Global software major Microsoft has built a dedicated portal for its Indian developers with a community-based platform to network and engage, its Indian subsidiary said.

"The collaborative portal will also offer expert guidance to developers and remotely solve their queries, empowering them to be efficient as they go from idea to app (application)," the company said in a statement here.

With 1.6 million developers in India, which is its second largest community after the US, the company has designed the portal to offer a rich set of functionality to help them leverage collective computing power.

"As a powerful tool, the portal (developer.microsoft.com) allows our developers in India to connect with their peers the world over. Our experts are also a click away for them," Microsoft Corporation (India) Ltd strategic audience marketing director Pratima Amonkar said in the statement.

The new portal will enable developers to post their app ideas in an area called 'Perspective'.

"Community blogs and social feeds in the 'connect' area allow developers to share stories, seek advice and connect with our experts at Redmond and other offices worldwide," Amonkar said.
As a single point of entry for all developers, the portal enables finding right information from different locations, which may be difficult to access otherwise.

"The developer network will provide opportunity for the community to engage with the company and each other," Amonkar noted.

Microsoft is the only company that allows developers to leverage their skills and reuse code to build apps, the statement said.

The company' flagship product Windows is also the only platform that offers consistency through a common core across device and service to shape the apps ecosystem and providing developers the prospect to maximise their revenues.

Samsung Galaxy Gear expected in early October

Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Gear expected in early October

Samsung's Galaxy Note 3 phablet and Galaxy Gear smartwatch are expected to land in the US in early October, wireless carriers revealed late Thursday.

Galaxy Note 3 phablets sandwich the Galaxy Gear smartwatch.

(Credit: Verizon Wireless)

T-Mobile said it will would launch the devices on October 2, while AT&T indicated that pre-orders of the Galaxy Note 3 would ship "around" October 1. The phablet will be available on AT&T for $299 with a two-year contract, or $35 a month with AT&T Next. T-Mobile is offering the device for $199 down and 24 monthly payments of $21, for a total of $703.

Meanwhile, Verizon announced Wednesday it would begin accepting pre-orders for the devices at 6 a.m. PT Friday, although the landing page does not hint when customers can expect delivery.T-Mobile said its customers could expect to pay $300 for the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, while AT&T listed no price and only offered the vague delivery window of in "coming weeks." AT&T began taking pre-orders Thursday evening for Galaxy Note 3, while T-Mobile invited customers to sign up for alerts indicating when the wireless carrier would begin taking orders the new flagship phablet.

Introduced earlier this week, the Note 3 sports a 5.7-inch screen -- a slight increase over that of the Note 2. However, the device is thinner and lighter than its predecessor, measuring just 8.3mm and weighing in at 168g. The device is powered by a 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 3GB of RAM, and a 3,200mAh battery.

The Gear is a wrist-worn, touch-screen timepiece that talks to your smartphone -- or in this case, your phablet -- so you don't have to be forever fetching your primary device from your purse or pocket. It controls music, tracks exercise, installs apps, and even makes phone calls.