BB35
Sep 30th,2008
Live Platform: The Future of the Device Mesh

Speakers

Jeremy Mazner, Program Manager, Microsoft, blogs.microsoft.com/jmazner
This was a very interesting session where Jeremy showed how Live Mesh Services provided the infrastructure for devices to share and listen: communicating status, accepting remote management, and synchronizing and sharing files and applications. Jeremy showed how the combination of software running on devices, services running in the cloud, and open protocols and APIs of the Live Framework make it all happen. Jeremy reviewed the role of devices, where some are producers of content, some are consumers of content, and some are processors of content (e.g. transcoders for Zune and other portable devices). Some of what Jeremy discussed is not yet available in the CTP SDK. / Mentioned Technologies
  • Live Mesh
  • XML
  • ATOM
  • A variety of devices
  • Live Services Auth
  • Delegated Auth
  • Intel Remote Wake

List of demos

Demo #1 / Jeremy presented the Ring of Devices and how can you register deviced to the Mesh
Demo #2 / Jeremy presented how to trace a device registration using the resource browser and the Meta data associated with the devices
Demo #3 / Jeremy Took photo of the audience and showed the sync operation across a photo printer, a photo frame, a NAS storage device, a laptop, and the cloud showing how Multiple devices were kept in sync automatically
Demo #4 / Put laptop in sleep mode, then used Intel’s new Remote Wake to wake the laptop to serve an incoming RDP request

Conclusion

Jeremy concluded with the following:
  • Creating a new device programmatically for arbitrary devices is not currently supported in the CTP
  • Delegated Auth is easy
  • Wanted community feedback on programmability, user experience, and cross-platform support
  • Related sessions: BB05, BB51, BB31, BB34

Q & A

At the conclusion of the session the following questions were answered:

Logo and certification programs?

Not sure if logo programs are effective

Can I use an older phone as a Mesh device?

Yes, if it supports HTTP but won’t show up in the device ring

I have a dev token issued at the HOL. Does this provide me with a delegated auth token?

Can use the dev token to create delegated auth tokens

What about Microsoft device support in the Live Mesh?

Windows Mobile 6 is supported right now. Zune, Xbox coming soon.

Is it possible to run the Live Mesh client and the Live Services client on the one system?

No, not in the CTP. Some confusion about this. Current dev env is a sandbox so can’t access Azure services yet. Recommended a VM for dev.

Can devices be powered on/off?

Talk to Intel about that

Can Mesh run as a service or does a user have to be logged on?

Live Mesh Remote Services is a service and publishes its presence and responds to RDP requests