Windows Phone Developer Tools and Training Kit Now in Beta

The Windows Phone Developer Tools are now available in beta format. You can grab the download here and read the detailed release notes here. However, there are a few key items which you should know about, including the following:

• Expression Blend 4 is now completely integrated
• A new registration tool and XAP deployment tool are included
• The Windows Phone 7 API is nearly done - many namespaces that were previously distributed over several different DLLs have now been consolidated into one and the APIs for Push Notifications, Accelerometer, and App Bar have been updated.
• New controls (panorama & pivot, for ex.) are coming soon, but didn’t make this beta
• Silverlight for Windows Phone control templates have been updated to match evolutions in the overall OS,

More info on these tools is available on the Windows Phone blog.

Along with the launch of the tools, the Developer Training Kit is now also available in beta. This kit contains labs, tools and videos that can help you get started designing Windows Phone apps. This latest refresh contains the following new labs:

• Using Windows Phone Launcher and Choosers In Your Applications
• Understanding the Windows Phone Application Lifecycle (handling Tombstone)
• Hello Phone (a twist on the classic “Hello World” app)
• Building your First Windows Phone Application
• Windows Phone Navigation and Controls
• Game Development with XNA Framework for Windows Phone

You can grab a local copy of the training kit here or use the online version on Channel 9.