Software Industry Announcements and News
Embarcadero RAD Studio XE Sneak Preview
[ No Comments ] Posted on 08.10.10 under Development
Coding and Productivity Enhancements for New Development Suite
SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Embarcadero Technologies, a leading provider of multi-platform database tools and developer software, today announced the first of three Embarcadero® RAD Studio XE sneak previews leading up to the launch of the new application development suite in early September. The upcoming “2011” release will be named RAD Studio XE and will include Delphi® XE, C++Builder® XE, Delphi Prism™ XE and RadPHP™ XE.
This first sneak preview showcases developer and team productivity enhancements that will be made possible with the new release, along with enhancements to the IDE and new tool chain, modeling and debugging capabilities. These new core productivity enhancements will enable developers to better manage their source code and, ultimately, streamline the development process.
New RAD Studio XE features revealed in this first preview include:
* Subversion version control integration to help manage source code revisions in the Delphi, C++Builder and Delphi Prism IDEs
* Rapid PHP web development added to RAD Studio with RadPHP XE
* New debugging features for Delphi, C++Builder and RadPHP XE
* Modeling enhancements in Delphi XE, including enhanced code generation from the modeler for higher quality code, as well as the ability to generate sequence diagrams from methods
“Developers are constantly challenged to keep productivity high, yet they’re also required to manage source code revisions for themselves and within their team,” said Michael Swindell, senior vice president of marketing and product management for Embarcadero Technologies. “These new capabilities offer very specific benefits that will enable developers to save time on coding, increase productivity and focus on developing quality applications faster.”
The RAD Studio XE release also marks the extension of the new XE brand and capability set to Embarcadero’s application development line, including RAD Studio and each standalone tool in the suite. XE products are distinguished by three key components: support for multiple database types and deployment environments; Embarcadero® ToolCloud technology for centralized license management and on-demand tool access; and an easy upgrade path to Embarcadero® All-Access™ XE.
As with all Embarcadero tools, the RAD Studio XE suite of products will also be available via the Embarcadero All-Access toolbox.
Throughout August, Embarcadero will be showcasing sneak previews to show what’s in store for RAD Studio XE with its new versions of Delphi XE, C++Builder XE, Delphi Prism XE and, now, RadPHP XE.
To view the latest sneak peek blogs and videos on RAD Studio XE, visit http://www.embarcadero.com/rad-studio-xe-preview.
About Embarcadero Technologies
Embarcadero Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of award-winning tools for application developers and database professionals so they can design systems right, build them faster and run them better, regardless of their platform or programming language. Ninety of the Fortune 100 and an active community of more than three million users worldwide rely on Embarcadero products to increase productivity, reduce costs, simplify change management and compliance and accelerate innovation. Founded in 1993, Embarcadero is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices located around the world. Embarcadero is online at www.embarcadero.com.
Embarcadero, the Embarcadero Technologies logos and all other Embarcadero Technologies product or service names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Embarcadero Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Microsoft Channel Chief Charts Course to Cloud Profitability
[ Comments Off ] Posted on 07.13.10 under Development
New Microsoft Channel Chief Charts Course to Cloud Profitability for Partners
Executives also highlight new products and services from Microsoft that foster a connected experience for consumers through the cloud.
WASHINGTON — July 13, 2010 — Today at the annual Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, Jon Roskill, Microsoft Corp.’s new channel chief, addressed the Microsoft partner community for the first time, unveiling business strategies and resources to help partners of all types seize new opportunities in the cloud. The company also detailed new products and services to help consumers tap into the cloud through all the screens in their lives — from the largest screen in the living room to the smallest screen in one’s pocket.
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AutoPlay Media Studio 8 Enables Visual Software Development
[ Comments Off ] Posted on 05.26.10 under ASP Member Companies, Development
(WINNIPEG – May 26, 2010) – Indigo Rose Software announces the immediate availability of AutoPlay Media Studio 8 for Windows. A mainstay in the software development industry for developing user-friendly autorun CD, DVD and USB menus, version 8 takes the product line in a bold new direction.
AutoPlay Media Studio 8 now gives software developers the ability to create full-featured software applications using a visual drag-and-drop development environment. What would normally take days or weeks to build using traditional software development tools (e.g. C, C++, Java) can now be created in record time, and by just about anyone.
