Microsoft is going out of their way to provide free Windows Phone 7 development training to get people to develop for the Windows Phone 7 devices that are going to be hitting the market in the next few months. The WP7 operating system has already hit manufacturing, so it is just a matter of time before the deluge of devices starts flowing.
Dave Bost is a Microsoft developer evangelist in my local area. He told me that there have already been more than 300,000 downloads of the WP7 developer tools. To help people use these tools, he is leading Windows Phone 7 Boot Camps in several cities. These WP7 boot camps will provide guidance around building applications and games for Windows Phone 7. The camps will also include hands-on labs for actually jumping into the code. To take advantage of the hands-on labs, you have to bring your computer, which you should have set up with the Windows Phone Developer Tools and Windows Phone 7 Training Kit that can both be downloaded in advance.
The schedule and cities Dave provided are:
Windows Phone 7 Boot Camp
8:00 am – 8:30: Registration Opens
8:30 – 12:00pm:
· Overview of the Windows Phone 7 Platform
· An In-Depth View of Building Applications for Windows Phone 7 with Microsoft Silverlight
· WP7 + Data
12:00 – 12:30pm: Lunch
12:30 – 2:30pm:
· Building Games for Windows Phone 7 with XNA
· Making Money with the Windows Marketplace
2:30pm – 5:00pm:
· Hands-on Labs and App testing
The Windows Phone 7 Boot Camp Cities and Dates
Grand Rapids, MI 9/14/2010
Waukesha, WI 9/14/2010
Cleveland, OH 9/15/2010
Little Rock, AR 9/15/2010
St. Louis, MO 9/16/2010
Detroit, MI 9/21/2010
Austin, TX 9/22/2010
Des Moines, IA 9/23/2010
Tulsa, OK 9/28/2010
Memphis, TN 9/29/2010
Houston, TX 9/30/2010
Knoxville, TN 9/30/2010
Other Cities doing Free Windows Phone 7 Training
Of course, it isn’t just the Midwest doing this training; you can find similar training in other US cities including the following:
9/8 – Raleigh – fire/garage
9/21 – Charlotte – fire/garage
9/21 – Chevy Chase – fire/garage
9/22 – Philadelphia – fire/garage
9/28 – Pittsburg – fire/garage
9/30 – Farmington – fire/garage
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