At Xtopia 08, Microsoft is presenting Windows Azure in Germany for the first time alongside Internet Explorer 8, Silverlight 2 and Microsoft Surface. Another highlight is the presentation of the Silverlight Gadget Awards on the first day of the conference. Xtopia 08 takes place on 17 and 18 November at the ICC Berlin International Congress Center. Keynotes will be delivered by Dan’l Lewin, Corporate Vice President of Strategic and Emerging Business Development at Microsoft; Said Zahedani, Director of the Developer Strategy & Platform Group at Microsoft Germany; Patrick Baudisch, Research Scientist at Microsoft Research and professor at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam; and Carl Dichter, Director of Systems Development at MySpace.
For the second time, Xtopia brings developers, designers and decision-makers together to discuss the future of the internet. Its four topic areas—Design, Technology, User Experience (UX) and Business—address everyone interested in consumer web applications. Among other things, UX will show Microsoft Surface with a German partner for the first time, along with new demonstrations and detailed presentations. The Design track will examine the creative possibilities offered by a new online-design concept. Business will present a range of application scenarios from established companies and innovative start-ups. Technology topics include rich internet applications, Internet Explorer 8 and the latest news about cloud services from PDC 2008.
“At Xtopia this year, we are again bringing everyone involved together to discuss the future of the consumer web. Marketing managers will talk about blog marketing and advertising-based financing, designers about interactive 3D web interfaces, and web developers about the latest technologies,” explains Achim Berg, Chairman of the Management Board at Microsoft Germany. “Innovation, technology and usability will be at the forefront.”
Windows Azure
At PDC 2008, the Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles, Microsoft presented Windows Azure to the public for the first time. It is an operating system for internet applications and for hosting and managing cloud-based services. The Azure Services Platform helps developers create software-plus-services solutions—applications that may encompass client components, services in a company’s central data center and cloud services hosted on servers in Microsoft’s data centers. Developers therefore have a wide spectrum of options for operating individual software components, ranging from an in-house installation to operation in the cloud. Companies and consumers can flexibly choose the solution best suited to their requirements.
Silverlight Gadget Award
At this year’s Xtopia, Microsoft is recognizing the most original Windows Vista Sidebar gadgets with the Silverlight Gadget Awards for the first time. The “Wow” category honors creative Vista Sidebar gadgets with a high level of fun and entertainment for consumers, including games, visualizations or simply unusual ideas. The “Business” category focuses on innovative Vista Sidebar gadgets created by companies for their customers. Microsoft is organizing the Silverlight Gadget Awards together with dpa and MEDION.
Cooperation with Akamai and Axinom
As Akamai’s first strategic development partner in Germany, Axinom is presenting interactive video-on-demand and WebTV solutions at Xtopia 08 based on the Akamai Media Framework and Microsoft Silverlight 2. Akamai is presenting “Akamai AdaptiveEdge Streaming for Microsoft Silverlight” for the first time. Developed jointly by Microsoft and Akamai Technologies, the service enables high-definition video streams to be played on PCs over HTTP. Based on Windows Server 2008 and Microsoft Silverlight, the new service will enable multimedia internet applications over the world’s largest HTTP network.
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