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

"Microsoft just dropped its first press release of MIX 10 on us, and in addition to detailing the Sliverlight and XNA-based Windows Phone 7 Series development situation, we've also got a list of launch software partners and some screenshots of apps in action. There's some heavy hitters here, and everything from games to enterprise apps are represented -- notables include the Associated Press, Citrix, EA Mobile, Foursquare, Namco, Pangeonce, Pandora, Seesmic, Shazam, and Sling."

Engadget has gobs of information, screen shots, and videos about all the good stuff happening at MIX 10 today. The quick takeaway is that Microsoft has done a great job at attracting top-level partners to create software solutions for the forthcoming Windows phone 7 platform. Couple of videos after the break. Read more...

I've never been super impressed with the design of the current Windows Marketplace for Mobile; it loads slowly and feels a bit cumbersome and awkward when compared to the iPhone app store. The Windows phone 7 Marketplace is a radical leap beyond anything we've seen before - it makes the iPhone app store look positively weak in comparison. Damn this looks fine!

"One final note at today's event is that Microsoft has now officially confirmed for the first time that 7 represents a clean break from Windows Mobile as we know it today; existing apps won't be compatible. Though that's likely to be a pain for existing owners with specialized apps who are looking to stay in the Microsoft ecosystem, Windows Phone 7 Series itself is a very different beast than the operating system it replaces -- it feels different, seeks a different demographic, and symbolically represents a very important clean-slate departure for a company that had lost its way in the mobile space. The bright side for the 6.5 faithful, we suppose, is that Kindel closes by saying that they "will continue to work with our partners to deliver new devices based on Windows Mobile 6.5 and will support those products for many years to come" -- a message Microsoft has been echoing recently."

In case you hadn't heard deduced this, our favorite third party apps won't work with Windows Phone 7 out of the box. Will this mean that developers will flock to technologies such as XNA and Silverlight to re-design their apps? Or do you think they may just leave the platform?

"Microsoft is in significant disarray, fettered by its destkop dominance as the world goes mobile. Would this have happened anyway, or is Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to blame? Ballmer, after all, knows how to sing to developers, but he doesn't really speak their language. Former Microsoft CEO and co-founder Bill Gates did. Now, more than ever, Microsoft needs to get in front of developers but finds itself playing catch-up."

Matt Asay has posted an article on CNET about the future of Microsoft, and whether he thinks Microsoft has lost it's way since Bill Gates left the company and Steve Ballmer took over.  It's an interesting opinion and one that does raise some valid points. I personally feel that Microsoft is stuck in a rut and is not adapting quickly enough to the way technology is changing and in particular, the way we users are using that technology.  Windows Mobile is a good example of how Microsoft have fallen behind, and how developers are now focusing their efforts on iPhone apps and Android apps. What about the desktop, will that go the same way?  Does Steve Ballmer have the same creativity and vision that Bill Gates had? With Microsoft under attack from the likes of Apple and Google, is he the right man to lead the battle? What do you think? Do you think that like Apple, Microsoft should entice their talisman, Bill Gates, back to try and drive Microsoft forward?

There are a few significant problems with the new Windows Marketplace for Mobile, not the least of which is security from a developers point of view. The idea is that you buy an app from the Marketplace, it installs onto your device, then deletes the CAB file that it downloaded to install itself, and that's that. But what happens if you don't allow the CAB file to be deleted, or find a way to grab it before the process deletes it? More than one person has been able to figure this out, and it's not that difficult apparently. The concern here is, of course, that developers will be reluctant to put their apps onto the Marketplace if they don't feel their investments will be protected.

From a user perspective, knowing that sometimes phones get messed up - and let's not forget the disaster that is ROM updating on the Windows Mobile platform - it's important to keep backups of your applications. I haven't heard anything about a new version of Windows Mobile Device Center that would allow the user to keep a copy of Marketplace applications on their PC. So how exactly does the consumer protect their investment in software? That's a piece of the puzzle that can't be ignored. Ideally I suppose you'd be able to enter your Marketplace ID into the device and be able to re-download all the apps you've purchased...but I don't think it works that way. Anyone with a 6.5 device care to comment? Yeah, this is me not having a clue again because I don't have a 6.5 device to test. <sigh>

"WinMoDevCamp is a series of not-for-profit gatherings to develop applications for the upcoming release of the Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 OS. Our first Windows Mobile Developer Camp event is scheduled for August 19th in Redmond, Washington at the Microsoft Campus Conference Center. The event is also being planned in at least 5 additional cities around the world: Austin, London, New York, San Francisco, and Singapore. We also encourage our extended mobile developer community to host events in the cities that we will not be visiting this time. The http://winmodevcamp.org website will soon have facilities for you to organize events."

Loke Uei Tan invites you, and all your developer buddies, to attend the first Windows Mobile Developer Camp in Redmond on the 19th of August (If you happen to be around there...). Other venues are also in the works. Looks like a great opportunity to tell your boss you need some "skill development" time and head off to an interesting event!

"In the latest update to http://developer.windowsmobile.com, developers can now Register to participate in Windows Marketplace for Mobile. This marks another milestone in providing Windows Mobile Developers a clear path to develop, test, certify and distribute their Windows Mobile applications via the Windows® Marketplace for Mobile. Throughout the registration process, links to key documentation for distributing apps through Windows Marketplace for Mobile are provided."

Developers, if you haven't registered to participate in the Windows Marketplace for Mobile, now's as good a time as any to do so. You'll have to pony up an annual subscription fee of $99, but doing so will net you assistance with the development, certification, and distribution of your app. Check out the FAQ, if you have any queries. It's worth noting that participation is optional. You may consider the cost or the policies of the Marketplace to be too restrictive, in which case, you're still welcome to develop your app and distribute it through third-party storefronts as you're probably already doing so in this pre-Marketplace era.

"At Microsoft's Silicon Valley campus this week, the company held a talent show for mobile software developers that it called Mobile Incubation Week. A group of six finalists demonstrated a variety of programs that run on Windows Mobile, Microsoft's operating system for smartphones. The finalists included an application called VoiceMuffler, described as a "real-time two-way speech-to-speech translation designed for foreign military personnel and civilian travelers," according to the blog of Brian Hoskins, a senior development manager at Microsoft involved in the competition."

Code competitions sponsored by Microsoft are nothing new, but it's nice to see one with a mobile bent. The winner gets early placement in the Windows Mobile Marketplace, and a nice shiny Zune. Let's hope Microsoft continues to promote developers in this way - maybe even making it easier for novices to step into developing without a hefty price tag attached.

"We're really excited to announce that the new Windows Mobile Line of Business Solution Accelerator 2008 has been released to the web and can be found here at the Microsoft Downloads site. Having the best mobile development platform and tools is more important now than it’s ever been before and that’s why we’ve delivered this new Accelerator to empower our developer community to do their best work on the Windows Mobile platform."

I couldn't have found a better first post on our new interface (and first Smartphone Thoughts post) than this little gem courtsey of the Windows Mobile team blog. Some of the pieces of the solution accelerator look positively sublime, especially the Adapt your App (Create 1 binary that runs on both smartphones and pocket pcs, in landscape or portrait!). If you need to create something rather complex (e.g. signature input) on short notice, take a look at ths plethora of commented code - available now for download!