December 2006 - posts
Officially this morning, Robotics Studio was released. With Microsoft Robotics Studio, robotic applications can be developed using Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft Visual Studio Express C# and VB as well as Microsoft IronPython. Read the Press Release and the PressPass Q&A with Tandy Trower.
Supported Hardware
This is just a sample list of some of the supported robots from Robotic Studio:
· Lego Mindstorm RCX
· Lego Mindstorm NXT
· iRobot Roomba
· Phidgets interface boards, sensors and actuators
· fishertechnik
Visual Programming Language (VPL)
Targeted for beginning programmers with basic understanding of concepts like variables and logic through advanced developers needing rapid prototyping or code development, the VPL offers an abundant of features and control to get started quickly. A developer just needs to drag ‘n drop the services and connect them up. Furthermore, a collection of connected services can be created and exposed as a single programming block. While the toolbox is tailored toward developing robot applications, the underlying architecture is not limited to programming robots and could be applied to other applications. See online tutorials for developing with the VPL here.
Simulator
A key feature of the Microsoft Robotics Studio offering is the simulation runtime. It has been designed so it can be used in a wide variety of advanced scenarios with high demands for fidelity, visualization and scaling. At the same time a novice can use simulation with little to no coding experience. For a more detailed overview of the simulator, visit the Simulation Overview page.
Deployment Tool
This exciting tool provides an easy way for developers to deploy the runtime code using only the dependencies required for a particular robot (manifest). Called DssDeploy, it simply creates a ZIP package with all necessary binaries and content for deployment to a PC-based robot or another PC.
Getting Started
Microsoft Robotics Studio downloads to get started and checkout the Channel9 Sandbox for other cool ideas.
Goed nieuws over Open XML :-)
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The new open standard safeguards the continued use of billions of existing documents and promotes document processing interoperability
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Geneva, 7 December 2006 :
At the General Assembly meeting on 7 December 2006, Ecma International approved Office Open XML as an Ecma standard (Ecma 376). The General Assembly also approved submitting the standard for adoption under the ISO/IEC JTC 1 process.
The work to standardize OpenXML has been carried out by Ecma International as part of an open, cross-industry collaboration via Technical Committee 45 (Ecma TC45), which includes representatives from Apple, Barclays Capital, BP, The British Library, Essilor, Intel, Microsoft, NextPage, Novell, Statoil, Toshiba, and the United States Library of Congress.
With more and more organizations around the world interested in achieving document processing interoperability, and creating digital archives using open formats, the Office Open XML (Open XML) formats provide an international open standard for word-processing documents, presentations, and spreadsheets that can be freely implemented across multiple applications and platforms, both today and in the future. Multiple vendors such as Corel, Microsoft and Novell already announced implementations of the Open XML standard in very popular applications such as WordPerfect, Open Office and Microsoft Office 2007.
Opening Up Billions of Documents After more than a year of work, the technical committee (Ecma TC45) produced the Open XML formats to be interoperable by design, and produced over 6.000 pages of documentation on the formats, to provide developers all the technical details needed to ensure predictable results and high fidelity interoperability when working with the standard. Thanks to the depth of the technical resources the TC45 created, the Open XML standard covers the full set of features used in the existing corpus of billions of documents. The Open XML standard addresses as well the international language needs of organizations by supporting all the major worldwide languages, and also includes information for assistive technology products to properly process documents. Developers have the flexibility to decide whether they want to take advantage of subsets or the full feature set of the Office Open XML formats. In addition the format enables organizations to integrate productivity applications with information systems that manage business processes by enabling the use of custom schemas within Open XML documents.
“The broad spectrum of sponsors from the industry and public institutions ensure the creation of an open standard that can create a wide range of possibilities for document processing, archival and interoperability” said Jan van den Beld, Secretary General of Ecma International. “The Open XML standard recognizes the benefit of backward compatibility preservation of the billions of documents that have already been created while enabling new future applications of document technology.”
The Ecma TC45 will continue to be responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the standard, and for enhancing the standard with new and innovative features while simultaneously preserving backwards compatibility. In January, Ecma International will also begin the fast track process for adoption of the Office Open XML formats as an ISO international standard under the ISO/IEC JTC 1 process.
About Ecma International
Since its inception in 1961, Ecma International (Ecma) has developed standards for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Consumer Electronics (CE). Ecma is a non-profit industry association of technology developers, vendors and users. Experts from industry and other organizations work together at Ecma to develop standards. Ecma submits its work for approval as ISO, IEC, ISO/IEC and ETSI standards and is the inventor and main practitioner of "fast tracking" of specifications through the standardisation process in International Standards Organisations (ISOs) such as the ISO and the IEC. Publications can be downloaded free of charge from http://www.ecma-international.org/.
Microsoft Press Release
Broad industry cross-collaboration effort bears fruit; Open XML to help achieve greater interoperability and greater customer choice.
