Microsoft's Project Siena Helps You Create Metro Apps

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by Suril Amin 

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Microsoft Project Siena (code name) is the beta release of a new technology for business experts, business analysts, consultants and other app imagineers.  Think of it as a Metro App that creates apps. Now, without any programming, you can create powerful apps for the device-first and cloud-connected world, with the potential to transform today’s business processes. 

  • Apps to explore media-rich product catalogs and create ensembles that together serve a customer’s needs
  • Apps used on the spot to resolve customer service bottlenecks and logistics exceptions, with the custom intelligence to help the user make local trade-offs
  • Apps for auditing and inspecting a manufacturing facility through photos, videos and pen and voice notes, all tied to an asset database

Siena apps are as easy as editing a document. You place some visuals on a canvas. You hook them up to your data. You customize how your app looks and works. Then, if you need special logic and intelligence, you write some Excel-like expressions. You can use your app immediately, or share it with colleagues or the world.

With Siena, you can conceptualize, validate and build your app ideas almost as fast as you can come up with them. And if your needs change tomorrow, updating your app is no problem. Open it. Change it. Share it again, and you’re off to do business.

Siena works well with corporate and web data and media content: SharePoint lists, Excel and Azure tables, RSS feeds and the gamut of RESTful services.

Siena apps are just HTML5 and JavaScript and are deployed and managed like any other Windows 8.x app. In fact, developers can open them up, see what’s there and, if needed, extend them in their favorite programming tools.

Install Siena, watch one of the how-to videos at http://aka.ms/ProjectSiena, and then build the app that you’ve been imagining… in under an hour.

Features

  • Conceptualize, validate and build your app ideas as easily as editing a document
  • Connect to corporate and web data
  • Compose rich interactive visuals to create custom, unique apps
  • Add business logic and intelligence using the power of Excel-like expressions
  • Use the app yourself, share with colleagues or with the world

Download: Project Siena

More about the topics: metro apps, project siena

Suril Amin

Suril Amin Shield

Journalist

Suril is a scientist, journalist and obsessive Microsoft observer. He holds an advanced degree in Biotechnology with minors in Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Molecular Biology.