GerardoDada

Last Post - Follow me to my New Blog!

MSDNArchive — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 04:08:00 GMT

All good things come to an end...

After four fantastic years, my time at Microsoft is coming to an end. It has been an incredible journey and I have had amazing experiences. Despite all its challenges (all comanies have them) Microsoft is an incredible company - one in which you can really change the world. I am honored to share my last day with Bill Gates, July 1st. I expect he will get all the press :-)

So, this is my last post. I am moving to Austin, TX to run Product Marketing at a software company. It will be fun. But I will always have a passion for mobility. For the last 8 years I have been at the heart of the smartphone revolution. I have been very lucky to have an opportunity to work with almost every major player: Sun, Symbian, Palm, Microsoft, Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, AT&T, Orange, Vodafone, Verizon, tc. etc.

I plan to continue sharing my thoughts in my new blog at http://enterprisemobility.wordpress.com/. Let's continue the conversation. Shoot me a note at g (at) gdada.com or leave a comment.

All the best,

Gerardo Dada

http://enterprisemobility.wordpress.com/

Secret Hero device: the HP 910. Can it beat the iPhone?

MSDNArchive — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:20:00 GMT

After all the fanfare, excitement and expectations for Steve Job’s iPhone 3G announcement, many people were left wanting more. From a device perspective, there were no surprises: the iPhone had everything people already knew: 3G, GPS, lower price. Still, the media went crazy about the iPhone, as expected.

One element of the keynote that surprised me is that it was completely devoted to the iPhone. Who would have thought, 18 months ago, that Steve Jobs’ keynote at WWDC would not talk at all about Macs or OS X (except for a small mention of Snow Leopard). Mobility is that important.

That same week, in Germany HP launched the iPAQ 910 Windows Mobile phone. Most people have already discounted HP after the 6925 was so late to market and the 510 failed to impress. Honestly, when I looked at photos and presentations from HP I was not impressed.

Then, a few weeks ago my friends at HP sent us a few 910s for our team to play with and show to customers. Wow. I am not going to say it is an incredibly beautiful phone, but it is not bad looking. In fact, it looks very solid and professional. Imagine a device the size of a Motorola Q9, with a full exposed QWERTY keyboard, Windows Mobile 6.1 professional edition and a touch screen.

Based on my current understanding of the iPhone 3G specs, here is how it would compare with the HP 910. Before getting into it, let me start by saying these are two very different devices because they will beappealing to two different kinds of users. The point I am trying to make is how much hype Apple enjoyed with the iPhone and how the media ignored the HP phone. True, I would have recommended Hp to pick any other week in the year other than the one the new iPhone launches.

Coolness - Obviously there is no contest. The iPhone wins. It is the coolest phone . Still, no one will be embarrassed by carrying an iPAQ 910.
Speed - The iPhone is 3G, the HP 910 is 3G HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, so the HP is a quite faster
GPS – All indications point to the iPhone having Assisted GPS, the HP has true GPS.
eMail – The iPhone connects to Exchange, iMAP, POP and MobileMe. The HP has a full ActiveSync implementation (including support for things like rights management protected email), POP, Hotmail and many others. Instead of Mobile Me (Exchange for the rest of us) anyone could get a full enterprise-grade Exchange 2007 email account for about the same price from providers like 4Smartphone.net. (Funny how Apple was ridiculing middleware (BES servers) to ten launch their own).
Input – The iPhone has an OK touch screen. The HP has also a touch screen, a real QWERTY keyboard, plus voice commander so that you can speak your commands to your phone.
Camera – Many people are disappointed Apple did not upgrade the iPhone’s 2 megapixel camera. I think it is OK for most people, after all megapixels are like dpi in scanners: people think more is better but have no need for them. 2 megapixels is enough for a 4x6 print. Still, the HP has a 3 megapixel camera, photo and video capture, and PhotoSmart mobile software.
Connectivity - Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP, WiFi with WPA2 security, ability to use the phone as a 3G modem for your laptop. The iPhone has basic Bluetooth and WiFi and does not support any of these advanced features. No MMS either.
Applications – Steve showed about a dozen beta applications demoed at WWDC, which looked nice. The HP has well over 18,000 applications available today. So whether you are a real estate agent, student or nurse, there are dozens of powerful applications to help you do your job. The iPhone’s application platform is powerful, much more than the Blackberry outdated J2ME platform, the HP phone has the full .net compact framework and SQL Server compact edition.
Security – It took hackers a few days to hack the iPhone to unlock it. The software is unproven. Most analysts (Gartner, J Gold, etc.) warn IT departments about the unknown security in the iPhone. Windows Mobile 6.1 in the HP 910 has been though the security development lifecycle process and has received certification from the US government (FIPS 140-2) as well as international governments (Common Criteria certification). Thousands of enterprise customers trust Windows Mobile for their security.
Management– iPhone lacks most corporate management tools, implementing an unknown subset of ActiveSync features. HP phones can be managed using Exchange 2007, SCCM, SC MDM, or any one of a handful of third party applications like Odyssey software or Good technologies.
Coverage – The iPhone is available only though AT&T, who offers international roaming ($1+ per minute in most countries). The HP is available unlocked, meaning it should work in about 180 countries. Just pop in a SIM card, and the device will try to auto configure network settings. You will pay $300 more for the iPAQ 910 but there is no contract required and you can use your own SIM. Over time the savings can be significant.

