MSN Celeb app - Windows Phone 7

BRIEF
Microsoft launched its new operating system “Windows Phone 7” in February 2010, as the cutting-edge successor to Windows Mobile. As competition between smart phone operating systems increases and Apple starts to lose market share in the apps market, many businesses are now developing apps in the Windows Phone 7 platform. Windows Phone 7 got a further boost when Nokia announced in February 2011 that they would be using the technology in their phones.

Governor Technology’s early involvement with Windows Phone 7 means we are now one of the most experienced developers in the UK for Windows Phone 7, with strong links to the Microsoft team in the US behind the mobile technology. So when Microsoft MSN needed a Windows Phone 7 mobile app to showcase the celebrity news, images and video content from MSN’s UK website they asked Governor Technology to build it.
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STRATEGY
The strategy behind the development of building their ‘Celebrity Wall’ application was carefully designed so that new versions could be created for other MSN content and application markets.

As well as optimising the user experience, we ensured that the technical structure of the app was strong and sound. This included minimising download time and maximising content availability in situations of low or no phone signal. On launch, the Celeb App quickly established itself as one of the best entertainment apps on the market.
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EXECUTION
Having the experience from working on numerous Silverlight projects since the early days of Silverlight 2, we found moving to Windows Phone 7 a pretty smooth transition. Many of the skills we built up were directly applicable to the new platform.

However, the challenge we faced was working with a pre-release build of the new OS, often on internal builds private to Microsoft, and didn’t get a real device for testing until we were deep into the project! So there was a steep learning curve in terms of getting a feel for how the device would respond to the demands we were putting on it. We had to do a fair bit of tweaking on the UI transitions to get it running smoothly towards the end of the build.

Microsoft’s team of Developer Evangelists were really helpful during the project, reviewing code for us and asking questions of the WP7 team to get problems solved quickly, and we were able to feedback our experiences to the developers working on the OS too. We were one of the first teams to complete development ahead of the deadline, and our first app was part of the WP7 launch showcase making an appearance in the television adverts for the launch and showcasing in the application store. Overall, we’re really pleased we what we achieved and really like WP7 as a mobile development platform.

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RESULT
It seems that Windows Phone 7 users share our verdict, with the Celeb app gaining an average 4/5 star ranking on the Windows Phone 7 App Store. Since then, MSN also commissioned us to do similar apps for their lifestyle and cars channels, and a regionalized version of the Celeb app for the Canadian market.
"Building an app for a phone that doesn't yet exist and that needs to be ready for launch day is a challenge. Governor rose to that challenge; not only were we ready for the UK launch of Windows Phone 7, the subsequent consumer feedback has been excellent with the app maintaining a four star or above average rating so far. To my mind that is the best testimony for the quality of Governor's contribution to the project".
Peter Bell, CTO Consumer & Online, Microsoft
Since the release of Windows Phone, Windows Phone app development and Windows Phone apps have gained a relatively small, but enthusiastic, following. Like Android and iPhone apps, Windows Phone Apps have a variety of purposes. Many of the apps are games, but people often check their Facebook, catch up on some reading, watch videos, listen to music, get directions, or even check their blood alcohol content straight from their Windows Phone.
Being a Windows Phone 7 Creative Agency has its perks. As noted before, a Windows 7 Phone Apps developer compliments the work many do on iPhone or Android developer. And it just doesn't make sense for an Xbox Live developer not to be a Windows Phone Partner. Honestly, given the fact that Windows has such a strong market hold in all things computing, it just doesn't make sense for phone app developers in general to avoid being a Windows 7 phone company.