Archetype’s Silverlight 4 Applications Showcased in PDC Keynote

As part of the keynote presentation at Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference, Scott Guthrie, Microsoft’s Corporate VP, .NET Developer Platform, showcased two of Archetype’s innovative Silverlight 4 applications . Taking advantage of Silverlight 4’s new webcam and audio capabilities, Archetype created photobooth and barcode applications. The photobooth application allows users to record and playback video and still images via webcam, as well as apply a series of pixel shader effects, including bulge, chromakey, cartoon and emboss.  The photobooth application also includes publishing capabilities, allowing users to share video and images via sites like Twitter and Facebook. During the photobooth application presentation, Scott captured a picture of himself with the bulge effect activated and published it to his Twitter account, making for an interesting profile picture.

Scott demonstrated the barcode scanning application by holding up in front of the webcam the barcode of a book he coauthored. After scanning and recognizing the barcode, the application then searched for the book and brought back a list of online retailers who carry the book, along with a picture of the book, prices and other details. Dramatically speeding up the purchasing process, the barcode application has myriad uses including finding products of all types.

Both of these demonstrations highlighted new, powerful capabilities in Silverlight, as well as Archetype’s commitment to being at the forefront of emerging technology. Through partnering with the Silverlight team, Archetype produced a set of compelling and useful applications that demonstrate the power of Silverlight 4 and its webcam support.

Coming to a City Near You: The Official Silverlight Gallery Application

Working closely with the Microsoft Silverlight Team, Archetype designed, developed and helped launch the Silverlight Evangelist Kit Gallery Application. Intended primarily for Microsoft’s worldwide Evangelists and Sales and Marketing teams, the Gallery App showcases numerous best-of-breed Silverlight applications that demonstrate key Silverlight features and functionality. Included within the Gallery App are games, RIAs and line-of-business applications all highlighting Microsoft’s partners’ innovative Silverlight-based solutions. And not only do the apps within the Gallery showcase Silverlight’s features and functionality, but features such as dynamic layout and resizing, deep linking and a lightning fast search make the Gallery app itself a lighthouse example of Silverlight.

Within the Gallery app, users can discover and view a wide array of Silverlight solutions, videos and application screenshots, along with browsing key Silverlight feature demos. The app also incorporates advanced searching, sorting, and filtering options. The app is sure to make the rounds at upcoming conferences and Microsoft events, and sourcecode could be made available for download. Stay tuned.

Archetype CEO Attends Exclusive Steve Ballmer Web Development Roundtable

Attending Microsoft’s World Wide Partner’s Conference (WPC) is a fantastic experience. The sheer breadth of companies, technologies and people that make up Microsoft’s Partner Group is amazing. Wandering the event hall, you’ll see companies focusing on everything from hosted Exchange all the way to the most esoteric applications, robotics and simulations. It is always great to see how many markets and technologies Microsoft is involved in, not only through platforms and technologies but as business units and areas of market focus. 

Needless to say, experiencing all of this in one venue is a great experience. But perhaps even better was talking to the CEO running it all, Steve Ballmer. Along with a few other leading technology firms in the web space, I was invited to an exclusive Steve Ballmer roundtable discussion centered around Microsoft’s Web Development Platform.

Far from a formal presentation of Microsoft’s web dev strategy, this was an open dialogue where the group exchanged ideas and gave feedback on Microsoft’s future web strategies around .NET, Silverlight, SharePoint, Visual Studio and other Microsoft technologies. We discussed with Ballmer the current market trends we’re seeing and experiencing in web and RIA development, as well as our perceptions of Microsoft’s strengths and challenges.  Archetype is proud to have been a part of this discussion and have the opportunity to share our perspective with Ballmer and the rest of the group.

Silverlight 3, Not Just for Breakfast Anymore…

We just got back from the official Silverlight 3 launch at the Intercontinental, right near our offices in San Francisco. Before I get to the event, I have to mention the swag: Microsoft gave all the attendees a PaperShow Kit. I haven’t cracked the seal yet, but this looks to be one of the better conference giveaways I’ve had in a while.  Yes, better than the mini fans, logo key chains, and countless insulated mugs (most of which no longer have lids).

While we’ve been working with several of the new features in Silverlight for quite some time (you can see several demo apps and videos we created at www.microsoft.com/silverlight), one of things that struck me this morning is how rapidly the platform has advanced.  As Scott Guthrie and Soma Somosegar noted, the first version was launched in early 2007, the second managed code and more robust version in September of 2008, and now we’re at Silverlight 3. That’s a pretty impressive pace for a mature software development platform, let alone a relatively new one. No sleeping allowed in Redmond.

