With all the buzz lately around the upcoming Windows Phone 7 Series it’s easy to lose site of some of the amazing things that can already be accomplished today with Windows Phones as a part of the powerfully integrated Microsoft stack. Last week I had the pleasure of spending a day with some amazing folks who are doing some incredible things with Windows Phone, Microsoft Azure, Silverlight, Bing Maps, SharePoint, Photosynth and more all brought to life by the geocast goodness of Microsoft partner IncaX. Office of Naval Research (ONR), has been utilizing these technologies to help the US Navy as well as local law enforcement on the North Carolina coastline to evaluate the capabilities of their emergency response units. Conceived by Dano Debroux, Director, Disruptive Business Technologies (ONR), and supported by IncaX, HP, and Microsoft, the geocast efforts by the Office of Naval Research are a great demonstration of how the Microsoft technology can be used in a variety of extreme situations, including military, law enforcement, disaster relief, and more.
In today’s video we head out on another Productivity Adventure and see the work that has been done by the ONR first hand. To see its initial use we will observe a sea based emergency response scenario. We also hear how the use of these technologies has been received in the field and they are impacting training exercise evaluations. Finally, we actually get to head out in to the field with some great folks form the US Navy where we stimulant an insurgent bomb placement to test sensor equipment and special response team effectiveness. In the final scenario we actually carry HP Glisten Windows Phones to capture and transmit the entire mission. Although the video is somewhat unpolished, I think you will still find the use of geocasting in the scenarios pretty compelling.
The scenarios portrayed are really enabled through the power of IncaX LiveMedia GPS, a solution built entirely on the Microsoft stack. Though running today on existing Windows Phones, IncaX is already poised to deliver new enhanced capability for the next generation Windows Phone 7 Series.
To learn more about the technologies presented and to begin leveraging the power of geocasting and geolocation services use the links below:
- Get started geocasting using IncaX LiveMedia GPS here
- Lean more about the Windows Phone platform here
- Learn about Microsoft Azure cloud services here
- Learn about Microsoft Silverlight technology and it’s capability here
- Learn about the powerful mapping platform for development provided by Bing maps here
- Learn more about Microsoft Office SharePoint Server and its dashboard capabilities here
- Learn more about the power of Microsoft Photosynth technology here
Michael Gannotti is a Technology Specialist for the Microsoft Corporation and the author of the blog SocialMedia Talk. You can also find him on Facebook and Twitter