Visual Studio Live! - New York 2012

I will be speaking at Visual Studio Live! in New York this May 14-17. The conference is a full 4 day event and there’s still time to register! The three sessions I’m presenting are:

W01 – Get Connected with Kinect
Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Time: 9:15 AM – 10:30 AM
Level: Introductory

By now we’ve all probably tried Kinect, Microsoft’s revolutionary motion control device for the Xbox 360. But what about developing software to use the device? With the release of the official Kinect for Windows SDK from Microsoft, developers can now use this device like any other hardware peripheral from code. This session will introduce developers to the Kinect device itself, how it works, and will offer an overview of the API provided by Microsoft to retrieve image, depth, skeletal, audio, and audio position information from the device. The session will also cover some interesting uses for this information, and how it can be used in traditional applications for easier navigation to provide a more natural user interface.

W12 – Advanced XNA Games for Windows Phone
Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Time: 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM
Level: Intermediate to Advanced

XNA is an extremely powerful platform that extends far beyond simple 2D sprite-based games. In this session, learn how to build 3D games and the deal with the complexities that come with moving to the third dimension. The session will consist of building a very simple 3D game for Windows Phone. Specifically, attendees will learn how to import pre-built 3D models, animate them, and display them in 3D space. Additionally, the session will cover shader-based effects, handling user input, playing sounds and music, and putting it all together for submission to the Marketplace.

TH16 - Writing Asynchronous Code Using .NET 4.5 and C# 5.0
Date: Thursday, May 17, 2012
Time: 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM
Level: Introductory

A variety of new features were added to the .NET 4.5 Framework, including support for easily writing asynchronous code. This session will introduce the concepts of asynchronous programming, .NET Tasks, how to ensure your UI remains responsive, and how to do all of this properly in your own applications using the new async and await keywords. If you’re looking for ways to provide a better, smoother experience for your users, don’t miss this session!

As always, I will be hosting another round of Developer Duel on Tuesday night during the VSLive After Dark event. Join us for the event and have a chance to win fabulous prizes while playing a game similar to one you’ve seen on TV for the past 30 years…

Get more information on the conference at:

Hope to see you all there!