As with other launch events, Microsoft brought on stage an impressive lineup of partners, who showcased a variety of solutions ranging from media-related apps to line-of-business solutions. Video still seems to be at the heart of the Silverlight story, and Microsoft underscored this with a live Smooth Streaming demo as well as several other video-related showcase pieces. The two other big ticket items were Sketchflow, a  prototyping system built into Expression Blend 3, and Out of Browser. We’d seen Sketchflow at Mix and have been playing with it for the last few months, but it was interesting to see and hear reactions from other attendees to whom it was brand new. People are intrigued to say the least. While I don’t think I can watch another one of Microsoft’s ‘broken egg metaphor’ presentations, they’re definitely working hard at closing the designer/developer gap. As for Silverlight Out of Browser apps, the possibilities are vast. Accenture showed off a nice video portal application that can launched from the Start Menu or desktop and taken offline. But this is largely uncharted territory and there are tons of other possibilities.

Luminate - Archetype’s Recycling Game

Amongst many cool things in both the LA and Austin Phizzpop design challenges, one of the best was the wide open nature of the contests. Far from being limited to a single approach, participants were actively encouraged to use the best technologies, applications and platforms for whatever solution they were creating. And with the Austin Phizzpop challenge centered on sustainability, we developed a wide array of eco-centric applications focused on everyone from business people to consumers to students in the local elementary school.

One such application is Luminate, which you can play here:

http://www.luminateaustin.com/

Built using Silverlight, the game teaches kids how to recycle. As you’ll see once you open the game, you can use the left-right arrows and spacebar to maneuver and drop items into the appropriate bins. If you select the wrong bin, the item will bounce out and onto the ground. As more and more items fall out of the bins, the ground is raised until it covers the city. Yep, you’ve just trashed your once-beautiful city! Game over, man.

Since the design contest was based in Austin, the current game reflects the specific recycling and composting rules for that area. Also, the game was showcased by Microsoft at the recent Web 2.0 conference as the first application on the MySpace Silverlight platform.

Play it, share it, and don’t let Austin get trashed!

Archetype wins Microsoft’s Phizzpop LA Design Challenge with their ‘Resonate’ Music Platform

In less than a week, Archetype designed and created the Resonate Music Platform utilizing Microsoft Technologies. Resonate, Archetype’s Phizzpop-winning solution, is a global music and community-based platform that takes advantage of several Microsoft technologies such as Silverlight, WPF, Mobile, and Live Services.

Resonate connects people around the world through music and rich media. It was created for everyone from the most diehard fans to the casual listening stay-at-home dad – from the biggest bands in the world, to the indie artist who plays at your local pub. Resonate isn’t just another media portal, it’s much, much more. It’s mobile. It’s desktop. It’s web. Fans can discover, share, listen to and purchase music, and follow their favorite bands around the globe.

Bands stay connected with their fans through releasing music, videos and merchandise through the resonate WPF Blogging and Sales Analytics tool. Band managers and labels stay in touch with their artists directly through the Resonate Silverlight Portal. Managers can leverage the power of the record labels by using Resonate connect everyone from indie to well-established artists to marketing, venue, sales, and distribution opportunities. Fans can also find new bands, venues, and other opportunities to connect with their favorite, and newly-discovered bands though the powerful Silverlight mapping engine provided by the Resonate system.

Resonate also integrates a mobile video upload system into the platform. Fans around the world can upload and share mobile videos across the Resonate platform.

Archetype to Compete in Microsoft’s PhizzPop Challenge in Los Angeles

Archetype is set to compete in the Microsoft PhizzPop challenge in Los Angeles on February 20th, 2009. The winners of the LA challenge will compete for the grand prize with other winners from challenges around the country at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas. Come watch us create concepts for advanced applications using Expression Studio and the Silverlight Platform.

Archetype Co-Creates New Silverlight User Group

Archetype teams up with Microsoft, McCann and Vertigo to create the San Francisco Silverlight User Group. If you are interested in learning more about Silverlight, we would love to have you join us at one of our meetings. To find out more contact us.

Archetype CEO Speaks at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference

Danny Riddell holds session on the Business of Silverlight in the Web Partners track at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference 2008. This is the first year with a Web track at WPC.