Microsoft Launches Windows Phone 7 Dev Tools
At its Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington, D.C., Microsoft also revealed its plan to start shipping preview Windows Phone 7 devices to selected developers on July 19, fulfilling the pledge it made last month at the TechEd conference. Developer interest in Windows Phone 7 hardware has been strong, but it looks like some will have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on preview devices.
"Sadly, we will not be able to meet all of that demand," said Brandon Watson, director of developer experience for Windows Phone 7, in a Monday blog post. In the meantime, Microsoft will set up deployment and testing labs for in various major cities so that partners can have some access to Windows Phone 7 preview devices, Watson said.
Windows Phone 7 devices are expected to hit shelves in time for the holiday season, and developers are champing at the bit to start building apps for the platform. At WPC, Microsoft is touting Windows Phone 7's integration with Exchange, Sharepoint, and Business Productivity Online Services (BPOS), and how partners can transport their skills in these areas to mobile business scenarios.
"If you're a partner that's already involved in Sharepoint, Exchange and BPOS, you're already very close to Windows Phone 7," said Paul Bryan, senior director of business product management in Microsoft's Windows Phone group, in an interview prior to WPC.
The Windows Phone 7 opportunities extend well beyond the realm of software development and into the wheelhouse of traditional VARs and integrators. "There's a tremendous opportunity for systems integrators to build Windows Phone 7 into their practices. And there are deployment services that resellers can add to the equation," Bryan said.
Many industry watchers have already declared Microsoft dead in mobile, but you wouldn't know it from talking to developer partners. Microsoft has had more than 200,000 downloads of the community technology preview (CTP) for the Windows Phone 7 toolset since launching it in March.
Partners that haven't yet entered the mobile space are poised to test the waters, and Microsoft's choice of Silverlight as the platform paves the way for them to do so. Microsoft has a half a million Silverlight developers and "tens of thousands" of XNA developers, according to Bryan.
"Anyone with Silverlight, Visual Studio, or Expression skills will see the fundamental value of the rich set of tools we have as a company," he said. "This is about extending what you do to the mobile space."