Featuring a WYSIWYG (“what you see is what you get”) development environment and a powerful, yet easy-to-use scripting language, even beginners can create professional Windows software, complete with features like web interaction, database connectivity, dialog boxes, data visualization and multimedia audio and video playback.
“We weren’t satisfied with AutoPlay Media Studio just being the industry-standard tool for developing autorun CD/DVD interfaces,” says Indigo Rose Software President Colin Adams. “We recognized that if we extended the product with a number of significant new features, AutoPlay Media Studio 8 would be ideally suited for creating interactive multimedia software applications. We’re really pleased with the results.”
AutoPlay Media Studio 8 includes 21 built-in interface objects such as buttons, images, menu bars, web browsers, QuickTime video, data grids, PDF viewers, checkboxes and more. Developers simply drop the objects onto a page or dialog box, and are able to edit and customize the objects’ properties and events any way they want.
Over 865 easy-to-use scripting actions include everything from XML parsing and database queries to web server interaction, internet file transfers and much more. It’s also easy to expand the language with plugins and code modules. Additionally, the professional script editor features color syntax highlighting, code completion, function highlighting, as-you-type action prototypes, function listings, and context-sensitive help.
Developers who aren’t ready to use the scripting language can turn to the Action Wizard, which automatically writes scripts for them. Developers simply choose an action from a categorized list and fill in the requested information fields. The Action Wizard does the rest, eliminating the need for any scripting or programming experience.
Other highlights of AutoPlay Media Studio 8 include Blu-ray disc burning, Lua 5.1 scripting engine, application styles/skinning, integrated database access (MySQL, SQLite3, ODBC, Oracle), improved debugging features, rolling code data security, and dozens more.
AutoPlay Media Studio 8 is compatible with Microsoft Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP. The software sells for $295 (USD) per developer (or $995 for the 5 developer Team Pack) and can be purchased from most software development tools vendors or online at http://www.indigorose.com. A free trial version is available for download.
Additionally, a ‘Personal Edition’ of AutoPlay Media Studio 8 is available free of charge for non-commercial applications, such as students, hobbyists and people writing public domain and open source software. It can be downloaded directly from http://www.autoplay.org.
About Indigo Rose Software Design Corporation
Privately held, Indigo Rose Software has been developing innovative software products and multimedia authoring tools since 1991 that are used by thousands of corporate, government and ISV customers around the world. Indigo Rose is headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada, and can be found on the Internet at http://www.indigorose.com.
Red Hat Prevails in Federal District Court
[ Comments Off ] Posted on 04.30.10 under Development
RALEIGH, N.C.–Red Hat, Inc., the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, announced that today a jury in federal court in Marshall, Texas, returned a verdict in favor of Red Hat, Inc. and Novell, Inc. in a case alleging patent infringement brought by IP Innovation LLC, a subsidiary of Acacia Research Corporation and Technology Licensing Corporation.
The patents at issue were found to be invalid and worthless.
“This is the result we expected and we are gratified that the jury recognized the tremendous innovative value of open source software. The jury knocked out three invalid patents that were masquerading as a new and important inventions, when they were not,” said Michael Cunningham, Executive Vice President at Red Hat. “We appreciate the jury’s wisdom and remain committed to providing value to our customers, including through our Open Source Assurance program. We also remain stalwart in resisting bogus shakedown tactics.”
About Red Hat, Inc.
Red Hat, the world’s leading provider of open source solutions and a component of the S&P 500, is headquartered in Raleigh, NC with over 65 offices spanning the globe. CIOs ranked Red Hat as one of the top vendors delivering value in Enterprise Software for six consecutive years in the CIO Insight Magazine Vendor Value survey. Red Hat provides high-quality, affordable technology with its operating system platform, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, together with virtualization, applications, management and Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) solutions, including Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization and JBoss Enterprise Middleware. Red Hat also offers support, training and consulting services to its customers worldwide. Learn more: http://www.redhat.com.
Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 and Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Available
[ Comments Off ] Posted on 04.26.10 under Development
Silverlight 4 will release to Web this week; next wave of developer tools and technologies re-defines simplicity, creates new opportunities for developers.
