Part of my job is to help people find valuable resources. I especially like it when they are free. Free is good. These links are for students, faculty and professional (or non professional) developer.  Please check these links out, visit the websites, find what looks interesting and download the...

This is the basic instructions for the demo I did as part of the Mobile App Development throwdown at the CS & IT Conference July 10th, 2012, Open Visual Studio (you can get it as part of the Windows Phone SDK ) and create a new project. Be sure to select Visual C# as the language, Silverlight for...

The big news for me yesterday was at Finalists Announced for Round 1 of the Microsoft Partners in Learning 2012 US Forum . I attended this event as a judge last year and learned an incredible amount from these amazing teachers. This first round announced 44 teachers representing 32 projects from across...

The dream.build.play challenge is still wide open for people looking to take their Windows Phone or Xbox 360 game to the next level and win some big prizes. Create a Game & Bring Your Ideas to Life It’s time for the Dream.Build.Play Challenge! Open to anyone over age 14, the playing field now includes...

I spent part of last week Getting Ready For Windows 8 . Sad to admit but it took me until last week to install the Windows 8 Consumer Preview over the developer preview I had been running. But I did. And I also installed Visual Studio 11 Express for Windows 8 and I’m working on my first Windows...

I know I have mentioned the Windows Phone SDK (software development kit) a lot in the past but usually only as a reference along with other things. It really deserves a post of its own though. T he Windows Phone Software Development Kit (SDK) 7.1 provides you with all of the tools that you need to develop...

We’ve had some changes in the DreamSpark program lately and the web site feels all different to me. So what I decided to do was to step though the process of first signing up for DreamSpark for students with Activations codes such as you get in a high school Dream Spark program of if you get a code from...

It really does not matter how cool you think your smartphone is if does not help you be more productive at work. Discover how Lync 2010 can make your smartphone smarter. Related posts: Skype Joins Microsoft! Tale of the Seadragon and the Leopard ...read more

Channel 9 has just launched an absolute beginner series to help people learn to program. There are two versions of the Development for Absolute beginners materials – one for Visual Basic and one for C# Well worth checking out. Visual Basic Development for Absolute Beginners C# Development for Absolute...

Microsoft announced a Windows Phone development contest for college/university students in the US (sorry about both the US only and the 18+ only – I’m just the messenger)  The full details with contest rules and other stuff may be found at  Do You Have What it Takes to be the Big App on Campus...

Microsoft is offering a number of FREE Phone Camps around the US. These are fun and interesting workshops – hands on – to help people learn about developing Windows Phone applications. If you are an instructor who wants to add mobile development into your courses, a student who wants to create apps and...

In the Mobile Game Design and Mobile App Design categories of the NFTE World Series of Innovation students are asked to design an app or a game for a mobile device such as an Windows Phone. But what do an “app” mean in that context?  The meaning of words changes over time. I hear that the word ...

IF you missed it live (like I did) you can now view the recording of the Windows Phone Mango Jump Start training on Channel 9. I borrowed these direct links from the official announcement . Microsoft MVPs Rob Miles and Andy Wigley are back! The "Building Applications for Windows Phone "Mango"...

SO you probably know that a new version of the Windows Phone software is coming very soon. If you are planning on teaching phone development you may also be thinking “I wonder how I can get some training on this?” Well you are in luck. Online training is coming! “Mango” Jump Start! Aug. 23-24! Pass it...

This Summer, build Windows Phone 7 apps and you could earn exciting prizes to catch a movie, eat ice – cream, buy camping gear and more!! This special competition is especially for students. It’s a great incentive to get creative and do something ...read more

This week at Microsoft Research’s 12th annual Faculty Summit, Project Hawaii student creations from over 20 universities will be on showcase.   Project Hawaii is an experimental program that provides students with tools, services, and equipment to create their own, cloud-enabled applications using Windows...

Standford University Computer Science students ignite the consumerization of science with Microsoft Research's Project Hawaii initiative. Related posts: Project Hawaii: Students Build the Future of Mobile + Cloud Computing Incorporating Windows Phone ...read more

OK so you are a student and you are wondering what to do over the summer. Perhaps you have a job but maybe it is not fulfilling. And besides wouldn’t it be cool to write some great code and win a new Windows Phone for your efforts. Right? Well the Windows ...read more

Joe Belfiore shows off the new features in Windows Phone Mango. This is exciting new update for Windows Phone 7! Related posts: Kinectonomics: Save Money and the Planet ...read more

Updated 5-24-11 with new Mango information   At TechEd 2011 this week, we demoed the beta of Lync Mobile for Windows Phone 7.x and Outlook Mobile in the upcoming Windows Phone “Mango” release.  The Microsoft TechEd presenter commented Lync Mobile...( read more )