One question that keeps getting asked around Silverlight is "how many people have installed it?" I mentioned this very briefly in the keynote post, but the current number being thrown about by MS is 1.5 million installations per day. This is a global number, not just in the US. By contrast, Flash is estimated to have around 12 million downloads per day (mostly updates to an existing version).

In addition, following is a summary of some of the key corporate/brand support:

• Nokia supporting Silverlight on Symbian
• Quark supporting Silverlight Export
• DoubleClick supporting Silverlight
• NBC Olympics Coverage

Interesting since he's been pretty down on MS lately. Take a read here.

The panels that Chip and I participated in have been posted at: http://sessions.visitmix.com/ -- both under the "Panel" sort option.

Paul's: What is the face of the next Web?

Chip's: Real World Design Studio

And, in the spirit of MIX, it's a Silverlight-based player. Check 'em out here or in the new Photos link above.

In the "Sandbox" room at MIX, they have a couple of Surface machines set up for hands on demos. Since these were first introduced last summer, I think virtually everyone has seen the videos of the demo.

Well, here's another one, but this time we actually got to try it out -- and it really is a remarkable device. In this video (taken by Nicole), we're walking through the app that is being rolled out by T-Mobile. What was really interesting to me about it was how quickly it responds to both touch inputs, as well as recognizing devices placed directly on the display via RFID, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or visually through the cameras in the unit's base. The demos I've seen of it online have always appeared a bit scripted and well orchestrated. Having now used it directly, it does appear to be ready for release (T-Mobile was supposed to roll it out in Nov. but have pushed it to April).

What I appreciate most about Dave is his utter lack of cynicism. It's a truly refreshing trait that is clearly evident on his blog.

Keep up the great work, Dave. You're an inspiration to us all.

Now, if you'll excuse me I have to get back to the blackjack table.

Cheers!

- Paul

This week, Chip, Nicole and I will be attending Microsoft's MIX '08 conference in Las Vegas. This event runs March 4 through March 7 and typically includes a number of major announcements from Microsoft, as well as sessions and speakers covering a variety of creative, UX, and technology topics. For example, last year, Microsoft used this event to launch the first version of Silverlight and Expression Studio.

The three of us will be posting to this blog throughout the week, sharing what we learn, as we learn it. We may even throw in some photos and video for good measure.

In addition to attending the sessions, both Chip and I will be participating in panels with a number of colleagues from other agencies and related firms. We're both thrilled to have this opportunity and hope you check out the webcast which will be live about 24 hours after the session. Check www.visitmix.com for details. Following are the details for each of our sessions:

Paul's panel:

What Is the face of the next Web?

Wednesday, March 5 1:30 PM - 2:45 PM Pacific

Speaker(s): Chris Bernard (MODERATOR), Paul Dain (Tribal), Anthony Franco (EffectiveUI), Tjeerd Hoek (Frog), Mark Kurtz (Gage), Garrick Schmitt (Avenue A | Razorfish)

Description: Web 2.0 appeared almost overnight from innovative uses of technology to break through the traditional HTML/JS browser ceilings. But what comes next? What is the face of the next web? What are the expectations for user interaction and experience? What about a mobile web?

Chip's panel:

Real World Design: Working with Silverlight and WPF in the Design Studio

Thursday, March 6 8:30 AM - 9:45 AM Pacific

Speaker(s): Beau Ambur (Metaliq), Chip Aubry (Tribal), Chris Bernard (MODERATOR), Nathan Dunlap (Identity Mine), Rich Weston (Neudesic)

Description: Silverlight and WPF represent a new way for designers and developers work together. But what happens in a professional practice that's focused more on employing designers than developers and using Macs versus PCs for much of their daily design work? Join us as we find out how practitioners from companies like Tribal, Projekt202, Metaliq and Identity Mine discuss the learning curves and the workflow that they adapted with their visual designers and rich interactive developers to get up to speed with Expression Studio, XAML and Silverlight. You'll hear the unvarnished truth about the challenges and rewards of how Silverlight is enabling the digital design practice.

So, bookmark this page, subscribe to the RSS feed and please give us your feedback.

- Paul