US DPE Azure Connection
We are Technology Evangelists from Microsoft's US Developer & Platform Evangelism (DPE) team focused on Windows Azure and cloud computing. US DPE Azure Connection is where you can keep up with all of our cloud-related blog posts. You can also find
Microsoft DevRadio: (Part 2) Using Windows Azure to Build Back-End Services for Windows 8 Apps
Abstract: Peter Laudati, Brian Hitney and Andrew Duthie are back for part 2 of their series and in...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 02/20/2013
More fun with pixel art–pointing at things (sort of)
Keep your guns pointed at stuff! No excuses! How to do it with beautiful old school sprites!
Author: Adam Hoffman Date: 02/19/2013
Skipping SSL Connections Locally
When developing locally, often times you don’t want to use SSL for a variety of reasons. ...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 02/19/2013
WinRT RoamingSettings and Serialization
Recently, a colleague of mine, Adam Hoffman, posted a great tip on serializing a generic...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 02/18/2013
Old School Pixelated Resizer–My Gift To You
Man, I miss the good old days of classic video games. Now that I'm trying to start writing a few...
Author: Adam Hoffman Date: 02/17/2013
Serializing unsupported data types to ApplicationData.Current.RoamingSettings
RoamingSettings is a great way to roam configuration data between your machines, but sometimes you...
Author: Adam Hoffman Date: 02/13/2013
Microsoft DevRadio: (Part 1) Using Windows Azure to Build Back-End Services for Windows 8 Apps
Abstract: Peter Laudati and Brian Hitney welcome fellow Developer Evangelist, Andrew Duthie to the...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 02/07/2013
Win8 Apps: Check for Network Connectivity
A lot of apps require internet connectivity to function – like my app, Dark Skies. One...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 02/05/2013
Short Post: #AmusingCode
This put a smile on my face today: void App_UnhandledException(object sender,...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 02/04/2013
Side Loading Windows 8 Apps
At the Columbia Windows 8 DevCamp this weekend, the topic of side-loading apps came up in a few...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 01/24/2013
Windows Azure Media Services Now Generally Available
I’m pleased to announce that Windows Azure Media Encoding, Encoding Reserved Unit, and On-Demand...
Author: Clint Edmonson Date: 01/23/2013
Dark Skies for Windows 8 Updated
I’m happy to finally have the next update to Dark Skies in the Windows 8 store! In the initial...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 01/21/2013
Microsoft DevRadio: How to Integrate TFS Projects with Windows Azure Web Sites
Never too late to post! Here’s an episode of DevRadio Peter and I did on TFS Projects in...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 01/21/2013
Dealing with Expired Channels in Windows Azure Mobile Services
What’s this? Another Windows Azure Mobile Services (WAMS) post?! In the next version of...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 01/18/2013
Upcoming Events
Lots of great events coming up in the Carolinas: 1/18/2013 Charlotte, NC: We’re hosting...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 01/17/2013
IaaS in the Cloud Bootcamp
Whether you build apps or support the infrastructure that runs the apps, the cloud can be a really...
Author: Brian H. Prince Date: 01/14/2013
Scrubbing UserId in Windows Azure Mobile Services
First, many thanks to Chris Risner for the assistance on this solution! Chris is part of...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 01/10/2013
Windows Azure Mobile Services Update
It has been less than four months since we introduced the first public preview for Windows Azure...
Author: Clint Edmonson Date: 01/09/2013
Calling Stored Procedures from Windows Azure Mobile Services
I was surprised, yet delighted, that Windows Azure Mobile Services uses a SQL database. ...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 01/07/2013
Best Practice for Sending Windows 8 Tiles from Mobile Services
Those that know me know I am not a fan of javascript, in pretty much all of its forms (including...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 01/07/2013
Handling enum values with type converters in Windows Azure Mobile Services
Windows Azure Mobile Services is the bomb, but how can we work with enum values?
Author: Adam Hoffman Date: 01/05/2013
Rock, Paper, Azure Re-launch!
I’m a little late getting this out (pesky vacations and all) but we re-launched Rock, Paper, Azure...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 01/04/2013
The Rock, Paper, Azure Challenge is Back!
I’m excited to announce that we have re-launched the Rock, Paper, Azure challenge! For the next 6...
Author: Clint Edmonson Date: 12/19/2012
Developing iOS Applications with a cloud back end
Are you developing iOS apps? Is it more than a toy? Need a data service? Want to send some push...