REDMOND, Wash. — April 11, 2010 — Kicking off a global launch consisting of more than 150 developer-focused events, Microsoft Corp. announced the general availability of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4. The company also announced that Silverlight 4 will release to Web (RTW) later in the week. Together, these technologies simplify the entire development process, enabling developers to target new platforms and build high-quality applications. Developers will be able to download Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 in conjunction with the Microsoft Visual Studio Conference & Expo launch event in Las Vegas.
“We’re excited to celebrate the launch of Visual Studio 2010 with developers around the world today,” said Bob Muglia, president of the Server and Tools Business at Microsoft. “Customer and partner feedback was instrumental in shaping this release. The functionality of Visual Studio 2010, .NET Framework 4 and Silverlight 4 creates a powerful and unique combination, opening up new opportunities for developers to build applications that take advantage of new and existing devices, as well as emerging platforms like cloud services.”
In addition, approximately 50 partners, including Micro Focus, Quest Software Inc., Telerik and Developer Express Inc., announced availability of products and solutions built on this latest wave of technologies. With the 2010 release of Visual Studio, developers will have access to popular partner extensions earlier than ever.
“Our customers rely on us to solve for the unique needs of their businesses, and in order to do that, we need tools and technologies that enable maximum efficiency, reliability, integration and creativity,” said Peter Duffell, vice president of Strategic Partners at Micro Focus. “Our next-generation developer tools build on the already-proven capabilities of Visual Studio, .NET Framework and Silverlight and expand the value to our customers even further.”
Enhancements for Everyone
Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 have something for every developer. The new editor, now using Windows Presentation Foundation, delivers a more flexible, feature-rich environment that supports concepts such as the use of multiple monitors. This enables a developer to have one monitor with code, another with the user interface designer, and yet another with database structure.
With support for the latest Microsoft releases, developers can use their existing skills to create more types of applications than ever. Built-in support for Windows 7 multitouch and “ribbon” interfaces delivers stunning applications to end users. For the first time, developers have integrated access to SharePoint functionality into the Visual Studio integrated development environment. Windows Azure tools make it easy to quickly develop, debug, test and deploy cloud applications from within the familiar Visual Studio environment. Built-in support for ASP.NET Model-View-Controller gives developers the flexibility to separately update the appearance and core business logic of Web applications. Windows® Phone 7 developers will be able to build amazing mobile applications using Visual Studio with integrated phone design surfaces. Silverlight 4 creates a whole new way to deliver compelling applications that run inside and outside the browser.
To address the growing complexity of software development, Visual Studio 2010 provides powerful tools for the entire team. IntelliTrace, a “time machine” for developers and testers, makes nonreproducible bugs virtually a thing of the past by recording the application’s execution history and providing reproduction of the reported bug, enabling the tester to help squash the bug once and for all. This is just one of the many new features that have been added to help with Application Lifecycle Management, representing a quantum leap for anyone using the Visual Studio Team System products from 2005 or 2008.
“The enhanced testing features in Visual Studio 2010 automate the majority of common tasks and streamline the flow of information across our team,” said Steve Schlonski, vice president, Xerox Global Services, Global Technology and Offering Development. “This has led to a significant productivity increase; when you combine this with the ability to have a single unified view of project status, it dramatically drives down project risk.”
.NET Framework 4 adds additional support for industry standards, more language choice, new support for high-performance middle-tier applications including parallel programming, and side-by-side installation with .NET Framework 3.5. With the .NET Framework 4 Client Profile, the size of the runtime has been decreased by over 80 percent, making it easier for developers to get applications, and therefore users, up and running faster.
Silverlight 4, which will RTW later this week, offers powerful media and business application capabilities that enable developers to deliver compelling application experiences on or off the Web. New features in Silverlight 4 include extended out-of-browser capabilities, enhancements for enterprise application developers, and more than 60 customizable pre-written controls to quickly build rich, interactive applications.
Product Information and Availability
• To download, purchase or get more information on Visual Studio 2010: http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio
• To download or get more information on the .NET Framework: http://www.microsoft.com/net
• To download or get more information on Silverlight 4: http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.
