A little while ago I covered the Windows Azure toolkit for iOS, where iPhone developers can use the cloud to host their apps. Now the Interoperability Team (say that fast, twice) at the mothership in Redmond has announced the release of the Android API Mapping Tool for Windows Phone 7, meaning Android developers can easily port their apps to the Windows Phone platform. Woo-hoo! Now it’s easier to do stuff like this.

why would someone want to do this?

We’re big fans of Windows Phone but then it could be argued we’re slightly biased; with the Mango announcement we posted a few videos outlining what’s going to be coming to the platform very shortly – check them out here and see what you think.

But if you’re already developing for Android, effectively you can extend the reach of your apps to more people, with the support of Microsoft. If you’re into the the Windows Phone UX, you can spend your time taking advantage of the design aspects. If you’re more interested in the sheer number of eyeballs – it’s an easy way of getting to existing Windows Phone 7 users, and pretty soon those holding spanking new Nokias as well.

How comprehensive are the mapping tools?

Mapping APIs is actually a pretty tedious and labour-intensive effort; the official word is “we caution developers not to expect mapping of all of the APIs, simply because the platforms are built upon different architectures and user interfaces. And for the first round, we focused primarily in areas that we could identify one-to-one mapping scenarios.” I’d read that as saying it’s ongoing work.

For this Android work for example, the initial mapping covers the same set of categories than for iOS, and also includes mapping at the Java language level (type system, XML). In future updates, the scope will expand significantly. An example of what to expect as differences between the frameworks:

Functionality

The Stacks

App UI and Device Integration

I love it/I hate it – who can I speak to/yell at?

The team created the “App Guy” who crawls developer forums aggregating discussions from different locations to answer questions related to porting iOS and Android applications to Windows Phone… If you don’t like the look of this dude view further guidance.

Where do i get started?

• Windows Phone 7 Guide for Android Application Developers
• API Mapping Tool Library
• Windows Phone 7 Interoperability blog

Last week we covered the Windows Azure SDK for PHP announcement, and it’s nice to know the train isn’t stopping there. Microsoft has announced the release of the Windows Azure toolkit for iOS, containing resources and services designed to make it easier for iOS developers to use Windows Azure.  This release makes it easier to tie mobile devices with the cloud by offering native libraries for non-Microsoft platforms.

the iOS announcement

I use a PC at work, a phone on the go, and a slate when I’m lounging around. Those three devices have three different operating systems. The toolkits being announced make it easier for developers to simplify the complexity of supporting multiple devices, with a common back-end that uses cloud services to share common requirements like device notifications, authentication, storage and even higher-level services like leaderboards. At the same time, developers can maximize the performance of each mobile device by writing client code that exploits each platform. As more and more mobile applications rely on back-end services, the cloud can become increasingly useful and strategic for developers.

The Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS works in two ways: you access Windows Azure storage directly, or alternatively, can go through a proxy service. The proxy service code is the same code as used in the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone 7 and negates the need for the developer to store the Azure storage credentials locally on the device.

What about android?

Work is already underway; look for more information in the summer…

and Windows Phone 7?

Originally released last month, new features include integration with the Windows Azure Access Control Service (e.g., a wizard, automatic setup, tooling and code), full support for Windows Azure Storage Queues and an updated user interface for the supporting Web application.

• Integration with the Access Control Service (e.g. a wizard, automatic setup, tooling, and code)
• Full support for Windows Azure Storage Queues
• Updated UI/UX for the supporting web application

all the goodies

Blog posts

:

• Getting Started with the Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS : Details how to get started using the Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS
• Updates Coming Soon to the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone 7 : What’s coming with the v1.2 release of the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone 7
• Using Windows Azure for Windows Phone 7 Push Notification Support : Details on how v1.1 of Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone 7 provides out-of-the-box support for Push Notifications
• Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone 7 1.2 will Integrate with ACS : Vittorio has blogged about upcoming details related to the Access Control Service 2.0 integration in v1.2

Screencasts:

• Getting Started with the Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS : Webcast showing where to get the bits and how to get started
• Deploying the Cloud Ready Packages for Devices : Webcast showing how to deploy the cloud ready package to Windows Azure

Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS:

• https://github.com/microsoft-dpe/watoolkitios-lib
• https://github.com/microsoft-dpe/watoolkitios-samples
• https://github.com/microsoft-dpe/watoolkitios-doc

Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone 7:

• http://watoolkitwp7.codeplex.com/

Cloud Ready Package for Devices:

• https://github.com/downloads/microsoft-dpe/watoolkitios-lib/cloudready.devices.zip

Have you thrown the Christmas wrapping paper away yet? With Christmas 2010 wishlists including a world of slate devices vs. 2009’s netbook-heavy bonanza, does this signal the death of the netbook? Are slates here to rule or will they be the netbook of 2010? We take a closer look at the devices and predict what we’ll be seeing a year from now.

Where they came from

Netbooks

Small personal computers have been around in various shapes and sizes really since the mid-nineties. Apple’s eMate 300, a cross between the Newton PDA and a standard notebook was released in 1997 but quickly fell under the guillotine with the re-arrival of Steve Jobs as CEO. It wasn’t until Asus released their Eee PC in 2007 that the mass-market felt the force of a small, low-cost PC that could do the things most people did most of the time. and relatively cheap due to the Linux install – the device originally designed for emerging markets quickly found its feet as a companion device in larger countries. The PC was for productivity and other weighty tasks, the netbook was the portable device for content consumption. Hitting the coffee shop with netbook under arm, Facebook with your latte became the chic image.

