14 DAY TRIAL // Both Apple iOS (iPhone) and Google Android have had quite a head start compared to Microsoft’s latest mobile platform. This aspect got the Redmond company to put in the extra effort necessary to woo developers that have been building applications for the two rival platforms and get them to do the same for Windows Phone 7.
This is where the Windows Phone Interoperability site comes in. The online hub is especially designed to get iPhone developers to also target Windows Phone 7.
Although for the time being, the Windows Phone 7 Interoperability is focused on those building iOS apps, the promise from the software giant is that Android developers will also be able to leverage similar resources in the future.
“The Windows Phone Interoperability site focuses on helping developers who have been creating phone applications on various platforms ramp up quickly on the Windows Phone 7 platform,” reads the welcoming message on the site.
“The goal is to help them leverage existing skills, and provide recipes to successfully design and build applications for the Window Phone.
“The site will also address interoperability scenarios aiming to provide tools and guidance to help developers building applications for multiple platforms.
“The early version of the site is targeted to the iPhone application developer, and includes technical documentation and real-world testimonials.”
Over the coming months Microsoft will continue to add content to the hub. Developers that are currently building on top of iOS for iPhone and Android, and that are also interested in porting their applications to Windows Phone 7 should check out the Windows Phone Interoperability site, and keep coming back to it, as more and more resources will be added.
Here are some examples of guides for Windows phone development currently available: - Chapter 1: Windows Phone 7 Platform introduced to iPhone application developers - Chapter2: User Interface Guidelines - Chapter 3: Developer and designer tools introduced to iPhone application developers - Chapter 4: C# programming introduced to Objective-C programmers
The Windows Phone 7 Interoperability also offers several videos featuring testimonials from developers that transitioned from other platforms to Windows Phone 7.
- Geocaching story, multi-platform development and demo of the Geocaching applications on Windows Phone 7 - here;
- Design decisions (porting existing phone apps to WP7 or not), how to ramp up on the Metro user interface concepts, and how designers and developers worked as a team - here.