I don’t intend to minimize the coolness or the importance of the iPhone: it is a beautiful device with a revolutionary user interface. However, for business users, the HP iPAQ 910 is a more powerful and functional choice.

Is Microsoft Green?

MSDNArchive — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:44:00 GMT

I believe every company has a responsibility to be Green - companies like MIcrosoft who consume a vast ammount of resources and who are industry leaders have a bigger responsibility.

This is why I thought I would share the link for the Microsoft page that talks about everything Microsoft is doing to be green (such as datacenter efficiency) and to provide guidance to companies who also want to be responsible in the use of world resources. Today, in fact, I saw every kitchen at microsoft replaced polyestirene coffee cups with recycled paper "green" cups.

To learn more visit : http://www.microsoft.com/environment

Samsung Omnia

MSDNArchive — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:35:00 GMT

In case you missed it, the Samsung Omnia was announced recently. Still unknown if it will come to the US soon. Anyway, it is a VERY COOL phone. Check it out...

http://omnia.samsungmobile.com/

Is Opera Mobile 9.5 the Best Mobile Broser?

MSDNArchive — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:25:00 GMT

I use the browser on my WM6.1 phone quite often, and while the experience its not optimal, it works. There are a few sites that do not render properly and a few that use desktop-browser features that make the site not usable from a mobile phone. IE Mobile is an order of magnitude better than the Blackberry browser, but it still falls short of Safari on and iPhone.

I have been waiting to get on the SkyFire beta, and hoping Microsoft releases a IE6 for WM6 Beta I can use soon. Last week I met with HTC at theior Americas headquarters in Bellevue, where I had a chance to play with the Diamond, which is an amazing phone. As a sidenote, the Diamond ships with a very very cool game that demonstrates some of the unique features of the device - it gives you a experience unlike anything you have done in a mobile device, that's all I can say. The Diamond ships with both Pocket IE and a "custom" version of Opera. It is pretty darn good. Zooming and panning with your fingers is fun, but the pages render just like with a desktop browser.

Matthew Miller has a good review of Opera Brower 9.5 in his blog here he tests it with an HTC Advantage X7510. The screenshots tell the whole story. No more browser envy. Soon I will have to decide between SkyFire, IE6 and Opera. Choices, choices....

Check out the New HTC Diamond

MSDNArchive — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:47:00 GMT

When I saw the first picture a while back I was unimpressed with the successor of the HTC Touch. Now that it is out, I think it is a pretty amazing phone. From a design perspective, the diamond edges are original - although to me they look more like the angles on a stealth fighter. Functionally, there are a couple significant improvements:

Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
Improved user interface - Touch FLO 3D. Check the video on Gizmodo, it is very, very cool.
4Gb internal storage and 128Mb RAM and a 528Mz processor
HSDPA 7.2 and HSUPA + Bluetooth 2.0 EDR + WifI 802.11 b/w + GPS/AGPS
3.2 MP Camera with video capabilities
A new browser with single-touch zoom and pan, and automatic rotation (via an accelerometer) and a custom YouTube client

