Windows Phone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

"Bratislava, Slovakia - November 17, 2009 -Resco, a supplier of advanced developer components and tools for mobile devices, releases today Resco MobileForms Toolkit 2010, which is optimized for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework 3.5. "Since 2003, when the first version of Resco MobileForms Toolkit was released, we have been working hard to enrich each new release by adding new components to support modern and ground-breaking mobile technology," said Radomir Vozar, Resco Developer Tools & Enterprise Division Director. "The current year is no exception; the 2010 edition not only allows developers to develop attractive and fully competitive mobile applications, but it reasonably simplifies the development process and saves time."

MobileForms Toolkit 2010 is out now for developers looking to rapidly develop new apps on Windows Mobile. Check it out if you're a fan, and I don't think you'll be disappointed by the new features.

"With less than a week until the launch of Windows phones and Windows Marketplace for Mobile, I wanted to take a minute to thank the global developer and ISV community for rallying around Marketplace and offer a quick update on what we've been up to. First and foremost, the response to Windows Marketplace has been impressive in terms of the number of creative developers we're working with and the depth of engineering- and process-oriented feedback we've received and incorporated. Our commitment to transparency has generated a surprising level of collaboration that impacts Marketplace development on a daily basis. I know that getting in on the ground floor of an ambitious effort like Marketplace isn't easy. I sincerely appreciate your patience, feedback and desire to help us create a world class experience for both developers and end users."

If you're a developer who's working on an application for the forthcoming Marketplace, you'll want to check out this blog post. Worth noting is that the Windows Mobile 6/6.1 version of the Marketplace is slated for November. That's a good thing, because having the Marketplace start essentially from zero customers (people who own 6.5 devices) is more than a little short-sighted.

"Our strategy for all of this is pretty straightforward; we want to create a global marketplace for Windows Phones where developers and users meet to sell and buy high quality and high value applications that make work easier and life more fulfilling. We're creating a clear process and new opportunity for developers and ISVs to make money from their investment in innovation. The applications we feature will be well organized, easily accessible by PC or phone and backed by a money back guarantee. And when they're ready to buy, customers will have a variety of payment options to choose from. These are new customer experiences, and frankly, capabilities that will set us apart."

As of this morning afternoon, Windows Marketplace for Mobile is now accepting application submissions from all 29 supported countries - and the Race to Market Challenge contest also kicks off. That site is password protected at the moment but apparently later today it will be live. Yeah, a bit strange. This contest is a way to build up the content on Windows Marketplate for Mobile, and to give developers a "first mover" advantage in terms of getting their applications into the marketplace. I think Microsoft is taking a realistic approach to this - they're not saying "Develop for Windows Mobile, it's the best!" they're saying "Develop for our platform as well - we have something to offer".

Want to build your application? Here's the Windows Mobile 6.5 developer toolkit (it's not an SDK mind you - you'll need to use the 6.1 Professional or Standard SDKs). Want to submit your application? Here are the Application Submission Guidelines. The prizes are a bit unusual: winners get one of four Microsoft Surface tables (Developer Edition), online marketing & promotion of their app, and a challenge trophies.

Think you have what it takes? Let's see those apps!

If you are a developer and have questions about the forthcoming Windows Marketplace for Mobile, check out the new forum on MSDN. You'll need a LiveID to sign up, but chances are, if you develop for Windows Mobile, you already have one. The forum is new but seems to have a few Softies in it to answer questions and take feedback.

"Now, Samsung has released the first Windows Mobile-focused result, Samsung Windows Mobile SDK 1.0. It offers APIs to use advanced features unique to Samsung phones. You might already have experience using advanced capabilities featured in the Windows Mobile APIs, like GPS, Bluetooth or multimedia support. In addition to the Microsoft Windows Mobile APIs, you can use Samsung APIs to access phone features such as the accelerometer, notification LEDs and haptics feedback."

Arne Hess over at the::unwired reports that Samsung's Innovator project is now available to join. By doing so you'll be able to access not only Windows Mobile APIs but also Samsung's APIs for device specific stuff like haptic feedback!

"Resco, a supplier of advanced developer components and tools for mobile devices, releases today Resco MobileForms Toolkit 2009, which is optimized for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework 3.5. "New Resco MobileForms Toolkit 2009 represents one of the most powerful suites for mobile apps development," said Radomir Vozar, Resco's Enterprise Solutions division director. "2009 release allows developers creating apps that set new trends in mobility especially in the area of graphic interface and touch functionality."

Resco's newest mobile forms toolkit is now available, and it looks like it's ready to jump into any app and spice it up a bit (or at least save some time coding). Any MobileForms fans looking to upgrade?

"Following the global success of the inituitive drag and drop mobile application development tool MobiForms Developer, the team at MobiForms are proud to announce the release of the MobiForms Advanced edition. The MobiForms Advanced edition includes the MobiForms Developer and the new MobiForms Sync Server. The MobiForms Sync Server (MSS) is a complementary tool to the MobiForms Developer offering a true offline wireless store and forward capability with sophisticated online synchronisation, replication and offline data buffering."

