It's been six-months since the public unveiling of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7. The company today stated that while the handsets themselves may not yet be on the shelves, an enormous amount of activity has been taking place behind the scenes, particularly among its developer community.
Microsoft says that to date, there have been more than of 300,000 downloads of the Windows Phone Developer Tools (Beta) and that the final Windows Phone Developer Tools will be available for download from September 16.
"The past six months have affirmed that a rich application platform based on the well-understood Silverlight and XNA technologies, combined with the free tools based on Visual Studio 2010 and Expression Blend, is the right approach for enabling developers and designers of all skill levels who are looking to capitalize on the opportunities presented by Windows Phone 7," said Microsoft's OS & mobile product manager lead William Coleman.
"Building on the feedback we’ve received since the beta launch, the final tools will include several highly requested Silverlight controls, which will make it easier for developers to deliver high quality Windows Phone 7 experiences. Also in the September 16th final release, the panorama, pivot, and Bing maps controls will all be available to drop into applications," added Coleman.
As part of its Windows Phone 7 developer support services, Microsoft has also introduced a new online training resource called Jump Start with 12 hours of classroom training and supporting exercises — as well as the Windows Phone 7 Developer Training Kit.