REDMOND, Wash.—Dec. 7, 2006 —Today Ecma International approved Office Open XML Formats as an Ecma standard and voted to submit the new standards to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for consideration as an ISO standard through the fast-track process. For the past year, representatives from Apple Computer Inc., Barclays Capital, BP, The British Library, Essilor, Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corp., NextPage Inc., Novell Inc., Statoil ASA, Toshiba, and the U.S. Library of Congress have worked together to help ensure that the Office Open XML Formats are highly useful and interoperable in a wide variety of scenarios. The Formats have garnered positive support from a range of parties in diverse industries. More information about support for the Formats can be found at http://www.openxmldeveloper.org.
“Today’s Ecma vote is a major milestone in furthering document interoperability — we believe customers will really appreciate the benefits that Open XML provides,” said Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft. “We look forward to continuing to work with Ecma and the other contributors, extending our collaboration across the industry as part of the ISO certification process.”
The Ecma committee TC45 made significant changes to the specification and also produced more than 6,000 pages of documentation on the formats to help developers get predictable results with the formats, whether they wanted to take advantage of a few specific features or the full technology set of the formats.
In the past few weeks alone, the Ecma Open XML Formats have experienced significant industry momentum. As a result of the release of the 2007 Microsoft® Office system and separate announcements from Novell and Corel Corp. that they support Open XML in their OpenOffice.org and WordPerfect offerings, the Open XML Formats will be used by millions of customers worldwide, across both Windows® and Linux platforms. In addition, more than 750 developers have joined the Open XML Formats Developer Group, and many government and private sector customers are evaluating the benefits for their organizations.
Statement from Craig Mundie, Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft
"Microsoft Corp. has a long history of commitment to interoperability — we design it into our products from the ground up, and our Interoperability Customer Executive Council enables our customers to play a key role in this process. With billions of new Microsoft® Office documents produced every day, we wanted to do everything we could to encourage the adoption of format standards that enable interoperability and expand the potential for product innovation. Today’s vote by Ecma International to approve the Office Open XML formats as an official Ecma standard — and to submit the formats to the International Standards Organization (ISO) — represents a major step toward realizing that goal.
"The achievement of the Ecma TC45 committee managing the Open XML formats is truly remarkable, and we feel privileged to have been part of the process. Twelve companies came together in a very short period of time, recognizing the lasting benefits that they could bring to customers and the rest of the industry, and committing their best technical people to the project. Their tireless, collaborative efforts — along with the support of numerous partners — should mean that the Office Open XML formats are invaluable to different applications, on different platforms, long into the future.
"This project was an excellent example of “interoperability by design” within an open and collaborative standards process. As a starting point, Microsoft shared the technology behind billions of existing documents. Every company involved brought different perspectives and objectives, but all understood the importance of improved interoperability, functionality and security, balanced against the practical realities of document technology. The sheer length of the documentation (more than 6,000 pages) is just one indication of how thorough they were. The more detailed the specification, the more people will be able to get predictable results with the format, even with very different applications.
"I want to congratulate Ecma for its invaluable contribution to the entire industry with the Office Open XML specification — it makes an international standard of document formats already used by millions of people. It will be a privilege for Microsoft to continue partnering with this diverse and talented organization as this work evolves."
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspasson Microsoft’s corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since 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/presspass/contactpr.mspx.
Klinkt gek... Microsoft & Design. Maar eh ... Kijk eens op deze link en verbaas je :-)
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Past success in software and computing didn't require a diligent focus on user experience. Sure, it happened from time to time, but in the big scheme of things it was a novelty or an aberration that wasn't tied to market performance or product success in most cases. Even computers and software that defined their markets and were delightful to use simply didn' t capture the consumer imagination enough to become standards. These simple facts have made computers and software downright unpleasant to use over the years. Nowhere has this been more prevalent than in the enterprise.
People may sing the praises of the functional performance of enterprise software, but rarely do you hear comments about how "fun" it is to use. Rarer still is to hear praise from a development team about how "easy" enterprise software is to implement or configure. This was chalked up to the fact that computers were too primitive to adapt to us and the context in which they were used by us. Constraints of the day required that we adapted to computers and not the other way around. In short, it was the cost of doing business.
We all paid for it—but there’s good news.
Good user experience is now common in the consumer space, and it's the next domain of differentiation in the enterprise. Effective user experience in software and computing is not perceived as a nice surprise when we find it—it's now an expectation that our experiences will be pleasant, secure, productive, delightful, useful, and adaptive. If it's not in your product or service, you’re not in business—at least for very long.
Numerous periods in the 20th century challenged our consumption of mass-produced goods and visual communications through artistic movements such as those inspired by the Bauhaus school and the pioneering designers of mid-century modernism. A recurring theme in these movements was the reduction of complexity and a focus on a form that supported simplicity and an understanding of context.
