Windows Phone Tools Aimed at Richer Mobile Apps

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Jennifer LeClaire, newsfactor.com – Wed Apr 13, 4:26 pm ET

Microsoft is doing a lot of teasing these days -- teasing about the next iterations of some of its products, that is. Besides offering a sneak peak at Internet Explorer 10, Microsoft on Wednesday also offered a glimpse of the next version of the Windows Phone operating system at its MIX11 conference in Las Vegas.

Microsoft will roll out a new version of Windows Phone 7 later this year. With it, Microsoft promised developers more hardware capabilities, better browsing and improved tooling, and expanded opportunities and Windows Phone Marketplace options. The goal is to create a richer application environment that expands mobile usage scenarios.

Joe Belfiore, vice president of Windows phone program management, called the next release of Windows Phone an evolution of Microsoft's strategy to make sure developers are at the forefront of what's next. He explained, "We will soon deliver a new set of Windows Phone developer tools that will enable developers to create a new generation of apps that are even faster, more capable, and better integrated with Windows Phone."

Leveraging Live Tiles

Some of the improvements to Windows Phone developer tools include a performance profiler and sensor simulation. That upgrade will make way for developers to build more integrated applications.

For example, the new tools make possible application multitasking for background processing, audio and file transfers, and fast application switching. It also lets developers integrate apps with the platform more deeply so the apps can take better advantage of Live Tiles. Live Tiles are dynamically updated to show real-time content. This differs from traditional static icons that offer stepping stones to an application.

Finally, Windows Phone tools allow access to the camera and motion-sensor library so developers can build apps that incorporate device hardware and build augmented reality experiences. This could be especially significant for mobile gaming.

Microsoft also offered a glimpse of app concepts for the next version of Windows Phone, including new looks at Skype, Spotify, Layar, Qantas, Amazon Shopping, and Kik Messenger. The free developer tools will be available in May.

Will Microsoft Meet the Deadline?

So what does the next Windows Phone need to look like to draw new developers and handset makers? A lot like what Microsoft showed at MIX, according to Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Gartner.

He said it's unlikely that Nokia will build devices based on the existing Windows Phone platform. The handset maker is more likely to roll out its first devices with the new Mango platform showcased at MIX on Wednesday. It's important for Microsoft to meet the development deadline, he said, so Nokia can ship a flagship device with the new release this calendar year.

"What Microsoft showed certainly covers a multitude of issues that both users and developers had in the first release," Gartenberg said. "The key for Microsoft is going to be getting this out the door and getting it onto existing and new devices. This next update is super-important for existing customer satisfaction and to help drive the platform forward for the holidays and into 2012."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20110413/tc_nf/78142;_ylt=Aj7Rikv2IjCheYHlN47m0Arw7rEF;_ylu=X3oDMTJiaW80Mm5mBGFzc2V0A25mLzIwMTEwNDEzLzc4MTQyBHBvcwM1BHNlYwN5bl9wYWdpbmF0ZV9zdW1tYXJ5X2xpc3QEc2xrA3dpbmRvd3NwaG9uZQ--

Father-son duo are world class competitors, despite odds

When Rick Hoyt was 15, he communicated something to his father that changed both their lives. "Dad," the mute quadriplegic wrote in his computer after his father pushed him in a wheelchair in a five-kilometer race, "I felt like I wasn't handicapped." Rick, now 37, has had cerebral palsy since birth. But he has always been treated simply as one of the family, included by his now-divorced parents in almost everything brothers Rob and Russell did. "They told us to put Rick away, in an institution, (because) he's going to be nothing but a vegetable for the rest of his life," his father remembers. "We said, 'No, we're not going to do that. We're going to bring Rick home and bring him up like any other child,'" says Dick Hoyt, 59, a retired lieutenant colonel with the Air National Guard. "And this is what we have done." For more than 20 years, Dick has either towed, pushed or carried Rick in a string of athletic challenges including every Boston Marathon since 1981 and, most recently, last month's Ironman Triathlon World Championships in Hawaii. But mental determination and physical stamina tell only part of the Hoyt story. A message of independence and acceptance typed by Rick on his computer complete the picture: "When I am running, my disability seems to disappear. It is the only place where truly I feel as an equal. Due to all the positive feedback, I do not feel handicapped at all. Rather, I feel that I am the intelligent person that I am with no limits. I have a message for the world which is this: To take time to get to know people with disabilities for the individuals they are."



http://www.wanttoknow.info/inspirationalnewsarticles-120-20

Illinois sheriff scolds banks for evictions of 'innocent' renters

An outraged sheriff in Illinois who refuses to evict ... renters from foreclosed homes criticized mortgage companies ... and said the law should protect victims of the mortgage meltdown. Sheriff Thomas J. Dart said earlier he is suspending foreclosure evictions in Cook County, which includes the city of Chicago. The county had been on track to reach a record number of evictions, many because of mortgage foreclosures. "Many good tenants are suffering because building owners have fallen behind on their mortgage payments," he said Thursday on CNN's "American Morning." "These poor people are seeing everything they own put out on the street. ... They've paid their bills, paid them on time. Here we are with a battering ram at the front door going to throw them out. It's gotten insane," he said. Mortgage companies are supposed to identify a building's occupants before asking for an eviction, but sheriff's deputies routinely find that the mortgage companies have not done so, Dart said. "This is an example where the banking industry has not done any of the work they should do. It's a piece of paper to them," Dart said. "These mortgage companies ... don't care who's in the building," Dart said. "They simply want their money and don't care who gets hurt along the way. "On top of it all, they want taxpayers to fund their investigative work for them. We're not going to do their jobs for them anymore. We're just not going to evict innocent tenants. It stops today. When you're blindly sending me out to houses where I'm coming across innocent tenant after innocent tenant, I can't keep doing this and have a good conscience about it."



