The latest version of the .NET Micro Framework slipped out early last week (we’ve previously praised the Dare to Dream Different competition on the framework).

This latest version includes some substantial improvements:

Version 3.0 brings several new features and enhancements to an already robust and productive development platform:

. Enhanced secure connectivity. .NET Micro Framework version 3.0 features new connectivity support, including Wi-Fi integration, Universal Serial Bus support, Web Services for Devices, secure sockets layer and support for a file system compatible with FAT32.

. Extended hardware choices. Enhancements include interoperability with native code allowing direct access to hardware, reduction in the minimum footprint to 64K RAM, a more accessible and easier-to-use porting kit, support for the Analog Devices Blackfin processor family, and ARM Thumb and Thumb-2 instruction sets.

. Increased productivity. A fully integrated development experience with both Visual Studio 2008 and Visual C# 2008 Express Edition – along with interoperability – provides developers with powerful debugging and emulation capabilities and a more flexible migration path for .NET developers and those with existing native code modules.

. Additional user interface options. Touch and gesture support enable development of more interactive and capable device applications.

Source: Microsoft PressPass

But you’ll notice the logo hasn’t changed – we can only guess it wasn’t important enough to get the new wave logo.

Microsoft kicked off (yet) another competition challenge today, this time focusing on their .NET Micro Framework. It’s called the Dare to Dream Different Challenge.

They’ve been going hot lately with the DevSta competition just recently coming to a close (winners will be announced in a few weeks time we hear).

We’re pretty cynical when it comes to competitions since it just seems like a sucky way to get your customers to do your work for you, but at least they give out some good prizes (this time they are claiming more than $101K in prizes).

The .NET Micro Framework (for those who don’t know) is a ‘development and execution environment for resource constrained devices‘. this includes things like medical devices, home automation, industrial automation, automotive devices and even things like watches and other consumer devices. The .NET Micro Framework Developer Center on MSDN has more details.

The cool thing about this competition is that is more likely than any of Microsoft’s other recent challenges to actually turn out something useful to society at large.

The following quote by Colin Miller, product unit manager for the .NET Micro Framework at Microsoft sums it up well:

If you can build something as simple as a device to reliably ensure that someone is taking their medications accurately, you can change the lives of millions of people and help them live independently longer.

Source: Microsoft PressPass

We’ll keep you posted on how the challenge shapes up.

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