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Monday 4 February 2013

Microsoft will stop developing DirectX XNA to focus on

When announced in 2004, XNA seemed a revolution . A library easy to use to develop games for Windows and Xbox 360, especially aimed at independent developers. With the release of Windows Phone, XNA was extended to support the mobile system, so that they could make games for multiple platforms share much of the code. however, Microsoft has decided to stop developing XNA , and instead will focus on DirectX. The movement is quite logical, especially considering the integration that is taking place between DirectX (Direct3D, rather) and. NET, and the fact that XNA was lagging far behind in power and features.

As for the implications for developers, I do not think they are very large. XNA still available (not until April 2014 when withdrawn positions MVP in XNA ), so there is plenty of time to go migrating applications that have . In addition, all Microsoft platforms and integrate Direct3D to perfection, so no problem on that.

Another advantage is that perhaps this could improve and sort the real chaos is Direct3D (in general, all graphics libraries are a mess, if you are interested in the subject this is a good read ). Will have to see if Microsoft makes a major announcement in the coming months on this issue, although I do not think there's any surprise beyond "we will continue with Direct3D on all our platforms."

Intel seeks engineers familiar with Windows Phone

Intel , the company that has dominated the field of personal computers for years with its x86 architecture, has virtually no presence in the increasingly crucial smartphone market. Although there have been attempts to turn timid on Android, like the Motorola RAZR i, which worked with a 2GHz Intel Atom processor, the truth is that for now the chip maker has been out in all mobile systems face competition . And Windows Phone is no different, where Qualcomm has absolute.

Since Intel already commented on occasion the opportunity to work on devices with Windows Phone , but this depended mainly economic factors. Intel would not x86 on Windows Phone unless they had sufficient hopes of payback. Anyway, can you perhaps are beginning to shuffle the possibility.

The new news comes following a job offer that the company has posted on LinkedIn . It requested those engineers with experience in Windows Phone to get in contact with its headquarters in Redmond.

The offer does not disclose details, but we know that Intel has been working on improving its mobile processors and bring them to the yield based autonomy ARM that now dominate the market. Maybe it's time to go more seriously and recall the classic association Wintel now applied to the world of smartphones.

Samsung and Microsoft want to compete with Blackberry in the business world

A new alliance seems to be forming between Microsoft and Samsung , and the goal is quite clear: the professional and the position of Blackberry (formerly RIM ) in that market. Microsoft might be prepared to work with Samsung to offer new ideas to enter the business and professional market, Samsung just need to give the nod to start.


Rikke Rasmussen, head of B2B Marketing for Windows Phone, said that soon both companies would come together to work on how to enter the enterprise market with this operating system, you might be waiting finished launching the Samsung Ativ S in different countries . Rikke said the following in an interview for Mobile News:

Business is important to us, Windows Phone 8 is fitted very well in small and medium enterprises ( SMEs ). There are a lot of Blackberry users who are looking for alternatives, and integration with Windows 8 is a strength and is inexpensive for them.

Everyone will be affected by Blackberry 10, the question is how. We believe that there is a large enough market and enough room for both. From our perspective, we will remain neutral and will work with Samsung, as we do with Nokia and HTC , as soon as they are ready.

Undoubtedly, it is interesting to see that Samsung has decided encouraged to work more seriously with this operating system, hopefully the relationship would have discussed with operators not harm the work of the two companies together.