New Azure Stuff – WAMS and WATK
Posted on August 31, 2012 by Chris Koenig
Hey – I’ve been travelling and presenting this week, so the Azure team decided it would be a good time to make a bunch of udpates!
Here’s a quick overview of what’s new, and where you can find more information:
Windows Azure Mobile Services
Windows Azure Mobile Services is a fantastic new feature added to the Windows Azure pantheon of services to provide an easy way to integrate a Windows Azure backend to new or existing Windows 8 clients. Using the WAMS SDK, a developer can easily create a Windows 8 application that incorporates a Windows Azure SQL Database backend, WPNS and integrated Authentication & Authorization in a matter of a few minutes. The WAMS SDK comes with an upgrade to the Windows Azure Portal allowing the developer to configure the WAMS application’s Azure resources including SQL Database, Push and Authn/AuthZ API keys. Really simple to use and abstracts away all the complexities of connecting to a SQL Database instance from a Win8 app. Definitely check this out!
- Log into your Windows Azure account at https://account.windowsazure.com
- Click on the “Preview Features” tab on the secondary navigation, just below the main nagvigation
- Scroll down until you see the Mobile Services section and click “Sign Up”.
Activation doesn’t usually take too long, so you should be up and running in no time! Once you’re activated, step through the WAMS tutorial on the Windows Azure website to get a full view of everything WAMS provides. This is going to be a big help to you Windows 8 developers out there, so get cracking!
Windows Azure Training Kit
A new version of the Windows Azure Training Kit dropped on Wednesday of last week. The new kit is represented as the August 2012 Refresh, and contains some important updates including
- Added the Windows Azure Device + Services 1-day event agenda
- Added the Windows Azure ITProCamp 1-day event agenda
- Added 2 presentations designed for Windows Azure Mobile Services
- Added 15 Demos with Demo Scripts for content delivery
You can download the installer, or visit their project on GitHub to get just the pieces you want.
