The Ministry of Sound has developed a Windows Phone 7 application for anyone who wants to keep on top of the music, recent club events, artist releases and news from the famous club. Technical lead Steven Wong took a breather to talk to us about developing for Windows Phone 7, where the idea came from and why they chose Windows to release the application.
Please describe your mobile application
It’s a music/lifestyle application that allows users to listen to our online radio streams, view photo galleries of recent club night events and read about the latest from Ministry of Sound HQ and information on latest artist releases. It also allows the user to purchase mobile tickets to enter the club.
Where did the idea come from?
It’s a general mobile application that we have on other mobile platforms.
Is you app a paid for app or a free app?
Paid for.
Is there anything unique in your app that is only possible because of Windows Phone 7?
The general user experience is very smooth, the metro design and concepts of panning through the application.
Why did you choose Windows Phone 7?
The Microsoft Mobile platform to our company as a whole had been one of the ‘unchartered territories’ that we have yet to explore.
What opportunity/opportunities did you see with Windows Phone 7?
The Microsoft mobile platform and how it goes hand in hand with Zune and its ability to sell music was the last major ‘up and coming’ territories we as a company have yet to exploit.
Why did you make the investment in Windows Phone 7 over other platforms?
We have done other platforms already… it was a golden opportunity.
Have you used Silverlight in the past?
Yes – a non-Hello World / Video Player type application for internal users.
How did you find working with Silverlight?
XAML can be a bit fiddly if you can’t break away from traditional UI programming mind sets.
How did you find the development experience overall?
Learn as we go along.
Have you developed for other mobile platforms in the past?
Yes – Windows Mobile (earlier versions back in 2005), nothing like WP7, trust me.
What platform features most impressed you?
Silverlight and its entirety…
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