http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/08/chicago.evictions/index.html

Norway conquers infections by cutting use of antibiotics 2010-01-11, Miami Herald/Associated Press

At a microscopic level [Aker University Hospital] is pristine. There is no sign of a dangerous and contagious staph infection that killed tens of thousands of patients in the most sophisticated hospitals of Europe, North America and Asia last year, soaring virtually unchecked. The reason: Norwegians stopped taking so many drugs. Twenty-five years ago, Norwegians were also losing their lives to this bacteria. But Norway's public health system fought back with an aggressive program that made it the most infection-free country in the world. A key part of that program was cutting back severely on the use of antibiotics. Now a spate of new studies from around the world prove that Norway's model can be replicated with extraordinary success, and public health experts are saying these deaths -- 19,000 in the U.S. each year alone, more than from AIDS -- are unnecessary. The World Health Organization says antibiotic resistance is one of the leading public health threats on the planet. A six-month investigation by The Associated Press found overuse and misuse of medicines has led to mutations in once curable diseases like tuberculosis and malaria, making them harder and in some cases impossible to treat. Now, in Norway's simple solution, there's a glimmer of hope.'


http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/01/11/1420165/norway-conquers-infections-by.html

What Could You Live Without?

It all began with a stop at a red light. Kevin Salwen, a writer ... in Atlanta, was driving his 14-year-old daughter, Hannah, back from a sleepover in 2006. While waiting at a traffic light, they saw a black Mercedes coupe on one side and a homeless man begging for food on the other. “Dad, if that man had a less nice car, that man there could have a meal,” Hannah protested. [Hannah] pestered her parents about inequity, insisting that she wanted to do something. “What do you want to do?” her mom responded. “Sell our house?” Warning! Never suggest a grand gesture to an idealistic teenager. Hannah seized upon the idea of selling the luxurious family home and donating half the proceeds to charity, while using the other half to buy a more modest replacement home. Eventually, that’s what the family did. The project — crazy, impetuous and utterly inspiring — is chronicled in a book by father and daughter: The Power of Half. Mr. Salwen and his wife, Joan, had always assumed that their kids would be better off in a bigger house. But after they downsized, there was much less space to retreat to, so the family members spent more time around each other. A smaller house unexpectedly turned out to be a more family-friendly house.“We essentially traded stuff for togetherness and connectedness,” Mr. Salwen [said], adding, “I can’t figure out why everybody wouldn’t want that deal.”


Note: For a treasure trove of other inspiring stories reported in the major media http://www.wanttoknow.info/inspirationalnewsarticles

http://www.wanttoknow.info/inspirationalnewsarticles

A change of heart changes everything

A California institute demonstrates how people can actually make their heart beat in a healthier way. HeartMath’s research shows that emotions work much faster, and are more powerful, than thoughts. And that—when it comes to the human body—the heart is much more important than the brain to overall health and well-being. Briefly re-experiencing a cherished memory creates synchronization in your heart rhythm in mere seconds. Using a simple prescription that consists of a number of exercises that anyone can do anywhere in a few minutes ... HeartMath is successfully battling the greatest threat to health, happiness and peace in this world: stress. A successful anti-stress strategy provides results precisely at the moment the stress is experienced. This is what HeartMath does, which is why its client list now includes such leading companies as Hewlett Packard, Shell, Unilever, Cisco Systems, and Boeing. HeartMath ... has published a large body of scientific research in established and respected publications such as the Harvard Business Review and the American Journal of Cardiology. You can learn the techniques in five minutes and get positive results if you do them a few times a day for 30 seconds. Feelings of compassion, love, care and appreciation produce a smoothly rolling ... heart rhythm, while feelings of anger, frustration, fear and danger emit a jagged ... image. When people experience love, they not only feel happy and joyful, but they also produce ... the hormone that prevents aging and gives us feelings of youthful vitality. HeartMath’s slogan – a change of heart changes everything – pretty much sums it up. We can change the world, starting with ourselves.

http://www.heartmath.org.

Strongest Dad In the World

Eighty-five times [Dick Hoyt has] pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars -- all in the same day. Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. And what has Rick done for his father? Not much -- except save his life. This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs. "He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life," Dick says doctors told him. But the Hoyts weren't buying it. [Eventually,] rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was...able to communicate. First words? "Go Bruins!" And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, "Dad, I want to do that." Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described "porker" who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. "Then it was me who was handicapped," Dick says. "I was sore for two weeks." That day changed Rick's life. "Dad," he typed, "when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!

http://www.weboflove.org/050917dadtrulycares