appelé Speaker Idol afin de vous donner la chance d’être conférencier,” says the Speaker Idol event site. Luckily, my vast experience in talking my way out of sticky situations in La Belle Province has given me enough skill to translate it:
An opportunity to do a full presentation in front of the user group at a later date
A license for the all-singing, all-dancing, all-coding Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate
The rules for Speaker Idol:
When and where? Speaker Idol takes place on Monday, October 25th, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Microsoft’s Montreal Office (2000 Avenue McGill College, 4th floor).
Both official languages welcome. No, not C# and VB, but French and English!
They’re looking for new speakers. The contest is open only to people who’ve never spoken at a user group or conference.
Submission deadline: You need to submit a brief description (200 words max.) of your talk and a speaker bio by midnight, October 1st (Friday!) to info@dotnetmontreal.com.
Maximum number of participants: They’re looking for 10 participants, and no more. If more than 10 people sign up, the best 10 submissions will get picked. Sign up soon!
Who presents first? Speaker Idol contestants will present in alphabetical order, based on surname. If your family name is Aaaaaaabercrombie, you’re probably going on first!
Speaker Idol contestants will be announced on October 4th.
Contestants will be judged on:
Mastery of their subject
Quality of their presentation
Ability to get the point across
Quality of their slides
Quality of their code
What will be provided: A laptop with Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate and SQL Server Express 2008 installed will be available. If your presentation requires the installation of other software, please bring your own (if your bring your own, set your screen resolution to 1024 * 768).
What won’t be provided: There will be no internet connection available.
What you should bring: Bring your PowerPoint presentation and demo code on a USB key or drive. Your presentation and code will be featured on the .NET Community’s site.
Judging: A panel of 3 judges will comment on your presentation and the audience will vote. They promise a relaxed environment.
Once again, if you want to participate, submit your 200-word-max presentation description and bio to info@dotnetmontreal.com!
Sarah Prevette addresses the SproutUp crowd. Photo by Brett Gundlock for the National Post.
“On almost any given weeknight,” goes the article in today’s National Post, Sprouting a Hotbed, “there is an event in Toronto somewhere where the technology crowd convenes to talk about the smartphone applications they’re building, to offer advice on each other’s business models and share Twitter marketing strategies with an eye to becoming the next Mark Zuckerberg.”
There’s a lot going on in my city’s tech scene, and it’s making splashes worldwide. The article covers some of the names of the people who make Toronto the tech-place-to-be that it is, including friend and former coworker at Microsoft, David Crow:
"If you were to ask me what’s in the water and what makes Toronto special, it’s that it’s one of the most diverse cities in the world," he said. "Much of what we think of as innovation is just the tension between different viewpoints and Toronto is the city of differing viewpoints … the whole point of building the community piece is to help the diversity and these folks come together and get excited about what’s going on."
If you’ve been meaning to take up Windows Phone 7 development but didn’t know where or how to get started and you’re in the Ottawa area, this event is for you! Join Microsoft Developer Advisor Christian Beauclair and DreamDigital’sColin Melia as they present a hands-on lab this Saturday where they show you how to write apps for our new phone.
At this lab, you’ll:
Learn how to develop apps for Windows Phone 7 in Silverlight and XNA
Follow along at a workstation as Christian and Colin walk you through WP7 development
Get familiar with the software tools: Visual Studio 2010 or Visual Studio Express for Windows Phone, Expression Blend and the WP7 emulator
Have an opportunity to try out a real live Windows Phone
Join us as we make ourselves available to you so you can try out a real live Windows Phone 7 device and see how your apps work on the real thing. We’ve got a couple of Coffee and Codes and one deployment clinic this week:
Wednesday, September 29 in Montreal (Coffee and Code)
Coffee and Code is all about us spending the day working out of a cafe so that you can find us, join us, talk, ask questions and get to know us better. These days, it’s also about Windows Phone 7, but we’re happy to talk and answer questions about anything. Please drop by, whether it’s for five minutes or five hours!
Join “les bons gars”, Developer Advisor Christian Beauclair and Regional DirectorGuy Barrette, who’ll be holding a Coffee and Code at Le Café de la Citéon 75 Queen. They put on a professional appearance, but we all know qu’ils vont ecrire des «fart apps»! They’ll be doing it in both official languages: Silverlight and XNA!
Thursday, September 30 in Montreal (Deployment Clinic)
Deployment clinics are a little more formal than Coffee and Codes. You can book an exclusive timeslot to deploy and test apps to a Windows Phone 7 device, and there’s one taking place all day at Microsoft’s Montreal office (2000 Avenue McGill College, 4th floor) on the 30th. Email Christian Beauclair to reserve a time slot.
Thursday, September 30 in Toronto (Coffee and Code)
I’ll be at the Starbucks at King and Yonge (4 King Street West) this Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with a Windows Phone 7 for you to play with and deploy your apps to. I’ll be at or near the big table in the back — come on down!
If you’re thinking about exploring unfamiliar parts of the Microsoft platform and don’t know where to start, try using one of the Developer Guidance Maps. Like city maps, they give you an at-a-glance view of the “lay of the land” and make certain useful “landmarks” – different types of documentation, key topics on developing for a specific technology and notes on features you need to know about – easy to find.
Built by the people at Microsoft’s Connect Innovation Center, they’re using the Developer Guidance Maps as a way to model, prototype and test ways to find, organize and share guidance for developers in a meaningful way. I find them pretty useful, both for myself as well as places to point developers with questions.
The Developer Guidance Maps break down the platform into a number of subject hubs:
For today only (September 26, 2010): Manning is selling the ebook version of Azure in Action for a mere US$15, which converts to CAD$15.36 as of this writing. The ebook is a MEAP book – that’s Manning Early Access Program – which means that it’s an in-progress book. Purchasers of MEAP books get updates and the final version as part of the deal.
To get the deal on Azure in Action, use the discount code dotd0926 in the Promotional Code box when checking out.
DemoCamp is “show and tell” for the bright lights of the local tech and startup scene, where they get to talk about their current projects in front of a group of their peers. Although its format has undergone many changes through the years, the spirit remains the same:
An emphasis on demos rather than marketing pitches
A preference for showing working projects in action over slides
The idea that it’s important to build a sense of community among local techies and entrepreneurs
Special Guest: Not Just a VC, but “A VC”
There’s a big-name guest coming to this DemoCamp: New York City-based venture capitalist Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures. You might have read his blog, A VC. (In light of the recent tech media kerfuffle called AngelGate, this should make for a very interesting Q&A session.)
Here are the details of DemoCamp 27:
The Date: Wednesday, October 6
The Time: 11:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Eastern
The Location: To be determined
The Price: $15
The idea behind DemoCamp has always been to make it as inexpensive as possible and to charge only enough money to be able to recoup costs such as paying for the venue. $15 is a steal.
A test version of Smiles running on my WP7 device.
The Montreal .NET Community is starting a competition called Speaker Idol.
Featured on the latest edition of 