Windows Phone 7 Series Developer Tools Rolled Out
[ Comments Off ] Posted on 03.15.10 under Development
LAS VEGAS – March 15, 2010 – Charlie Kindel, one of the key thinkers behind the Windows Phone 7 Series development platform that’s being unveiled today here at MIX10, admits he’s the kind of guy who wears his heart on his sleeve. Talk to him about technology, and his passion bursts at the seams.
Now that he’s done leading the engineering efforts to build a development platform for the new Windows Phone, he’s ready to take his passion on the road and pitch it to developers.
“Evangelism is a great word to describe what we do,” says Kindel, partner group program manager for the Windows Phone 7 Developer Experience. “In many ways, if you want to be successful in getting a platform adopted, you need to get people to believe. You need them to have faith that the tools and opportunities are really great and exciting.”
His role as evangelist officially begins today in Las Vegas at MIX10, a three-day conference for Web developers and designers. After a month of hearing little about how to build games and apps for the Windows phone, developers at the conference are being introduced to the Windows Phone 7 Series development tools and given a tour of the platform, which uses both XNA Game Studio and Silverlight.
Onstage at MIX, Kindel will announce the availability of Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone, which is specifically designed for building Windows Phone applications and is now available free in a single download at http://developer.windowsphone.com. Visual Studio 2010 Express includes an emulator that will allow developers to build and test their applications directly on their PCs in a virtualized Windows Phone 7 OS environment. That means developers won’t need the phone hardware to get started at building phone apps.
Kindel will also tell attendees they can get a free version of Microsoft Expression Blend specifically designed to help them build apps for the new phone. They can use it to build graphical interfaces for Silverlight applications.
As Kindel views it, the aim of the new tools is to give developers a “friction-free” way to build Windows Phone 7 Series applications and games. The goal is to make developers “super-productive very quickly” building “innovative and beautiful user experiences.”
Perhaps no one is more prepared to tell developers what the new suite of Windows Phone tools can do.
The longtime Microsoft employee joined the phone team a little more than a year ago. Previously he was focused on designing and building Windows Home Server from the ground up, which he viewed as a perfect job. “In many ways, I was living the dream,” he says. “I had plugged away for many, many years at Microsoft on the big idea that I had about enabling the connected home and building a home server.”
Then he was approached by Andy Lees, senior vice president of the Mobile Communications Business, about joining an effort to redesign Microsoft’s mobile phone offering.
Kindle soon became part of the team that was making big changes on everything from the core engineering systems to the partner ecosystem. Now, a year later and with the new Windows Phone coming out in the upcoming holiday season, Kindel is proud of what’s coming. But the job isn’t done yet, he said. Now it’s time to get the people who will build the applications and games that will run on the new phone excited.
Kindel will do it by sharing his passion, which has been burning for a long time. As he likes to joke: “People will say, ‘My first experience on a computer was with a punch card.’ Well, when I started out with computers, we didn’t have ones; we only had zeros.”
When he was 10, Kindel visited his uncle’s factory in Michigan. His uncle sat him down in front of an Apple II and fired up a video game. As Kindel played Castle, he noticed the manual for the Applesoft programming language sitting next to the computer. He cracked it open and realized he could in essence break into the monitor and lift the source code. He did just that, modifying the game to the point it was no longer playable. He saved the file, shut off the computer, and never told his uncle.
Kindel was hooked by that little escapade. “That excitement always stuck with me,” he said, “that realization that, ‘Hey, you can go inside these things and change them and make them do interesting things.’”
The passion for computing hit a fever pitch when he was a college student in Arizona, where he started a business writing shareware. It was then, during the days of Windows 2.1, that he realized Microsoft’s OS would win. “I read the tea leaves then as a college student and decided I wanted to come work at Microsoft,” he said.
After graduating college in 1990, he left Arizona for the Pacific Northwest. His first job at Microsoft was supporting third-party developers on Windows 2.1 and 3.0. Even back then, he was focused on getting developers excited about Microsoft’s platform. He hopes to continue doing that today with the Windows Phone 7 Series development platform, because that’s what it will take to win in the mobile phone space, he said.
“More than anything, my job is to get all sorts of developers, both here at Microsoft and outside of it, to effectively do my job for me,” Kindel said. “And not because they’re marketers, or simply because they understand the story, but because they just know it’s the right thing. We’ll be successful when we have everybody else talking to everybody else about how great it is to build for this platform.”