Microsoft Shows off the Toys in its Sandbox


Microsoft demonstrates new managed network mashups from Sandbox members, announces winner of first Sandbox developer competition, welcomes new Sandbox partners, wins NXTcomm award.

CHICAGO, June 18 - This week at NXTcomm 2007, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) will highlight key results from its Connected Services Sandbox, an initiative to help promote its Telco 2.0 vision of delivering scores of new service offerings that merge traditional telecommunications offerings with Web 2.0 applications to telecommunications service providers. The winner of NXTcomm's 2007 Eos Excellence of Achievement Award for Best Strategic Support, the Microsoft® Connected Services Sandbox encourages independent software vendors (ISVs), systems integrators (SIs) and developers to collaborate with leading telecommunications providers in the development of managed network mashups. Among recent successes of the Connected Services Sandbox are the creation of more than 120 mashups, the winning designs from the first of several developer competitions, and the addition of several new member companies. At the event, Microsoft and its partners will showcase examples of mashup services.

"The Connected Services Sandbox was created to help telecommunications service providers rapidly develop, test and commercialize a range of innovative new services," said Michael O'Hara, general manager for the Communications Sector at Microsoft. "By taking an operator's core network assets and combining them with technologies and applications from the Web 2.0 world, the Sandbox brings operators closer to Telco 2.0. Operators have an opportunity to deliver hundreds, if not thousands, of new revenue-generating services to their customers in this new telecom order, and the Connected Services Sandbox is key in accelerating this process."

Demonstrating New Service Combinations Developed in the Sandbox
At NXTcomm, Microsoft partners Aepona, jNetX, Nortel Networks and Tech Mahindra will demonstrate new service combinations created in the Connected Services Sandbox. The services are examples of mashups that bring together communications applications with content from a variety of sources to deliver a compelling experience to the end user. The demos will include combinations of services such as voice, e-mail, instant messaging, mapping and search.

Microsoft and its partners will showcase the following mashup services at the Connected Services Sandbox booth:

o Blended communications services. Call logs with presence information,
click-to-call service from any phone, and intelligent call screening
o Managed direct marketing services. An e-mail direct marketing platform
that encourages direct real-time communication between consumer and
merchant
o Unified communications solutions. Call-back, routing and log services
with instant messaging
o Buddy finder service. A value-added service that allows users to locate
their buddy with their mobile phone
o Service provider tools. A set of tools that enables service providers
to take various concepts and ideas in the Sandbox to production

First Winner of the Connected Service Sandbox Competition Series

Sandbox participants recently competed in the first design and development competition, sponsored by Microsoft and BT. In this competition, developers were given the task of creating an integrated communications application that helps small and midsize businesses (SMBs) gain greater business efficiencies. The winner of the first competition is software developer Deepak Sharma, whose collaborative logistics mashup offers transport companies a way to cut costs and streamline logistics operations.

According to the judges, Sharma's service prototype closely matched the design specification, using Web services to expose the power of BT's 21st Century Network in combination with the Microsoft Connected Services Framework. The prototype application, which can be of significant benefit to BT's business customers, will undergo a feasibility study for commercial deployment by BT.

"The Sandbox competitions have proved to be invaluable in generating new ideas," said Bill Murphy, managing director, BT Business. "For example, the collaborative logistics mashup is an innovative way of harnessing the strength of the BT 21st Century Network to deliver business value to SMBs, and the assembly phase of the competition has demonstrated how rapidly we can go from design to prototype. This is an exciting way to rapidly create a wide range of services that can be used to support our customers' businesses."

New Sandbox Partners

Microsoft also announced several new members of the Connected Services Sandbox:

o Aepona, ISV and a leading supplier of service network products and
solutions to telecoms operators worldwide
o Derdack GmbH, ISV and leading supplier of premium software for
business-critical mobile messaging
o IONA Technologies, SI and a world leader in distributed
service-oriented architecture infrastructure solutions for
performance-demanding IT environments
o Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., the leading telecommunications
provider in the Philippines
o Tata Teleservices, SI and one of India's premier mobile and fixed
service providers

Microsoft and its partners will demonstrate managed network mashups created in the Sandbox at NXTcomm 2007 in Chicago, June 19 to 21, 2007, at the Microsoft Connected Services Sandbox Booth 5840. More information about the Connected Services Sandbox can be found at http://www.networkmashups.com/.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Source: Microsoft Corp.

Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/
http://www.networkmashups.com/

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