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Chance to Connect and Shape the Future of Windows Mobile for Developers?
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It often seems like developers don’t really matter in the grander scheme of things when it comes to the Windows Mobile platform. The device OEMs, mobile operators and carriers seem to be the real object of Microsoft’s affection when it comes to influencing the shape of Windows Mobile. After that, the enterprise and even the consumer customers seem to be next in line for Microsoft’s ear. This of course is rather a-typical of how Microsoft originally found success. Windows originally found traction in the marketplace due to Microsoft’s astute strategy of putting great effort into enabling the developers and partners in the echo system and building them a great developer platform. This led to the huge selection of applications that would run on Windows machines and when users wanted to run those Windows applications they in turn would end up adopting the Windows platform. With Windows Mobile however… not so much. Maybe some of that (although I doubt all of it) is about to change. There is now a new area on Microsoft Connect that allows developers to submit and vote on developer focused Windows Mobile feature requests. Check out the page and follow the instructions closely. Once inside the Microsoft Connect site you need to select Available Connections from the menu and then scroll way down the list until you see Windows Mobile Developer Experience near the bottom.
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Windows Mobile sightings North of the Border!
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The Windows Mobile scene in Canada has historically lagged behind that of the US, however in the last while some of the Canadian carriers can be seen distributing the occasional Windows Mobile device that was not already being discontinued in the States. Well now not only has the Canadian dollar risen to new 30 year highs, but the Canadian Windows Mobile market is even getting a little respect from Microsoft with their recent launch of a Canadian-ized Windows Mobile launch page.
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Managed Windows Mobile QR-Code Library
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Many Windows Mobile Devices now come with a camera onboard. Unfortunately many of those cameras a fix focused cameras that are not setup for close up shots of things like traditional barcodes. Microsoft Research has played with using Windows Mobile devices for scanning barcodes, but the AURA beta for example required a special add on plastic lens that you needed to stick over the camera lens in order to scan. There are some other formats of barcodes that are less temperamental than the traditional parallel line style bar codes. The QR Code format is one such barcode that is becoming very popular on devices in some parts of the world. At one point Microsoft previewed a Windows Live Barcode beta that was also of this format, however Wikipedia seems to have more information on it now than the Microsoft site does. For Windows Mobile developers who are looking for a way to read QR Codes from managed code, check out one of Mark Arteaga’s OpenNetCF contritbutions, the QRCode library.
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Oh yeah, like this makes it easier to figure things out...
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Windows Mobile for Smartphone = Windows Mobile Standard
Windows Mobile for Pocket PC = Windows Mobile Classic
Windows Mobile for Pocket PC Phone Edition = Windows Mobile Professional
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Digging into WE-DIG
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Have you attended a local user group meeting lately? Have you been planning to go to a meeting, but could never find the time to attend? Maybe you just have no idea as to what goes on at a user group meeting? Here is the inside scoop on what went on at a recent WE-DIG meeting in Redmond, Washington.
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Do you need a Hand developing with PocketOutlook or COM Interop?
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If you have had a chance to explore and play with the new API's in Windows Mobile 5.0 you may be disappointed that they require a Windows Mobile 5.0 device to run. Peter Foot from In The Hand Ltd. has released a new library that may cheer you up. His Windows Mobile In The Hand product contains numerous APIs that bring some of the new functionality to developers targeting previous generations of Windows Mobile devices. It comes in both a community and
a professional edition.
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Job Listings Added to Mobidogs
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We have been approached by companies asking if they could post job and contract opportunities on the Mobidogs site which our readers might be interested in, so we have added a new Job Ops link to our main page. If you are looking for opportunities in the mobile developer space or if you are looking for candidates to help in your mobile related development projects, you should check this new page out.
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Do You Have a Shot at SumoBot at MEDC?
