One of the things that me and my colleagues are charged with is helping create ROCK STAR developers for the Windows Phone platform. We know there are a lot of developers out there who are either working on an app but are stuck for various reasons or have a great idea but need the motivation to get started.

I’m happy to announce that we have scheduled a number of Windows Phone Accelerator Labs coming to Columbus, Minneapolis, Chicago and Dallas. The purpose of these FREE 3-day developer retreats is to give you an opportunity to work on your Windows Phone app with experts on hand to help you build, test and deploy your apps into the Windows Phone Marketplace. You will get hands-on technical assistance and developer phones for testing.

These labs are targeted for specific individuals who are currently working on apps and need assistance. Seating is very limited and we will qualify attendees through an application process.

Success will be measured with you submitting your app(s) to the Marketplace at the end of the lab.

Prerequisites

You should come prepared with your own development machine with the developer tools already installed. You can review the AppHub where you can learn about application features, understand common task for Apps and register and load your App.

Lab Locations/Dates

We’ve just added another Windows Phone Boot Camp to the schedule for Chicago on November 18th. This will be a free, full-day of learning and hands-on development around Windows Phone. If you’re a current mobile developer on those other platforms or want to learn more about building apps on Windows Phone, this is the perfect intro event for you.

Windows Phone Boot Camp
November 18th, 2011
Microsoft Technology Center, Chicago
Register at http://aka.ms/wpchicago

UPDATE: We’ve added another Boot Camp to take place in Chicago on November 18th! Register at http://aka.ms/wpchicago.

Last year, my team ran a series of boot camps to introduce the ins-and-outs of developing Windows Phone applications to the masses. In honor of the upcoming release of Windows Phone 7.5, I’m happy to announce a new round of events taking place to lay down the new development features in Windows Phone 7.5. These boot camps are a free, full-day learning environment to help you become a Rock Star developer on Windows Phone.

We kick this round of boot camps off with a special 2-day event in Austin, TX on October 3-4. The first day will be our standard boot camp, where as the 2nd day will be a full hands-on lab learning opportunity with experts on hand to help you along the way. We’ll follow up with events in Dallas (Oct. 11), Columbus, OH (Oct. 12), Minneapolis (Nov. 10) and Chicago (Nov. 18).

Get more details for each city at:

For additional cities across the US, check out http://msdnevents.com.

As part of the upcoming Chicago Ideas Week, I am excited to be leading a discussion on opportunities for Mobile Developers on Windows Phone. Here are the details…

Start Something! Bring your apps to life on Windows Phone

Do you have the next million dollar idea that you just can’t find the time to finish? Do you already have an app for Android and iPhone that you want to expand into new markets? Windows Phone is here – and with it comes a new world of opportunity for passionate, creative developers. Windows Phone gives you the power to build complex, robust applications using consistent hardware specs, a comprehensive development toolkit, and the all-new, full-service Marketplace for selling your apps.

Date & Time: Tuesday, Oct 11^th; 5:30pm-7:30pm

Location:
Tribeca Flashpoint Academy Stage at the Merchandise Mart
222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza
20th floor Chicago Illinois 60654
Map

Registration: http://aka.ms/ciwphone

“Mango” is fast approaching! This week the Windows Phone team signed off on the release to manufacturing (RTM) build of “Mango”. This means the bits for the next major update to Windows Phone are in the hands of the mobile operators and OEMs for testing.

On the tooling side, there have also been some updates to get developers prepped for the general availability of “Mango” to devices this Fall. Last month, the Beta 2 tools of the Windows Phone SDK 7.1 were released for developers to get a sense of the new tooling and SDK features. This week, there was an update to the beta tools (“Beta 2 Refresh”) as well as a new build of the “Mango” OS (Build 7712) for developers to test their “Mango” targeted apps on their devices. Cliff Simpkins provides a nice overview on these updates along with detailed instructions to get you up and running on the latest bits.

At this time, the API’s are locked. Developers should start testing their apps against the new SDK. Larry Lieberman provides some information on Application Compatibility and items to take into consideration in moving to “Mango”.

Soon, the Marketplace will start taking submission for “Mango” targeted apps. Prepare yourself with the new platform features and additional market opportunities.