Microsoft Comes to the University of Wolverhampton

Last week Microsoft visited the University of Wolverhampton to give students the chance to develop their own phone apps that could be published on the Windows Phone Marketplace.

In this blog entry I thought it would be interesting to discuss the event and the Windows Phone platform.

Microsoft put on a Windows Phone Camp event last week to demonstrate Windows phones and introduce students to app development. Windows touchscreen phones are an emerging mobile phone platform that is gaining interest from developers and businesses. Therefore, our students are keen to gain information about the platform and app development.

The Microsoft Phone Camp provided guidance on what software is needed to create a Windows Phone app and how to use it. Students were able to download all the professional developer and designer tools for free and a coding session allowed them to start bringing their ideas to life. Microsoft also provided pizza for our hungry developers and gave away brand new Nokia Lumia 800 phones to three students so that they can continue their work and deploy their apps on actual Windows devices. Once published, students can even make money from the apps they have created.

Adam Kesterton, a student on our Computer Science Course and an attendee at the event said "…it was a great experience and opened my eyes to the possibilities available." He also added that due to the talk he will try his hand at app development and is confident he'll be able to get apps on the market place.

Knowledge of the latest technology and contact with international companies motivates our students and encourages them to develop their ideas and innovate. In addition, it supports their development as enterprising graduates. Therefore, the University proudly continues to support student events, such as this Microsoft Phone Camp and a range of other activities, which include the Computer Games Society and the mentoring of programming competition entrants.

The Microsoft Phone Camp was a great success; will the Microsoft Phone platform follow in its footsteps? A look at the worldwide Smartphone sales to end users by operating system (OS) in the 4th quarter of 2011 (source: http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1924314) shows that Microsoft is lagging behind many others, including Android, iOS and Symbian.

However, last year Microsoft announced a partnership with Nokia in which the Windows Phone platform would become Nokia's primary smartphone operating system. Nokia is currently the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world and holds top spots in a number of regions; including, Asia (market share of 28.1%), Central & Eastern Europe (market share of 46%) and the Middle East & Africa (market share of 52%) (source: http://gadget.satellite-stream.com/samsung-vs-nokia-market-share-competition.html). These regions hold many emerging economies that have growing mobile sectors. Consequently, there is a potential for Microsoft and Nokia to see growth in the Windows Phone market share and app sales.

What are your experiences of the new Windows touchscreen phone?