December 2007 - Posts
Combined with their Facebook Developer Toolkit for Microsoft, Clarity seeks to accelerate development of media-rich, social networking applications.
Clarity Consulting Inc. today announced the availability of a new Windows Live control set for Microsoft. The combination of tools will help make it faster and easier for developers to start building applications on the Windows Live platform.
Debuted at Microsoft's DevConnections event, the set of reusable controls is part of the Windows Live Toolkit for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 supporting ASP.NET Server Controls (including Contacts, Silverlight streaming media, ID authentication and Login View) as well as Visual Studio Project Template (including ASP.NET Windows Live website).
In addition to the new Windows Live controls, Clarity also built Microsoft's Facebook Developer Toolkit, which allows developers to quickly build Facebook applications using Microsoft tools. These combined efforts support Clarity's overall goal of making it easier and more rewarding for developers to drive Web 2.0 innovation through the creation of compelling, revenue-generating applications.
According to Gartner, Inc. -- one of the world's leading analyst firms-- while most business can readily add specific Web 2.0 technologies to their products and platforms, they find it much more challenging to add the social dimension. "At Clarity, we believe this is where developers can take a lead," said Jon Rauschenberger, Chief Technology Officer, Clarity Consulting. "By creating applications that help balance technology and social attributes while driving innovation, developers can make it simpler for businesses to get the most from their Web 2.0 strategies."
Developers using the new Windows Live controls will be able to add Windows Live authentication to their websites with minimal coding and no additional cost. In addition, they can embed streaming media into their web pages without writing more code. Control specifics and key benefits include:
-- Contacts control -- allows users to include Windows Live Contacts in their web pages, raise client and server events for sign-in/sign-out, data transfer activities and increase word of mouth viral traffic for their websites.
-- Silverlight StreamingMedia control -- gives users the ability to play their videos from their Silverlight Streaming account, specify account credentials and choose the video they want to display on their web page.
-- ID Authentication control -- provides for quick Windows Live ID authentication provisioning for applications. Users drag and drop the control on their web page, provision the application ID and compile/run the project. By using the ID Authentication control, developers can quickly add the Windows Live authentication experience to their web site.
-- IDLoginView control -- extends the functionality of ASP.NET Login View control by adding support for Windows Live ID authentication, providing a single sign on experience for web site users, and adding new templates for providing richness in the developers website.
To check out the Windows Live controls go to: http://dev.live.com/. For the Facebook Toolkit, visit http://www.codeplex.com/FacebookToolkit
Local firm beat top Interactive, Web, and design agencies with solution that pushed limits of technology and creativity in problem-solving.
Clarity Consulting Inc. announced today their win at Microsoft's innovative design challenge -- PhizzPop -- in Chicago. PhizzPop challenges software developers and designers to push the limits of creativity by developing unique consumer experiences using Windows Presentation Foundation and Silverlight technologies. Clarity's winning solution, which leveraged Microsoft's Windows Presentation Foundation, offered airline passengers a simplified reservation and check-in process on the Web and personalized entertainment within the aircraft.
Built using a combination of tools from Microsoft including Visual Studio 2008, Expression Blend, and Expression Media Encoder, Clarity's solution was judged the best out of 5 other regional entries. While all entries succeeded in creating applications that were visually impressive, Clarity's stood out based on their ability to bring innovative thinking to their solution --delivering an interactive, personalized, and connected experience for passengers on any device, even their iPhones.
"At Clarity, we pride ourselves on always 'getting it right the first time' and we're thrilled to have proven that again at this week's Chicago PhizzPop challenge," said Jon Rauschenberger, CTO of Clarity Consulting. "The competition is a great affirmation of the power of development and design, personal commitment and innovative thinking -- things that Clarity believes in strongly. We were honored to compete with so many innovators in the industries of design, web and interactive and excited to be able to highlight the benefits of extending our own user experience innovation capabilities -- something we know is becoming more and more important to our clients."
The Chicago contest was judged by an esteemed group of individuals including Jeremy Alexis -- assistant professor at IIT's Institue of Design, Scott Kinkaid -- Vice President of Usability Practices at Usability Sciences and Carlos Segura -- one of the most revered graphic designers of our generation.
"We are very excited about the new Microsoft Expression suite of tools that support the designer -- developer workflow," said Kevin Marshall, Clarity's Director of Product Management and leader of the winning team." With only two days to implement a solution, we were able to quickly create and integrate design assets into our solution with each team member using a different application in the process."
The series of regional PhizzPop contests culminates in a battle against the regional winners at the 2008 South By Southwest Interactive Conference in Austin. Participating regions include New York, Boston, Chicago, Austin, Los Angeles and San Francisco winner AKQA.
Supports company focus on simplifying and accelerating development of media-rich, social networking applications
Clarity Consulting Inc. today announced its membership in the Silverlight Partner Initiative, a technology and marketing program supporting Microsoft's Silverlight software platform. Clarity joined the Initiative to further its efforts in developing tools and solutions that make it easier and faster for developers and clients to create media-rich, Web 2.0 applications.
Microsoft Silverlight is a platform specially designed to deliver rich interactive applications for the Web that incorporate video and animation into an engaging user experience. Silverlight also reduces development and deployment costs and provides enhanced Web audio and video streaming and playback using industry-leading Windows Media technologies.
A long-time advocate of Microsoft technology, Clarity believes Silverlight is a key to helping bridge the gap between designers and developers by making it easier to generate design assets and code.
"By creating a universal language for media applications, Silverlight helps developers and designers speak the same language," said Kevin Marshall, Director of Product Management, Clarity Consulting. "In turn, that helps save time and money while creating more opportunity for innovation. Clarity is excited to be a member of the Silverlight Partner Initiative and an active participant in shaping the next generation of rich interactive applications."
Clarity has created several software solutions based on Silverlight and the Microsoft.NET Framework including a streaming media control for Silverlight Streaming accounts and the winning entry for Chicago's PhizzPop competition. They have also organized SilverlightDevCamp, a Silverlight developer community event, in San Francisco and Chicago. The company will continue to explore new applications and business oppotunities for the Web while delivering advanced tools, content and solutions for its customers.