Overview on HTC's site http://www.htc.com/uk/product.aspx?id=46040
Gizmodo UI overview video http://gizmodo.com/387544/hands+on-with-the-htc-touch-diamond

Mobile Gadgeteer on BlackBerry dominance

MSDNArchive — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:41:00 GMT

I read a pretty interesting posting from Matthew Miller, ZDNet's Mobile Gadgeteer about threats to RIM's dominance int he business market. Here are two key paragraphs:

People may say that BlackBerry devices are reliable and their email always just works. I have been using Windows Mobile devices for years and for the last three I have to say that my Windows Mobile Standard/Smartphone (non-touch screen) devices have been ROCK SOLID. I currently have a hosted Exchange account with 4Smartphone that is great for keeping all my devices in sync. I have only been using a BlackBerry Curve for a couple of months and I have experienced two complete lockups for no apparent reason, compared to zero lockups on my T-Mobile Shadow since I bought it last fall. I think the argument for reliability is one made by people who have not had personal experience with both platforms. Either that or I am one very lucky user.

Security has also been a strength of RIM devices, but I think Microsoft now has those same security features available in Exchange ActiveSync and Windows Mobile.

For the full article: http://blogs.zdnet.com/mobile-gadgeteer/?p=1034#more-1034

The Best Windows Mobile Blogs

MSDNArchive — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:32:00 GMT

You probably know that blogs are big at Microsoft. They are encouraged to get people to connect directly with customers and to understand real-world problems. There are a few great blogs in the WIndows mobile team. These are some of the best (please let me know if you know of others!).

“Is that a Windows Mobile in Your Pocket” http://blogs.technet.com/vik Vik is ourWindows Mobile's Technical Guru. He is incredible knowledgeable and definitely a top notch resource.

“Unwired Realities” http://blogs.technet.com/unwired_realities - This is a new blog from Rachel, who works with our partners in small and medium-business land.

Mr. Mobile http://blogs.msdn.com/jasonlan Jason Langridge is quickly becoming somewhat of a legend . He gets both the business and the technical side of Windows Mobile. Based out of the UK. I have learned a lot from Jason.

Loke Uei’s http://blogs.msdn.com/lokeuei/ Loke is in our developer resources team. He is awesome. If you are a developer, bookmark this blog now.

Rob Tiffany’s Blog http://blogs.msdn.com/robtiffany Rob is the guy who built the WM Developer Solution Accelerator, a lab where he proved the scalability of SQL Server to thousands of concurrent users, and author of a book that describes the architecture behind this highly-scalable mobile-replicated database. A key resource for anyone building enterprise apps.

Reed and Steve’s Blog http://blogs.msdn.com/hegenderfer Steve Hegenderfer has beenw orking with ISVs for a long time and he is incredible smart just liki sie partner in crime, Reed, who is an Architect. ANother one to bookmark

Jim Wilson’s Blog http://www.pluralsight.com/blogs/jimw/ and Amit’s Blog http://blogs.msdn.com/amit_chopra/ both are highly technical blogs for developers. Good resource to point your RSS readers to.

Constanze’s Blog http://blogs.msdn.com/croman/ Constanze is in our documentation tem and alwas has the scoop to any new resources.

Check the Microsoft Surface at the AT&T Store

MSDNArchive — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:22:00 GMT

Microsoft Surface Arrives at AT&T Stores

Here is a shorter amateur version from a customer

And a short ad from AT&T

Microsoft Surface experience coming to AT&T

Brazil does their Census with Windows Mobile PDAs

MSDNArchive — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:34:00 GMT

Over 5,000 cities and 82,000 Windows Mobile devices.

The application runs on the .NET compact framework and uses SQL Server CE.

The government saved time (6 months) and money and enjoyed significantly more accuracy while avoiding fraud. The Brazilian government is so happy witht he results, they expect expect to deploy 300,000 devices by 2010.

You can read the case study translation from portuguese here.

