How to score an invite to Microsoft Socl (updated)
Posted Monday, January 23, 2012 at 4:31 pm by Jason Cartwright
Microsoft not so secret social network called Socl is beginning to open to more users, this morning sending out invites to people. Previously restricted to Microsoft staff, then students, Socl is beginning to open its doors to everyday users. If you’d like to check it out, we have 10 invites to give away.
Update
That’s it guys and girls, all out of invites. Hope to get more in the future (ping Microsoft).
You can score an invite by being one of the first 10 people to sign up to Constructiv. The invite will be sent to the associated email address. Best of luck, be fast, and connect with me once you’re on Socl.
So far the experience feels more like Google+ than Facebook, but does have some unique features. The video party is similar to sharing a YouTube video on G+, but the most interesting is the Bing integration. It allows the sharing of content from search results really quickly. This sure beats telling a friend to go search for a term, or an image, you just share the search.
When searching you can filter results by web, news, videos, etc just like Bing results. The difference being that Socl allows you to just click images in the results and add them to your post. It’s a nice clean UI, but I can’t help but think that Facebook adding this Bing functionality can’t be far away.
Visual Studio adds game mechanic to keep devs engaged
Posted Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 10:12 pm by Jason Cartwright
Microsoft developers can now rack up achievements using the development software Visual Studio. Just like your Xbox, achievements are unlocked by performing different activities. Rather than games, these achievements related to development.
While some l33t developers like Toub have unlocked 169 points from Visual Studio achievements, there’s some items on the list I’m happy not to have. The Complex Achievement for example, is unlocked if you have 50 projects in a Solution.. that’s just madness.
When you unlock a new achievement its shown in the bottom-right corner of the application and is added to your count on the VS Achievement leader board on Channel 9. You can also share your programming skills by sharing these achievements via Facebook or Twitter.
So what do the developers out there think? Are these achievement going to encourage you to use the application more?
More info @ Visual Studio on MSDN via iStartedSomething.com
Microsoft enticing Aussie developers with a free Nokia WP7
Posted Friday, January 6, 2012 at 10:08 am by Jason Cartwright
As Microsoft continues its efforts to gain market share in the smartphone war, they have just announced a new competition for local developers. Australians who develop applications for Windows Phone will have the chance to win either a Nokia Lumia 710 or the flagship Nokia WP7 phone, the Nokia Lumia 800.
To qualify, you have to publish 3 or 4 apps between Jan 1st 2012 and 12 midnight EST Mar 30th, 2012. This offer is limited to the first 50 developers and only 1 phone per developer.
It’ll be interesting to see the quality of apps that arise as a result of this promotion. While Microsoft continues its efforts to increase the number of apps available in the Marketplace, it’s important not to lower the quality of apps, just to hit a theoretical number. Your applications will still need to pass through standard certification to be published.
Dave Glover is a Developer Consultant, Technical and Business Development at Microsoft Australia and has published the full information. Dave Glover’s blog.
Via WPDownunder and WPCentral.
Bing’s awesome HTML5 video for NYE
Posted Saturday, December 31, 2011 at 11:22 am by Jason Cartwright
Today is New Years Eve in Australia and Bing’s HTML5, video powered homepage is celebrating in style. Head to http://bing.com.au right now to see the fireworks display from Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong from last year. You’ll any of the modern browsers to see the video, lets hope they film again this year, the result is impressive.
Whatever you’re doing to celebrate tonight, enjoy and take a break from that computer for a while.
ABC iView app showing off on Xbox today
Posted Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 9:34 am by Jason Cartwright
Starting today, ABC’s iView application will be available on the Xbox 360. You will need to have upgraded to the new Xbox Dashboard to see the new app. As with all things Microsoft, it’s being rolled out, so if you don’t see it yet in the App Marketplace, just check back later.
The ABC iView app adds to the existing line-up of YouTube, SBSOnDemand, DailyMotion, NineMSN and Foxtel video apps on the Xbox 360. It’s important to note, that Xbox Live Gold Subscription isn’t required for iView. iView features shows like Good Game, Q&A, Gruen Transfer and more, allowing you to catch up on any episodes you or your DVR missed.
The iView app can be controlled using Kinect hand gestures (like the rest of the new Dashboard) and also supports voice commands. Not all the new apps do, so this is actually worth noting. If you’re using voice and hit an app that doesn’t support it, it really defeats the purpose, as you need to find that controller again.
ABC iView is now available on the Xbox 360, PS3, Boxee Box and the web. ABC has done an amazing job at making their content available wherever and whenever consumers want to consume it. If iOS had flash support it’d probably be on there as well. ABC’s content distribution is a model to be held as an example of how to use IPTV well. Without traditional commercial programming, ABC are free to distribute much more flexibly and achieve the ultimate goal of the content producers, to have it see by as many people as possible.
More information @ Xbox
Windows Azure just got sexy
Posted Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 12:03 am by Jason Cartwright
After using Windows Azure since around April this year for the backend of Constructiv, I’ve gotten pretty familiar with the website. Today there’s been a massive overhaul of Windows Azure, probably the largest since launch.
It’s important to not the change is the the Azure website, but the Azure Platform (Managing your servers) remains the same. SQL Azure was updated a couple of days ago, so it is likely just a matter of time before we see the new design across the board.
The new design brings with it the Metro UI we’ve seen across a number of other Microsoft properties including WP7, Windows8 and now the Xbox 360.
Check it out for yourself at https://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/