The latest release from MobiForms allows devices to connect to a variety of databases through a dedicated MobiForms server system. Rapid application development plus over the air database access can put together a mean package on the handheld!

Microsoft has just launched a new developer portal for Windows Mobile to help advertise upcoming events, showcase applications, and introduce you to a number of team members and MVPs. And, of course, there's no shortage of guides showing you how to turn that idea in your head into a working Windows Mobile application.

"GapiDraw is the graphics platform to use when creating applications with high demands for fast graphics on Windows Mobile devices! GapiDraw comprises a framework and a set of C++ classes that together provide everything you need to create state-of-the-art applications such as games, navigational tools and advanced user interfaces for Windows Mobile devices."

If you develop applications that require graphics processing or other displays of graphical goodness, then GapiDraw may fit the bill to save you a bit of time and effort while giving your users a nice experience overall!

"The API Usage Tool scans your Windows Mobile applications (in cab, msi, or binary formats), performs static analysis, and reports on the usage of APIs and other system resources. Our application compatibility team has been using the tool for several months now to ensure that we have good coverage of our public SDK when we do testing with 3rd party applications, as well as to help guide resource allocation and investments toward the most frequently used APIs."

This program will scan your mobile app and report on the used APIs, including depreciated APIs and export it to a file. MS would like to collect these statistics to aid in their compatibility planning. More details, including the address to submit the info on your file are at the site linked to above.

"Write software for your Smartphone, PocketPC and PC in minutes using our new programming language. PPL is a fast and easy-to-learn programming language that is fully object-oriented."

PPL is on sale now until August 31 for $37.35 CAD / $34.95 USD / 18.68 GBP / 223.89 SEK (OK, I gotta stop playing with the currency drop down on their shopping cart page). Here's the link for anyone interested in this pretty nice deal.

So unlike your cable company, On Demand here doesn't mean pay extra to view it when you want. Just head on over to the links below and you can view the webcasts that were shown prior to and during TechEd 2008. Heads up to Jason Langridge for providing the links. Happy viewing!

· Developing Applications for Windows Mobile Devices

· Developing Your First Real Windows Mobile 6 Application

· Using Device Capabilities & Device Functionality

· Mobile Data Strategies & Synchronization Using SQL Server Compact, XML, & LINQ

· Windows Mobile Development - Live from TechEd Orlando

"Windows® SideShow™ for Windows Mobile® is an application for Windows Mobile 5 and Windows Mobile 6 Pocket PCs and Smartphones that allows you to use your Windows Mobile device as a Bluetooth SideShow-compatible device. This enables you to use your phone as an extra window into your PC. You can both access your computer’s information from your Pocket PC or Smartphone, and control the computer through a gadget interface. While the phone is out of range, or when your computer is off, you can continue to view content sent to the phone previously. This makes it easy to send information to the phone that you'll need later on."



Last year, I trekked over to Beijing with fellow MVPs and other technical community leaders to meet with the Microsoft Research and Windows Vista teams. There, we discussed the direction that Windows Vista was going to take over the next few years. Microsoft obviously wanted to make the user experience better, but they wanted (needed?) ideas. While a great deal of the week-long meeting focused on the product itself, we did spend some time discussing how it could better communicate with the rest of Microsoft's products, and most importantly, take advantage of them. For the most part, it was all about Windows Mobile, and I was brimming with ideas. Can you see where this is heading?

Yes, we discussed Windows SideShow, which at the time was one of Windows Vista's most impressive features, yet sadly, one of the most underused, too. Not everyone has a digital picture frame or a laptop with an in-lid display. But a lot of us have phones, and if you're reading this, it's probably a Windows Mobile phone. I often wondered why Microsoft didn't endow its own mobile product with SideShow support right off the bat. Some third parties cooked up their own solutions, but adoption was far from widespread, and I was sincerely hoping that Microsoft would realize their oversight and rectify the situation by releasing an official solution to bring SideShow to Windows Mobile.

So, here we are, a year later and Microsoft has heeded advice and finally released a developer preview. It's at v0.01, so don't expect it to be rock solid, but it'll still give you a taste of things to come. Our pal, Arne, has given it a test run and likes what he sees. Maybe you will too. Download it, install it, and let us know what you think.

"Mobility Metro is a 3 day hands-on lab or 1 day seminar that covers the detailed points about building applications on the Windows Mobile platform. It covers tools such as Visual Studio 2008, the .NET Compact Framework, SQL Server Compact Edition and more.

The training will go into detail on:

• All About Windows Mobile
• Windows Mobile for Line of Business
• The Tools
• Managed Development
• Data Management Strategies
• Performance and Optimization
• A Whole New Level"

Some cool free mobility sessions are still available around the US, so if you're looking for a quick trip to see some new development tools (and how to create some neat user interactions), check Jason Langridge's post for locations and length.