31Aug 2017 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana are going to work together

Microsoft Development, Software Events
Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana are going to work together Amazon and Microsoft announced on Wednesday that they’ve been working on a partnership to allow their respective voice assistants, Alexa and Cortana, to speak to one another. Starting later this year, owners of Amazon Echos and other Alexa-powered devices will be able to say: “Alexa, open Cortana” to start querying Microsoft’s voice assistant. Owners of devices running Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system will be able to summon Alexa via Cortana in a similar manner. Why would customers want that — especially with the relatively clunky nature of the necessary voice command? The companies say that each voice assistant has its strengths — features like Microsoft Outlook and Exchange email integration for Cortana and smart-home controls or shopping for Alexa — and that…
Read More
30Aug 2017 by richard@baronsoftware.com

New WinDbg debugger available in preview!

Microsoft Development
New Microsoft debugger WinDbg available in preview! Debugging Tools for Windows Microsoft is excited to announce a preview version of a brand new WinDbg a Windows debugger.  WinDbg has more modern visuals, faster windows, a full-fledged scripting experience, built with the easily extensible debugger data model front and center. Things to know Installation - You can install the WinDbg Preview from the store if you have Windows 10 Anniversary Update or newer at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/windbg/9pgjgd53tn86 - WinDbg Preview uses some features from the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, so that’s required for now. Feedback - Familiarize yourself a bit with the Feedback Hub!  Microsoft will be using the Feedback Hub to help prioritize what you want Microsoft to work on! The Windows Insider website has a great overview on how to give good feedback - https://insider.windows.com/en-us/how-to-feedback Once you've read that, just hit the 'Feedback Hub' button…
Read More
30Aug 2017 by richard@baronsoftware.com

NYPD dropping Window Phone for iPhones

Microsoft Development, Software Events
NYPD dropping Window Phone for iPhone A New York Post report that one of Microsoft's more celebrated U.S. business customers for Windows Phone is dumping the platform raises some interesting questions about Redmond's future mobility plans. The Post reported on August 28 that the New York Police Department (NYPD) is going to scrap the 36,000 Nokia phonesrunning the Windows Phone OS that it has been rolling out for the past two years. Microsoft dropped support for Windows Mobile 8.1 in July 2017. But the two handset models the NYPD purchased, the Lumia 640XL and Lumia 830, both were among the Windows Phones that were upgradable to Windows 10 Mobile. (Of these two, only the newer 640XL will also be eligible for the coming Fall Windows 10 Mobile update, however.) As of October 2016,…
Read More
29Aug 2017 by richard@baronsoftware.com

IDERA, Inc. Acquires Sencha to Strengthen Developer Tools Business

Rad Studio Delphi Development, Software development Concepts
IDERA, Inc. Acquires Sencha to Strengthen Developer Tools Business IDERA, Inc., the leading provider of database, development, and test management tools, today announced an agreement to acquire Sencha, a leading web application development platform. Sencha will be integrated with Embarcadero, IDERA, Inc.’s developer tools division. The press release can be view at BusinessWire about this purchase in detail.  Now the question is what will happen with moving this product into the Embarcadero Developer product line ?   How does this affect the Rad Studio products that deal with the enterprise ? Sencha provides software tools to build web applications across desktops, tablets and smartphones.  How will this work with FireMonkey is the real question.  The pricing structure for Sencha is extremely high for up to 5 developers. Atanas Popov has been…
Read More
25Aug 2017 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Expert Delphi by Paweł Głowacki

Book Reviews, Rad Studio Delphi Development
Expert Delphi by Paweł Głowacki   After reading the latest book from Author Pawel Glowacki the feeling of fresh FireMonkey Delphi material left an excellent karma.  It should be part of anyone's Delphi Library since it has great reference material.  The book was written by Pawel Glowacki whom is Embarcadero's European Technical Lead for Developer Tools. The book begins with a basic primer on Delphi helping you get accustomed to the IDE and the Object Pascal language.  It quickly moves into advanced concepts dealing with FireMonkey.  You should be able to build server-side services, create new Internet of Things (IOT) and integrate your applet with web services to deploy them to market. As always the pricing from PackT is on the mark.  The writing is very clear at 506 pages and…
Read More