Windows Mobile powered Watch

MSDNArchive — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:58:00 GMT

I am not sure it makes much sense, but it is cool. A few years ago the guys from Fossil had a Palm-OS based watch (B&W screen) that went nowhere. Still, it makes a point about where technology is going in terms of device size and availability everywhere.

http://www.windowsfordevices.com/news/NS4466992453.html

Windows Mobile 6.1 Demo

MSDNArchive — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 01:12:00 GMT

Video: Windows Mobile 6.1 demo video

Guitar Hero for Windows Mobile

MSDNArchive — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:29:00 GMT

What do you think?

More games found here http://www.winplay.com/

Mobile Field Service Best Practices Webinar

MSDNArchive — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:55:00 GMT

Motorola and Industry Week are hosting an on-demand webcast. The webinar will cover the following topipcs:

New tools and technologies that help drive leaner field operations
Strategies and processes being adopted to drive service excellence
A perspective on the challenges and opportunities for building and sustaining profitable growth through excellence in service and parts management
Improving repair times and first-time fix rates
Increasing SLA compliance with dynamic scheduling
Increasing technician productivity by eliminating manual data entry
Reducing the billing cycle with real-time data

To watch the webinat go to http://www.industryweek.com/Eventdetail.aspx?EventID=430

Electrocardiograms on a Windows Mobile PDA

MSDNArchive — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:49:00 GMT

This is quite amazing. A company called DRE has produced a n ECG machine that plugs into a standard PC Notebook or to a Windows Mobile 2003/5.0 Pocket PC. This product not only makes it less expensive for hospitals to do ECGs (thay can now print on standard paper or email results as a JPG file), think also about the implications of making available this level of medical care anywhere.

For more info: http://www.dremed.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/1662

2Mbps Upload speed in a Windows Mobile Phone

MSDNArchive — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:30:00 GMT

Samsung has launched their first HSUPA (High Speed Upload Packet Access) phone, the SCM-M470, which runs Windows Mobile and seems to be quite a nice phone. You can learn more at http://www.windowsfordevices.com/news/NS8700763418.html

The Sony XPERIA also supports HSUPA. AT&T has been deploying HSDPA and HSUPA .To test the actual trhoughput on your phone go to http://text.dslreports.com/mspeed and try the 1Mb file. Keep in mind actual speeds depend on your phone, the cell tower you are connecting to, distance to the tower, interference and probably most important to consider - number of concurrent users connecting to the same cell tower.

Windows Mobile 6.1 Key Features

MSDNArchive — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 06:51:00 GMT

At CTIA Last week, Robbie Back announced Windows Mobile 6.1

I haven't seen as much excitement as I expected. yet one of the most respected analysts told me "you should have called it Windows Mobile 6.5, it is that good". These are the key features in my opinion:

Tile-based user interface for Standard Edition. I like it a lot. It makes Windows Mobile much more easy to use but it also makes the homescreen more useful: as an example, you can look at your appointments for the day without leaving the home screen.
Easier Setup. There is a new getting started center, easier e-mail setup including autodiscovery, streamlined bluetooth pairing, easier WiFi connections, etc.
Other improvements. Including improved Pocket IE browser, threaded SMS messaging

Take a look at the video on this page: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/6-1/

What has not received a lot of attention are the new enterprise features in WM 6.1, in part because they have a dependency with Exchange 2007 SP1. For customers using the latest Exchange server (or a front-end Exchange 2007 server with an Exchange 2003 as the main mail servers) the following improvements are available in WIndows Mobile 6.1 devices:

Bandwidth optimizations that result in a significant reduction in data usage. There could be as much as a 40% improvement for most users.

Enhanced S/MIME support - support for encrypted email and additional policies to enforce and manage S/MIME use are now included.

On-Device Encryption - a few customers have required full encryption of all email, calendars and tasks on the device. Previous versions support encryption of the storage card, email encryption and encryption of data stored in SQL Server CE.

Control of device features. This includes enabling/disabling the camera, browser, WiFi, text messaging, bluetooth, etc.

White List or Black List applications, as well as a policy to allow unsigned applications.

Additional policies including some of the following:

Require manual sync when roaming to avoid excessive roaming data charges
Additional control on password management: expiration, complexity, etc.