Hardware was initially based around a 7-inch display, 85% sized keyboard, and weighing around 1kg. Solid-state drives were commonplace as they were faster, lighter and prone to handling more movement than traditional hard-drives, at the expense of disk size (with a median around the 40GB mark). Wireless connectivity was omnipresent, with some also including ethernet ports. Processors hovered around the 1.6 GHz mark, running x86 architecture.

With software it quickly became apparent that Linux wasn’t to the mass-market’s taste, however, and PC manufacturers quickly turned to Windows XP, and subsequently Windows 7, to stem the tide of consumer returns. With the heavy dependency on web usage, companies such as Google have attempted to bypass the OS altogether – running a flavour of Ubuntu that requires just enough to power up the hardware and relies on the browser to do the rest. So far however, the Chrome OS project (especially through the own-brand CR-48) has so far suffered significant delays and user-experience headaches.

Slates

The slate’s big brother was really the Tablet PC, introduced to the world in 2001 by Bill Gates, who, still riding the wave of Windows XP, felt the PC, mouse, keyboard input model was to be outstripped by a more natural form factor – a standard PC became a digital ink input device when the screen was slipped round. Despite a relatively palatable price point, poor battery life and lack of ‘killer apps’ meant its main success was in enterprise spaces such as healthcare, where ink input such as signing prescriptions and patient checks was combined to great effect with line of business applications – rather than the consumer space such as students.

Slates in their current form where announced to the masses by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at 2010’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), such as this HP device.

What really captured the imagination of the consumer audience was of course the iPad. While initial reports dismissed it as “just a big iPhone” the slick device, great battery life and simplicity of use sent sales through the roof. In the final quarter of 2010 alone, sales were estimated at over 6 million.

The forerunner slates

Let’s take a look at the flagship devices per OS, and look ahead to a year from now:

iOS: iPad

The Good: Uber-slick hardware, approx. 300,000 apps, faster than it seems.

The Bad: No webcam/USB, rigid rules for app development, no Flash compatibility.

Where it’ll be a year from now: With a v2 heavily rumoured to be released in Q1 2011, we’d expect the lack of webcam/USB to be fixed, improved battery life and a slightly thinner casing. Anyone remember the iPhone 4…?

The contender: iPad 2 (release TBA)

Android: Samsung Galaxy Tab

The Good: Small 7” screen makes it suitable for pockets, runs Flash, huge number of Android apps, decent 3.2MP rear camera for photos plus 1.3MP camera for video calls.

The Bad: Difficult to type on (in-between the ‘two thumbs’ approach for phone, and two hands for a PC), claims to also be a phone – but feels too oversized to use properly.

Where it’ll be a year from now: To successfully take on the iPad, the Galaxy Tab will need to either look at lowering its price (it’s only about 30 pounds cheaper) or develop more applications designed specifically for the 7” screen – rather than upscaling phone apps. The hardware’s currently a bit plastic-y, which we’d expect to change.

The Contender: Motorola Xoom (running Android Honeycomb).

Windows 7: Asus Eee EP121

The Good: The most powerful slate at CES: Intel Core i5 processor (an ultra-low voltage variant) and can be configured with up to 4GB of memory, 12” screen is among the biggest for tablets, with great 1,280-by-800 resolution. As full Windows 7 OS, can handle all the heavy apps. Wacom digitised layer + pen takes advantage of handwriting recognition. Click here to see a demo of it in action.

The Bad: At 2.5lbs, it’s over 1lb heavier than the iPad. No rear-facing webcam or 3G options. Solid-state drive models only.

Where it’ll be a year from now: Expect a lighter version with longer battery life – but the real magic will come in handwriting-optimised apps that light up the device.

The Contender: HP Slate 500

So which is better?

It became clear from CES 2011 that most of the PC manufacturer innovation is in the slate space – dropping the keyboard and peripherals, and investing in screen technology is a smart move for many PC OEMs who also make TVs (ie Samsung, Sony, LG) but it also stops PCs becoming a commodity where the lowest price wins.

But the real sticking point is this: If you’re going to spend 400 quid or so on a new device do you really want to limit yourself? Slates are great, slick and definitely built for content consumption – but for those little moments where you just have to finish off writing the document, spreadsheet, presentation or edit that photo will an onscreen, will a virtual keyboard really suffice? Netbooks certainly aren’t the quickest devices on earth but at least they do let you type properly – and after forking our your money, when you’re really in need – that could be the difference.

Expect to see a merger of the two moving forward in the form of a new tablet: Dual-screen slate devices that don’t carry an old-school keyboard but rather let you use the 2nd screen as a virtual keyboard when standing it up right. Have a look at my favourite bit of hardware from CES, the Acer Iconia:

Are you a netbook fan or a slate guru? Let us know what you think of the devices. Plus, check out our round-up of CES here.

Codeplex Foundation, which was started by Microsoft, names Apache Software Foundation co-founder to Board.

Cambridge start-up quadruples productivity by hiring 20 interns in a go!

The latest update in smartphone marketshare gains, Google rising, Apple on-level, Palm declines.

OnLive, a live streaming gaming service, to go live in June.

Finally for a bit of comic relief, here’s a comic strip for all you LOTR fans!

As phones become smarter, their potential to be the next “botnet” is huge as HTC clearly demonstrates with their infected Android smartphone

Just to prove how low of a ball western democracies have in terms of public transit, the Chinese are planning for a high-speed rail system connecting Bejing to London.  Total travel time: 2 Days!

Lastly, if you’re the type of person who likes to stick random devices in your USB port, think twice.

That Microsoft has released its first app for Android

A gorilla on Mars isn’t the weirdest thing that’s been spotted there

What the BBC spends its money on (and it’s not 6 Music and websites)

In Switzerland, it is illegal to mow your front lawn while you’re dressed as Elvis

You can’t name a folder ‘con’ in Windows. But do you really want to?