Author: Adam Hoffman Date: 12/11/2012
TouchDevelop: The Fast Path to Windows 8 and Phone Apps
Are you looking for a little extra cash for the upcoming holidays? Then you might be interested in...
Author: Clint Edmonson Date: 12/04/2012
Windows 8 Pop Up (and Under), Setting up Family PC Settings
The worst best part about being the Microsoft guru when a new OS ships is configuring PCs for family...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 11/13/2012
Azure this Week!
Lots of things going on in Windows Azure this week! First up, I’ll be presenting at the TRINUG...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 11/12/2012
A Windows 8 Feature You Won’t See or Talk About, but Everyone Loves
I’m going to talk about one of my favorite Windows 8 features – it’s one that everyone will love,...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 11/09/2012
Windows Azure Training Kit October 2012 Release
The Windows Azure Technical Evangelism team have been busy bees lately and we want to share with you...
Author: Clint Edmonson Date: 11/08/2012
Microsoft DevRadio: (Part 2) Windows Azure Web Sites Explained
Peter Laudati , Brian Hitney and Windows Azure Technical Evangelist Brady Gaster conclude their...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 10/23/2012
Gen Appathon announcement
I try not to just copy and paste stuff to my blog, but for event announcements there really isn’t...
Author: Brian H. Prince Date: 10/23/2012
Windows Azure Mobile Services Updates Keep Coming
Some exciting new Windows Azure Mobile Services features were delivered to production this week. The...
Author: Clint Edmonson Date: 10/18/2012
Enabling cross domain access to Windows Azure Blobs from Flash clients
Need to hook up your Flash app to Windows Azure Blob Storage? Here's how.
Author: Adam Hoffman Date: 10/15/2012
Microsoft DevRadio: (Part 1) What is Windows Azure Web Sites?
Peter Laudati and Brian Hitney welcome Windows Azure Technical Evangelist Brady Gaster to the show...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 10/15/2012
Update to Windows Azure Management Portal
This past week we released several changes to the portal. As many of you know, we released the ‘new’...
Author: Brian H. Prince Date: 10/12/2012
Unpacking from CloudCon-2012, Dalian, China
I was asked many months ago to travel to Dalian and present at the first annual world congress for...
Author: Brian H. Prince Date: 10/12/2012
Dogfood 2012 Conference Announced
Dog Food Conference 2012 is a 2 day conference sponsored and managed by community IT professionals...
Author: Brian H. Prince Date: 10/11/2012
Unpacking from DevReach 2012
Wow! Just got back from DevReach in Sofia, Bulgaria. What a great event. I have never felt more like...
Author: Brian H. Prince Date: 10/11/2012
Microsoft DevRadio: How to Get Started with Windows Azure
Peter Laudati and I kick off our new Windows Azure series by giving us a tour of what’s new in Azure...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 10/11/2012
Windows 8 DevCamp Charlotte 10/12!
Don’t forget – we have our weekly Windows 8 DevCamp in Charlotte tomorrow, 10/12! In this week's...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 10/11/2012
Feature Updates to the Windows Azure Portal
Lots of activity over at the Windows Azure portal this weekend, including some exciting new features...
Author: Clint Edmonson Date: 10/09/2012
Windows Azure Virtual Machine Test Drive Kit
The public preview of hosted Virtual Machines in Windows Azure is now available to the general...
Author: Clint Edmonson Date: 09/27/2012
Cloud OS Signature Event Series Preparation
I hope to see many of you at the Microsoft Cloud OS Signature Event Series. For those attending,...
Author: Brian H. Prince Date: 09/25/2012
Windows 8 Event Resources
Here are some resources for the Windows 8 Events we’re doing today in Raleigh: Slides and Cookbook...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 09/25/2012
Free Windows Store and Phone Developer Accounts for MSDN Subscribers
If you are a member/subscriber to any of the following programs you are eligible to receive...
Author: Clint Edmonson Date: 09/21/2012
Coding for Kids #3. Bugs!
In the first post, we introduced the problem. We’re writing a program that solves the problem...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 09/21/2012
Windows 8 DevCamp: Raleigh
Microsoft RD Jim Duffy and I are hosting a series of events, kicking off with a Windows 8 DevCamp in...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 09/18/2012
Announcing the New Windows Azure Web Sites Shared Scaling Tier
Windows Azure Web Sites has added a new pricing tier that will solve the #1 blocker for the web...
Author: Clint Edmonson Date: 09/18/2012
Coding for Kids #1. The Beginning.
My daughter, a 5th grader, has shown an occasional interest in programming but having so many...
Author: Brian T. Hitney Date: 09/18/2012