Microsoft has finally started encouraging developers to make the move to its mobile phone platform just as phones are coming out.
If you build it, they will come” may make for a memorable movie line, but it doesn’t work well in the technology field. Fortunately for Windows Phone, Microsoft has decided to start actively pursuing developers, although it is cutting things a little to the release schedule.
It was becoming cause for concern. In my three days at BUILD last month I didn’t hear Windows Phone discussed once. Of course, it was a huge show, but I did catch the keynotes, and the silence wasn’t a good sign. Windows Phone 7.5, a.k.a. “Mango,” was done and RTM’ed and no one seemed to be talking about it.
Well, Microsoft has gotten off the dime in a big way, launching an updated guidance and porting tool to help iPhone, Android and Symbian/Qt developers port their apps to Windows Phone 7.5. They offer a series of samples to aid in the process of migrating applications over to Windows Phone that show the differences between platforms, so you can see how a function is done on all of the different phones.
“And for each sample, you’ll find the source code on Android/iPhone, the Windows Phone ported version and the porting notes. And since we had a little bit of extra time, we added a bonus track for Android developers, with a ’10 simple tasks: tips & tricks’ article, where we explain how common simple tasks performed during Android development can be done when doing Windows Phone development,” wrote JC Cimetiere on the Windows Phone Developer Blog.
The guides are all available here:
- Windows Phone 7 Guide for Android application developers
- Windows Phone 7 Guide for iPhone application developers
- Windows Phone 7 Guide for Symbian Qt application developers
Microsoft has begun the rollout of Windows Phone 7.5 with more coming next week. Three phones were unveiled at the All Things D Asia Conference: the HTC Titan, with a 4.7-inch display and only 9mm thick, the Samsung Focus S, with a 4.3-inch AMOLED display and 4G support, and the Samsung Focus Flash, the low-end model with a 3.7-inch AMOLED display.
Next week comes the new phones from Nokia, the one-time king of the smartphone market that’s had the rug yanked out from under it by Apple and Google. The launch will take place at the Nokia World trade show in London. Nokia is pinning its hopes on Windows Phone 7.5 in light of its Symbian operating system falling out of favor, so expect Nokia to release those phones in short order.
Welcome regulars and new readers alike. Here are a few more recent blog items from yours truly. You may follow me on Twitter here.
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