In fact, much of the design of human and machine interfaces, most notably in the interfaces developed by Xerox PARC and commercialized with great success by Apple in the 1980s and Microsoft in the 1990s, have their theoretic underpinnings derived from these movements. But then as an industry, we lost our way. New features, new capabilities and a need for compatibility often trumped the desire for simplicity, ease of use, or, often, reliability. Ironically, the potential to solve many of these problems has never been more attainable as the convergence of design, software and business theory is integrated with new capabilities in manufacturing and technology.
The most recent innovators in this area were not in the areas of information technology and computing, but rather in product development and marketing. These provide omens and portents for what software and computing has to aspire to in today’s world to ensure continued relevance and success. Some game-changing moments that we can ponder...
If you were making human-powered can openers before OXO came on the scene with its rubber-coated and easy-to-use kitchen utensils, life was easier as a manufacturer of commodity kitchen accessories.
When fit and finish was measured in millimeters versus micrometers and a car that lasted five years was considered the norm, life was easier than when Toyota and Honda forced themselves to evolve to become more competitive with American automakers.
Nobody realized that the brown prescription bottle you got at the pharmacy was such an inconvenience until they got their hands on the ClearRX bottle designed by Target that redefined how prescription medication is packaged in the US.
The ubiquity of the Internet allowed an aggressive rebirth in design for computing that in the past was always promised but rarely delivered. The connectedness of our new innovations came with tradeoffs in usability and in development complexity, however.
When done well, design can make things more esthetically pleasing. When done poorly, it can complicate things. Industrialization and modular object-oriented software development has theoretically made it easy to tear things down and replace them. It made it easier for us to make poor choices, because things could always be fixed later. But the world now moves faster and our computing is vastly more complex, and our methods and tools don't scale very well to support the complexity and speed that is required in today's world. This is why internet-based application development is so compelling despite some of the tradeoffs that are made in user experience. But can it be better? What else do we need to be thinking about?
Add innovation to the mix, and things get fuzzier when it comes to measuring success. How do we define innovation today? Is it design? Is it technology? Is it marketing? What makes the iPod so compelling? It’s a beautiful and sensual consumer product, and Apple’s attention to the out-of-box and multi-channel experiences make its value much greater than the sum of its parts. But Apple also gave customers the iTunes Music Store. The music store, combined with the other innovations, made the iPod a platform that saved time and enabled choice. It was a series of innovations borne of product innovation, supply chain optimization, customer experience, service, and design, and much like the simple human-machine interfaces of the late 80s and early 90s, the iPod is a delightful way to interface with technology.
Now take a look at a product like the Xbox 360. It too is a product that is greater than the sum of its parts. It creates value as a compelling gaming system that allows social interaction with other players. Connected to a home PC with Windows Media Center, it becomes a platform for home entertainment for consumers and a multifaceted and measurable advertising platform for the enterprise, comprising innovations in product design, supply chain optimization, customer experience, service and design and community building.
Platforms that allow for connection, through a digital phone, a desktop computer, a tablet PC, or other new devices that support new ways of sharing experiences are where the next breakthroughs will occur. It's also why many of the devices that are made by Microsoft, such as Xbox, Zune, and Windows Media Center are focused on a rich and a connected experience.
The world is full of companies that are innovative because they understand their true purpose. Microsoft is a company that works to help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential. We often say we are in the software business, and we are, I suppose, but our real purpose is to be in the people business. Our core goal is to create products and services that help you see the possibilities and the potential that surrounds you every day and in every place. The only route to success with this goal is to focus on user experience in everything we do.
Microsoft has had hundreds of design and human factors professionals work on designing our products for decades. What's changed the most in the past few years? It is our expectations as users of technology and our ability as a company to deliver on your expectations and empower consumers to do the same. With the Xbox, Windows Vista, Windows Media Center, Zune, Office 2007, or our Dynamics suite, you'll see that Microsoft has focused on the experience of our products—from how you use them today, to how you'll be able to use them tomorrow.
But we haven't stopped there. We've also taken this focus in the tools we create for professional developers and designers in Visual Studio and our upcoming line of professional design tools that bridge some of the traditional challenges that exist between the designer and developer workflow without demanding that either role adapt to the environments or the constraints of the other.
Professional interaction designers have spent a lot of time of making great solutions for customers, consumers and clients. Rarely have they been able to put as much focus into the tools they use to accomplish this. I feel empowered to be a designer at Microsoft because it's perhaps one of the only companies that puts as much effort into making great design and development tools as it does in software for consumers and the enterprise. We're far from seeing the best that Microsoft has to offer with some of the technology that drives Vista, digital devices and cross-platform technologies for the Web. But the tools and the hooks into our technology are there right now. Whether you develop standards based applications for the Web, rich media applications that run in the browser, or have a desire to extend your customers' reach with next-generation technology on the desktop and in digital devices, Microsoft is creating a new paradigm for creating compelling digital experiences.