Today I’m excited
to share that the
Windows Azure Mobile Services public preview is now available. This preview provides a turnkey backend cloud solution designed
to accelerate connected client app development. These services streamline the development process by enabling you
to leverage the cloud for common mobile application scenarios such as structured storage, user authentication and push notifications. If you’re building a
Windows 8 app and want a fast and easy path
to creating backend cloud services, this preview provides the capabilities you need. You
to take advantage of the cloud
to build and deploy modern apps for
Windows 8 devices in anticipation of general availability on October 26th. Subsequent preview releases will extend support
to iOS, Android, and
Windows Phone. Features The preview makes it fast and easy
to create cloud services for
Windows 8 applications within minutes. Here are the key benefits: Rapid development: configure a straightforward and secure backend in less than five minutes. Create modern mobile apps: common
Windows Azure plus
Windows 8 scenarios that
Windows Azure Mobile Services preview will support include: Automated Service API generation providing CRUD functionality and dynamic schematization on top of Structured Storage Structured Storage with powerful query support so a
Windows 8 app can seamlessly connect
to a
Windows Azure SQL database Integrated Authentication so developers can configure user authentication via
Windows Live Push Notifications
to bring your
Windows 8 apps
to life with up
to date and relevant information Access structured data: connect
to a
Windows Azure SQL database for simple data management and dynamically created tables. Easy
to set and manage permissions. Pricing One of the key things that we’ve consistently heard from developers about using
Windows Azure with mobile applications is the need for a low cost and simple offer. The simplest way
to describe the pricing for
Windows Azure Mobile Services at preview is that it is the same as
Windows Azure Websites during preview. What’s FREE? Run up
to 10 Mobile Services for free in a multitenant environment Free with valid
Windows Azure Free Trial 1GB SQL Database Unlimited ingress 165MB/day egress What do I pay for? Scaling up
to dedicated VMs Once
Windows Azure Free Trial expires - SQL Database and egress Getting Started
To start using Mobile Services, you will need
to sign up for a
Windows Azure free trial, if you have not done so already. If you already have a
Windows Azure account, you will need
to request
to enroll in this preview feature. Once you’ve enrolled, this getting started tutorial will walk you through building your first
Windows 8 application using the preview’s services. The developer center contains more resources
to teach you how to: Validate and authorize access
to data using easy scripts that execute securely, on the server Easily authenticate your users via
Windows Live Send toast notifications and update live tiles in just a few lines of code Our pricing calculator has also been updated for calculate costs for these new mobile services. Questions? Ask in the
Windows Azure Forums. Feedback? Send it
to [email protected].