14 DAY TRIAL // One of the steps Microsoft announced it planned on taking towards ramping up the development of applications for the upcoming Windows Phone 7 operating system was to offer Windows Phone 7 devices to developers. Of course, not to all developers, and, of course, not at random, but to those developers who seem to have the most appealing and promising ideas when it comes to the building of applications for the mobile operating system. We already knew that these devices would be delivered this summer, but today we learned that Microsoft would start shipping these handsets as soon as next week.
“Starting next Monday (July 19th), we start shipping the devices more broadly. Sadly, we will not be able to meet all of that demand. We are planning to set up deploy and test labs in major cities to make it a little easier for everyone who wants to have access to a preview phone to have it. More on that soon. Lastly, to get your name in the queue, assuming you haven’t already sent in an email, you can now send an email to [email protected]. A field representative will get back to you as soon as possible. Again, these are preview phones, so they are limited in quantity,” Microsoft's Brandon Watson states in a recent post on the Windows Phone Developer Blog.
Developers interested in receiving a Windows Phone 7 device should include in the email a series of personal information, including name, company name (if applicable), location (including city/state/country), and a shot description of the application one plans on building. Microsoft announced previously that it would evaluate each request to see whether the developer or application deserves the wanted attention.
In addition to offering these devices to developers, Microsoft also released a new version of its Windows Phone Developer Tools, and announced a series of free sessions dedicated to the building of apps for the platform, Windows Phone 7 JumpStart. Four virtual instructor-led sessions are include in the series, each being 3 hours long, presented by Microsoft's Andy Wigley and Rob Miles: - July 20 – 8am: Session One: Getting Started with Microsoft Windows Phone and Silverlight - July 20 – 1pm: Session Two: Programming Game Applications with XNA - July 22 – 8am: Session Three: Programming Applications with Silverlight - July 22 – 1pm: Session Four: Review and Wrap Up
Developers interested in the matter can register for these courses here.