Microsoft has release all kinds of goodies today if you’re into Windows Phone 7 and XNA.
The RTM of the Windows Phone 7 developer tools is finally available! There’s a bit of a disconnect in the name: the docs say it’s the RTM, the site says it’s the RTW. I’ve never used the RTW acronym, so I’ll go with RTM. There appear to be a lot of changes between this release and the previous release. Be sure to read the release notes if you’ve been on the bleeding edge.
Luckily, the training kit has been updated along with the tools. I’ll check it out later to see if it has any new goodies to write about. If you’re just getting started with Windows Phone 7 or XNA for WP7, you will learn a lot just by using this kit.
If you want to make money with Windows Phone 7 but are afraid people won’t pay for it up front, you could always integrate advertising with the Microsoft Advertising SDK for Windows Phone 7. It uses Microsoft’s mobile Ad Exchange, which uses bidding type system. Most important to me, it has reporting features through Microsoft pubCenter.
And the grand finale: Microsoft XNA Game Studio 4.0. The real thing, not just for the phone.