Windows Azure Toolkits for Devices – Now With Android!
I am tremendously pleased to share that today we have released the Windows Azure Toolkit for Android! We announced our intentions to build a toolkit for Android back in May, and it had always been our intention to release this summer (we only missed by a week or so).
In addition to this release of Android, we have also:
- Released the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone (v1.3.0)
- Released the Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS (v1.2.1)
- Released a new Windows Phone sample called BabelCam both as source code and to the Windows Phone Marketplace
These releases complete our coverage of the three device platforms we intended to cover earlier this year when we started our work – Windows Phone, iOS, and Android.
It’s my belief that cloud computing provides a significant opportunity for mobile device developers, as it gives you the ability to write applications that target the same services and capabilities regardless of the device platform. Furthermore, I believe that Windows Azure is the best place to host these services. Take a look at the post Microsoft Releases the Windows Azure Toolkit for Android for examples of how American Airlines and Linxter are using the toolkits and Windows Azure to build great cross-device applications!
In addition to releasing the the Android toolkit, we have released some important updates to the Windows Phone and iOS (i.e. iPhone & iPad) toolkits for Windows Azure. Since I have so many things to cover in this post, let me break it all down in various sections (click the links to jump to the section of choice):
Android
Today we released version 0.8 of the Windows Azure Toolkit for Android. This version includes native libraries that provide support for storage and authN/Z, a sample application, and unit tests. Everything is built in Eclipse and uses the Android SDK.
Here’s the project structure:
- library
- simple (sample application)
- tests
The library project includes the full source code to the storage client and authentication implementations.
Once you configure your workspace in Eclipse, you can run the simple sample application within the Android emulator.
From here you choose to either connect directly to Windows Azure storage using your account name and key or through your proxy services running in Windows Azure. To set your account name and key, modify the ProxySelector.java file …
… found here:
As with the Windows Azure Toolkits for Windows Phone and iOS, we recommend you do not put the storage account name and key in your application source code. Instead, use a set of secure proxy services running in Windows Azure. You can use the Cloud Ready Packages for Devices which contain a set of pre-built services ready to deploy to Windows Azure.
As you can see from it’s name, the shipping sample is designed to be simple – do not consider this a best practice from a UI perspective. However, it does should you fully how to implement the storage and authentication libraries. For another alternative at the library implementations, take a look at the unit tests.
Windows Phone
Today we released version 1.3.0 of the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone. This release includes a number of long awaited features and updates, including:
- Support for SQL Azure as a membership provider.
- Support for SQL Azure as a data source through an OData service.
- Upgraded the web applications to ASP.NET MVC 3.
- Support for the Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio 1.4 and Windows Phone Developer Tools 7.1 RC.
- Lots of little updates and bug fixes.
I’m most excited about the support for SQL Azure.
The new project wizard now lets you choose where you want to store data in Windows Azure – you can both Windows Azure storage and SQL Azure database!
You can choose to enter your SQL Azure credentials into the wizard (which places them securely in your Windows Azure project, not the device) or use a SQL Server instance locally for development.
Once you’ve finished walking through the wizard, you may not immediately notice anything different – that’s a good thing! However, in the background all the membership information has been stored in a SQL database, and you’ll see in the application a new tab for your SQL Azure data that’s consumed through an OData service.
Moving forward we plan to only target the Windows Phone Developer Tools 7.1 releases (i.e. no more WP 7.0). However, we have archived all the 7.0 samples, and will continue to ship them as part of the toolkit as long as the Windows Phone Marketplace accepts 7.0 applications. You can find them organized in two different folders: WP7.0 and WP7.1.
iOS
Over the last few weeks, and with the help of Scott Densmore, we have made a series of important updates to the Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS – namely, bug fixes and project restructuring!
Over the last few weeks, as more and more developers used our iOS libraries, we started getting reports of memory leaks. Scott has spent a considerable amount of time tracking these down, and all these updates have been checked into the repo. Additionally, we have spent some time refactoring our github repos, and you’ll now find everything related to the Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS in a single repository:
This gives us a lot more flexibility for releases, as well as making sure that the resources are easy to use and consume.