Now that Exchange 2007 SP1 is being deployed in record numbers (I blogged about 2.8 million users being migrated from competitive email servers just in the second half of 2007) and since SP1 is a free and easy upgrade to Exchange 2007, most companies will be able to enjoy all the features they want in an email system (encryption, turning off the camera, application white listing, etc.) that they have had to pay for and add middleware to get (i.e. BES servers), plus advanced email features (most of which no other platform offers today like HTML push email, rights management permission enforcement, direct access to documents stored in SharePoint portal behind the firewall, etc.) at no cost and without the need for middleware.

In other words, most companies will find that with WM61 and E2007 SP1 they get everything they get with a BES Server plus a lot more, while saving money on licenses & support and improving uptime and efficiency.

Windows Mobile 6.1 is the version supported by System Center Mobile Device Manager (MDM), which was announced at CTIA Wireless IT in October, which is now available for deployment. MDM is a product for large organizations doing complex deployments. MDM gives organizations everything they want in a device management server (security, control, sofwtare provisioning, etc.) plus two things that were not possible before: devices joining Active Directory and managed using group policy and a true, persistent, fast-reconnect VPN. Together, these two improvements are going to enable deployments of tens of thousands of devices (because they are easy to manage with MDM) and enable pervasive use of LOB applications.

How do you get Windows Mobile 6.1?

Just like with Windows Mobile 6 upgrades, making an upgrade available for a specific phone is more of a business decision than a function of technology, compatibility or hardware dependencies. In the press release Microsoft listed a number of phones will have upgrades. We are working with all carriers to provide upgrades for as many phones as possible. Expect more announcements soon. Software upgrades and new phones with Windows Mobile 6.1 will be available in the next few weeks.The announced upgrades are the following:

• Alltel Wireless: HTC PPC6800, HTC Touch
• AT&T: Samsung BlackJack II, MOTO Q 9h global, Pantech duo, AT&T Tilt by HTC
• Sprint: A new Palm Treo and updates for the Mogul by HTC, Touch by HTC, MOTO Q 9c, Samsung ACE

A True Open Mobile OS

MSDNArchive — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 05:58:00 GMT

Last week Commnexus invited me to participate in a panel to talk about Mobile Operating Systems moderated by Andrew Seybold. This is a follow-up to a similar panel Andy did last year focused on mobile Open OSes, I guess motivated by Google's launch of Android. I blogged after that first panel posting some thoughts about openess.

In the last few weeks I have read a few articles recognizing Windows Mobile as the most open operating system available.Take a look at this review from PC Magazine that ends with the following paragraph:

Ultimately, Windows Mobile keeps our Editors' Choice because, right now, it's the only truly open OS that embraces the entire marketplace. With Windows Mobile, if you don't like your browser, you can download a different one. If you don't like your carrier, you can switch. If you have a dream for an application, you can program it. That openness, flexibility, and range of choices is what keeps Windows Mobile 6.1 our top candidate for mobile operating systems—for now.

At the end Openess is about balance: on one extreme you have a closed solution where a vendor has full control of the entire experience like the iPhone does and as Jerry Panagrossi from Symbian said, all revenue ends in Cupertino. This model at the other end of the spectrum is the Linux model which leads to fragmentation. Platforms need consistency to be successful: developers need a consistent target they can develop for once and end users need a consistent experience. The trick is how to allow for flexibility while providing a consistent platform. It is about balance. With Windows Mobile you have lots of choices, yet there is a consistent set of APis that allow developers to create a single application that works with every Windows Mobile phone. An example of such application is Windows Live Search - a single CAB file that works with any of the 12.5 million phones we sold in the last six months.

The guy from Google kept talking about how Android will be a really open OS. I know many quaestions about Android have not been answered yet including business models, what will be the core platform, or how will the people who support the platform will make money - none of the Open Handset Allince member companies is a non-for-profit. It's clear how hardware vendors and carriers will make money, I doubt software companies like Packet Video and Esmertec will donate their software to open source for the goodness of openess. Building a phone operating system is not a trivial task, integrating it with specific hardware is hard work for all companies involved. It will be very interesting to see how things evolve for Android and the partners.

