The answer to the last question from our WP7 quiz - Which color is preferred to be used in Windows Phone 7 application and why? - was first given by Maringa Manguyu (@maringaM). Our short talk with Maringa Manguyu will introduce him and his experience with WP7 to the SilverlightShow community.
Q. Maringa – congratulations for becoming the fifth winner in SilverlightShow WP7 quiz! Please introduce yourself to the community at SilverlightShow - who are you, your professional background, projects you are currently working on, interests, blog or anything else you’d like to mention?
A. Firstly, a huge thank you to SilverlightShow for running the WP7 quiz! I am a developer based out of Nairobi, Kenya and have been working for a company that provides healthcare solutions to hospitals in the UK, Australia and parts of Asia. The company has a number of products from numerous acquisitions and we are currently working on integrating all of them, as well as ‘webifying’ them. I love working with computers, and the fact that you are only limited by your imagination when it comes to building software applications. Nothing is impossible to do!
Q. Why did you get interested in WP7 development? What business opportunities do you see in developing applications for WP7?
A. My interest first started when we offered a version of our software running on pocket pc (that’s a long time ago!), and since then I have been following the developments happening with Windows Mobile. I also enjoy working with Silverlight, and the fact that I can use it to develop a WP7 app. I think the opportunities are unlimited, it will be us, the developer community, that will drive the success of WP7 and with MS’s support, I am pretty sure that will happen!
Q. If you were Microsoft, what would you add to WP7?
A. I have a Windows Mobile 6.5 phone and I use copy/paste a lot of the time
Q. What do you expect from the official launch of WP7?
A. I think it would be fantastic to see a roadmap of the future developments planned for WP7. I also hope to see when the phone will be launched in Africa, as well as some announcement on when more countries will be allowed into the Windows Marketplace. I know these things take time, but it would be very nice to see some more information on this!
Q. What WP7 topics would you want to see covered on SilverlightShow?
A. I think SilverlightShow is doing a really wonderful job on covering WP7 and there is a lot to learn, that all I would say is please continue what you are doing in engaging and supporting the developer community.
Q. What area(s) of Silverlight are you currently exploring? Most recent challenge you were faced with in your work?
A. I have been exploring the LOB functionality that is available in SL especially RIA, and now some COM support. It’s astonishing how fast you can get a database driven app running. And that looks good as well! I think these are exciting times as Silverlight becomes more pervasive and we start to see more areas we can develop apps in.
Thanks, Maringa, for taking part in our quiz, and for giving this interview to SilverlightShow! Look forward to hear from you again, with your first WP7 applications!