What’s Next?
Oh no, we’re not done! There’s still a lot we want to do. We continue to get great feedback from customers and partners using these toolkits.
Over the next few months, here are the things we’ll focus on:
- Continue to update the Windows Azure Toolkits for iOS and Android so that they are in full parity with the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone.
- Samples, samples, and more samples! We want to have a great set of samples that work across all three device platforms. We’ve got a good start with BabelCam, but we need to bring it to iOS and Android, and then build more!
- Continue to support and fix the toolkits.
Your feedback is invaluable, so please continue to send it our way!
[...] 0 Today Wade Wegner has released the Windows Azure Toolkit for Android, along with significant updates to the toolkits for Windows Phone and iOS. You can get the toolkits [...]
[...] Wade Wegner has released the Windows Azure Toolkit for Android, along with significant updates to the toolkits for Windows Phone and iOS. You can get the toolkits [...]
[...] is making available for download a near-final version of its Windows Azure toolkit for Android device developers as of today, August [...]
[...] Source: Microsoft; Wade Wenger [...]
[...] Microsoft; Wade Wenger Filed Under: Android [...]
[...] Source: Microsoft; Wade Wenger [...]
[...] Microsoft released Windows Azure Toolkit for Android along with updated toolkits for Windows Phone and iOS platforms. Originally announced in May, the [...]
[...] Source: Microsoft; Wade Wenger [...]
[...] Microsoft is making available for download a near-final version of its Windows Azure toolkit for Android device developers as of today, August 31.This is the toolkit Microsoft officials said would be available in preview [...]
[...] hast just released version o.8 of its Azure toolkit for Android. Alongside that release, the Windows Phone Azure toolkit hit version 1.3 today, and the iOS toolkit [...]
[...] hast just released version o.8 of its Azure toolkit for Android. Alongside that release, the Windows Phone Azure toolkit hit version 1.3 today, and the iOS toolkit [...]
[...] Source: Microsoft; Wade Wenger [...]
[...] Microsoft has released the Azure Toolkit for Android, providing an SDK and native libraries to support storage and authorization for its Windows Azure cloud-based development platform. This will give Android developers a way to write applications that use the Windows Azure services, and will lead to more cross-platform apps that use the same data set. Included with the toolkit is a sample application and unit tests, allowing developers to write and build everything using Eclipse with the standard Android SDK. Love it or hate … Microsoft has released the Azure Toolkit for Android, providing an SDK and native libraries to support storage and authorization for its Windows Azure cloud-based development platform. This will give Android developers a way to write applications that use the Windows Azure services, and will lead to more cross-platform apps that use the same data set. Included with the toolkit is a sample application and unit tests, allowing developers to write and build everything using Eclipse with the standard Android SDK. Love it or hate it, Microsoft knows application development. It also understands that an open platform model and cross-platform applications are not only good for business, but good for the consumer — giving app developers a way to write an application for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone 7 using well written and supported tools. Windows Azure offers features that developers may want to explore, and not locking those devs to WP7 only apps is a smart move and a recipe for success. Source: Microsoft; Wade Wenger [...]
[...] Source: Microsoft; Wade Wenger [...]
[...] Windows Azure Toolkits for Devices [...]
[...] hast just released version o.8 of its Azure toolkit for Android. Alongside that release, the Windows Phone Azure toolkit hit version 1.3 today, and the iOS toolkit [...]
[...] Azure Toolkit for Android by Bojan Vrhovnik 1. september 2011 08:41 Microsoft je izdal skupek orodij, primerov uporabe, dokumentacije za razvijalce na platformi Android, da lahko izkoriščajo platformo Windows Azure (Windows Azure [...]
[...] Microsoft is making available for download a near-final version of its Windows Azure toolkit for Android device developers as of today, August 31.This is the toolkit Microsoft officials said would be available in preview [...]