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Do you know what a Sumobot is? If you plan on attending the big event of the year for Windows Mobile, CE and Windows Embedded developers, you have a chance to be the Sumobot Champ of MEDC. Based on last years competition there are things that you may want to put some thought into before arriving at the conference in Las Vegas this year.
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Great Starting Point
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Are you looking for your next book to read? If the subject is development with
.NET Compact Framework, here is a review of a book from Addison Wesley that you may want to
check out. Hear from a fellow developer about who she thinks the book is suited for
and discover if it is something that would benefit you.
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MEDC Site Live
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Have you registered to attend Microsoft's premier mobile and embedded developer event of the year? Now two shows in one, Microsoft has combined what were previously two separate, but somewhat related developer events, MDC and EDC, into a single grand event. It looks like this one event is going to cover everything to do with developing for mobile and embedded devices including topics like Speech.NET, MapPoint and includes a Bill G keynote.
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Getting Real Time with Mike Hall
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During a recent trip to the Redmond campus we met up with Mike Hall and had an hour long chat
about all kinds of things, including up coming developer events, as well as some of Mike's views on
a number of technology fronts and the opportunities they might imply for developers. If you are interested in
learning more about the mobile and embedded industry and the people that make it tick,
you will enjoy this glimpse into our afternoon with Mike.
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The Intel Advantage for Windows Powered Mobile Devices
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Intel has posted an article by Wei-Meng Lee that discusses the heritage of the Pocket PC
processor. If you are looking to gain a better understanding of the different generations of Intel chips found inside
Pocket PC devices, including an overview of the feature sets of the various
XScale chips, this article may be for you.
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Lightweight Logging with TextLogger
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Are you looking for an easy way to log information from your Compact Framework applications?
Chris Howlett wrote a simple to use class that you can use to create time-stamped log entries.
Along with an overview of the features of this class and how to use it,
Chris also provides the full source as well as sample projects showing it in use.
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Wireless Innovation Contest
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WINBC, a wireless association based in British Columbia has recently announced that they will be holding their second annual Wireless Innovation Contest (WIC 2005). With the goal to "drive the adoption of wireless technologies in North America" the contest is looking to award a number of "wireless success stories" with targeted exposure and mentoring. There are six categories: entertainment, public sector, community, enterprise, student, and a most promising category. Entrants in this last category will be competing for access to a state-of-the-art test facility and a number of other perks that are designed to fast-track the wining ideas to become market-ready in six months. The call for entries opens October 18, 2004.
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Bell Wireless Internet Conference Report
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Bell Mobility is currently Canada's largest mobile operator and they held
their 2004 Annual Wireless Internet Conference in Toronto on September
22nd. This was the 6th year that they have hosted the event and you can
read the impressions of one attendee in this short report.
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Latest Yardstick from Handango
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In Handango's most recent Yardstick report their is more evidence that the
average selling price for mobile applications is on the rise. It also
shows that, Pocket PC's hold the bottom four out of the top five PDA devices
which people are buying software for. However, the story doesn't look as
good in the phone category where unfortunately there isn't even a Windows Mobile
Smartphone in the top five. The only Windows Mobile device to appear in
this month's top five phones was actually the O2 Pocket PC Phone Edition device
which dropped from fourth last month to fifth this month. If you are
interested in finding out what the best selling applications are for Windows
Mobile devices, you should take a look at the most recent Handango Yardstick
Report.
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Windows Marketplace
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At this year`s World Wide Partner Conference held in Toronto, Canada, one of the most exciting topics Steve B. and the other top executives from Microsoft where talking about, was the upcoming Microsoft Marketplace. As a small ISV, I found this to be an idea with great potential to open up opportunities for companies of all sizes to reach more customers. The Internet holds great promise in simplifying distribution channels for those of us who would like to get products to market without the complication and expense of going through retail. This may be one more step towards seeing that promise fulfilled.
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Visual Studio 2005 Beta
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On June 29, 2004 Microsoft announced Visual Studio 2005 Beta 1.
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