silverlight

Microsoft has released a version of Silverlight for some implementations of the Symbian mobile operating system, meaning its rich media player will appear on Symbian handsets before it reaches Microsoft-based phones.

The port of Microsoft's rival to Flash was made available to users of the Nokia 5800, N97, and N97 Mini handsets, which run the Symbian-based Nokia S60 5th edition, on Tuesday. The application can be downloaded for free from the Ovi Store.

Microsoft's own Windows Mobile operating system does not yet support Silverlight, nor does it support Adobe's Flash. However, the new Windows Phone 7 platform … Read more

Brad Abrams, a project manager involved in several of Microsoft's core programming technologies, has taken a job at rival Google.

"I needed a change personally, to learn something new, see the tech world from a fresh perspective. And what better place than Google!" Abrams wrote in a blog post Monday. "As I look at where things are going in the industry (and where I think they should go), it is clear that the Web, and cloud+devices specifically, are the dominant trends of the future. Working at Google will give me an opportunity to have a … Read more

Microsoft is ready with the final versions of its Visual Studio 2010 developer tools software and Silverlight 4, as well as version 4 of the .Net Framework.

The company is announcing the launch of the three products on Monday at a Visual Studio developer conference in Las Vegas. Visual Studio 2010 and the updated .Net Framework are now broadly available, Microsoft said, while Silverlight 4 will be made available for download later this week.

"We're excited to celebrate the launch of Visual Studio 2010 with developers around the world today," Server and Tools unit President Bob Muglia … Read more

A year ago, Microsoft's Silverlight video technology was under fire.

Two high-profile situations--a decision by Major League Baseball to dump Silverlight in favor of archrival Adobe Flash, as well as a series of glitches at Netflix that were blamed on Silverlight--had generated negative publicity.

Since then, however, the complaints seem to have died down. And now, Silverlight is apparently on a roll.

The streaming-video technology is coming off a mostly glitch-free NCAA Men's college basketball tournament. This week, CNET parent company CBS said that CBSSports.com streamed more than 11 million hours of live audio and video during … Read more

Editors' note, 4:30 p.m. PST: Netflix now claims that it incorrectly acknowledged 1080p streaming in the company's 2010 development road map. A Netflix representative has clarified that the company plans to bring 5.1 surround and closed captioning to its streaming HD videos later this year, though 1080p Watch Instantly is not on the books for this year. The text below is the original story, based on earlier conversations and e-mails with this Netflix representative.

Netflix subscribers with HDTVs and streaming boxes have something big to look forward to in the coming months. CNET has learned that … Read more

Microsoft is aiming to make Web viewing of the Winter Olympics a lot more like watching the events on TV.

While Beijing brought the first widespread use of the Internet to deliver live video of the Games, the Vancouver Olympics--which starts February 12--will offer a range of new options, including TiVo-like features like pausing, rewinding, and replaying during a live broadcast. In addition, broadcaster NBC is using the adaptive streaming capability of Silverlight (Microsoft's rival to Adobe's Flash) to allow those with a good connection to get the Games in up to 720p high-definition quality.

"At the … Read more

LOS ANGELES--After spending much of Tuesday in the clouds, the second day of the Professional Developers Conference on Wednesday is expected to be far more grounded.

On tap is a discussion of the Office 2010 beta as well as the first details on Internet Explorer 9, although Microsoft is not providing code. Microsoft is also talking about Silverlight 4 and releasing a beta of that product.

8:30 a.m. PT: Windows unit president Steven Sinofsky takes the stage.

Sinofsky said that Microsoft approaches Windows 7 like building a movie theater. Microsoft's job is to provide "great seats, … Read more

Microsoft on Monday released a software development kit for Facebook that allows developers to create Facebook applications for Silverlight and Windows Presentation Foundation. This should expand the reach of Facebook in third-party applications as well as make Silverlight and WPF more viable platforms for developers looking to build social applications.

The SDK comes complete with samples and tools to develop Facebook applications in ASP.NET, Silverlight, WPF, and WinForms. It also features the source code for the API, components, controls, and samples.

There are currently other libraries available that allow Facebook developers to develop with other technologies, such as JavaScript, … Read more