[...] Source: Microsoft; Wade Wenger [...]
[...] Source: Microsoft; Wade Wenger [...]
[...] Zdroj & další informace: Microsoft; Wade Wenger [...]
[...] [...]
[...] 9月 1st, 2011 コメントする | トラックバックWindows Azure Toolkits for Devices – Now With Android!の一部をざっくり意訳した投稿です。Windows Azure [...]
[...] [...]
[...] August 31, 2011: Version 1.3.0 (support for SQL Azure, WPDT 7.1 RC) [...]
[...] "It's my belief that cloud computing provides a significant opportunity for mobile device developers, as it gives you the ability to write applications that target the same services and capabilities regardless of the device platform," wrote Wade Wegner, Microsoft's Azure evangelist. [...]
[...] Microsoft released Windows Azure Toolkit for Android along with updated toolkits for Windows Phone and iOS platforms. Originally announced in May, the [...]
[...] "It's my belief that cloud computing provides a significant opportunity for mobile device developers, as it gives you the ability to write applications that target the same services and capabilities regardless of the device platform," wrote Wade Wegner, Microsoft's Azure evangelist. [...]
[...] “It’s my belief that cloud computing provides a significant opportunity for mobile device developers, as it gives you the ability to write applications that target the same services and capabilities regardless of the device platform,” wrote Wade Wegner, Microsoft’s Azure evangelist. [...]
[...] Ios ve Windows Phone için versiyonları vardı. Şimdi de Android’i destekliyor. Daha fazla bilgi ve İndirmek için buraya tıklayın [...]
Hi
I got the required files from github for android and when i imported the projects into getting errors. where are the step by step instructions for this ?
I want to know how to import the projects into eclipse and run in emulator. There is very less documentation on this
[...] Releases the Windows Azure Toolkit for Android. Last week, Microsoft released Windows Azure Toolkit for Android along with updated toolkits for Windows Phone and iOS platforms. Originally announced in May, the [...]
[...] Releases a Windows Azure Toolkit for Android. Last week, Microsoft expelled Windows Azure Toolkit for Android along with updated toolkits for Windows Phone and iOS platforms. Originally announced in May, a [...]
[...] week, Microsoft released the Windows Azure Toolkit for Android while at the same time providing an update release for the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone [...]
[...] hast just released version o.8 of its Azure toolkit for Android. Alongside that release, the Windows Phone Azure toolkit hit version 1.3 today, and the iOS toolkit [...]
Is there any eclipse addin require to compile and run android azure
I am getting errors after importing azure toolkit in eclipse
[...] Microsoft expelled Windows Azure Toolkit for Android along with updated toolkits for Windows Phone and iOS platforms. Originally announced in May, a [...]
When will the SDK for Android support Azure Access Control Service just like SDK for iOS?
That’s our intent, but we’re not there yet. I will definitely post when we are!
[...] prezentációs fájl és demó forráskód, valamint az előadás videó felvétele (KIVÁLÓ!) – Windows Azure Toolkits for Devices – Now With Android! [Aug 31, 2011] – WA Toolkit for iOS: New Project Experience with Windows Azure Access Control [...]
[...] Windows Azure Toolkits for Devices – Now With Android! http://www.wadewegner.com/2011/08/windows-azure-toolkits-for-devices-now-with-android/ [...]
[...] different Windows Azure toolkits available for the different platforms. Android was the latest to release, with the iOS and WP7 toolkit already being out there and seeing additional updates. There are a [...]
Great work. Although I have a couple questions:
- Why are you writing all HTTP data into a string regardless of the content type? I’m seeing this library shoving binary data into a string and from the looks of the code this seems very much intentional.
- What was the decision process behind creating such basic classes as HTTP Clients when they are already provided by the Android library?
is there a timeline on when support for SQL Azurewill be available on Android?
Thanks
In addition to my previous post, I got the Windows Azure Toolkit for Android working in eclipse. The demo is also working with Windows Azure storage. I will work from there, but I would prefer storage in SQL Azure!
thanks!