What is unclear is what is the value of Android:

Cost is not as relevant, a carrier makes thousands of dollars in revenue per year on service a smart device, the cost of integrating and supporting a new platform, even if all the software is free can quickly eat into the savings of $10-20 per unit for a proven, mature mobile OS like Symbian or Windows Mobile. With a fully featured Blackjack 2 available at $99 it is hard to make an argument for cost.

Openess. Is relative and not always a good thing. Windows Mobile (and other mobile OSes) allow device manufacturers great flexibility and room for innovation in user interface, installed applciations, radio stacks, etc. Personally, I think the way Microsoft licenses Windows Mobile could be made a bit more strict to provide more consistency.

Speed and Stability. In the last two years Windows Mobile has matured as an OS along with the device manufacturer partners. I have been using Windows Mobile 6.1 (a pre release build) for months and have not experienced a single crash. Not once have I needed to remove the battery or do a hard reset. Many Windows moble phones are very fast and responsive. The Q9 Global I am using now is pretty good - it is powered by a 300Mhz processor. I played this week with a reference board from TI using a 600 Mhz processor and was unimmpressed with the speed of the platform (and 600Mhz processors are not cheap).

I have enjoyed doing these panels: the conversation is great and the opportunity to talk to industry coleagues is fantastic. The one thing that was evident to me after the panel was over is that individually we have a lot in common and we are trying to solve the same problems in the industry.

As all my posts in this blog, this reflects my personal opinions which may not be the same as that of my employer. There are no warranties, expressed or impied about the accuracy of the information (I could be wrong).

Microsoft Dynamics Mobile version 1.1 for Dynamics NAV and Dynamics AX

MSDNArchive — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 05:23:00 GMT

The Dynamics team has released Microsoft Dynamics Mobile version 1.1 to Dynamics Partners

Dynamics Mobile is an full application built on a client-server framework providing some of the most advanced smart client applications available. It was created in a modular fashion, and enables partners to use tasklets, orchestrations and wizards to customize the mobile application in a very fast way. This new release supportts Microsoft Dynamic NAV 4.0 SP3, NAV 5.0 SP1 and Dynamics AX 4.0 SP2.

The release also contains 'Mobile Sales', which is the first mobile application for NAV and AX from Microsoft Dynamics Mobile. Mobile Sales is RoleTailored and task-oriented and an ideal solution for field sales representatives and other mobile employees who need to work in remote locations. The field sales representatives can plan visits, review relevant sales information, and create orders.

To learn more, vheck the new Dynamics Mobile team blog http://blogs.msdn.com/dynamicsmobile or the product page (restricted to Dynamics partners) at https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/products/mobile

This product is very different with the Dynamics CRM Mobile applications that connect with Dynamics CRM (as opposed to Dynamics AX or NAV). If you use Dynamics CRM you ave three mobile alternatives:

Dynamics CRM Mobile Express - a web-based application that works with any mobile device with a browser.
Dynamics CRM 3.0 Mobile - a smart client application which only supports CRM 3.0 at this point
Using a partner solution including the following:

c360 Smart client for Dynamics 4.0
X10 Data from ADC Technologies
CWR Mobile Client for Dynamics CRM (screenshots below)
LogoTec Mobile connector for Dynamics CRM 3.0 or 4.0, SAP or Salesforce.com

Mobile Business Applications Accelerator

MSDNArchive — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:32:00 GMT

The LOB Solution Accelerator is a full application delivered under shared source license, that any organization can take to build a best-in-class Line of Business application. It is a Smart Client built using .NET and SQL Server Compact edition. It has been downloaded tens of thousands of times and being used as the foundation for hundreds (or maybe thousands) of applications worldwide.

Use it all, laern from it or use components as needed. This application is also a great showcase of .NET Cf in action: LINQ, Dynamic SQL, Web Services and WCF, etc.

To download go to: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=428E4C3D-64AD-4A3D-85D2-E711ABC87F04&displaylang=en

The Microsoft® Windows Mobile Line of Business Solution Accelerator 2008

Delivering new innovations and development best practices to the Windows Mobile platform with Visual Studio 2008, the .NET Compact Framework 3.5, SQL Server Compact 3.5, a working Supply Chain application, over 5,000 lines of commented code plus over a hundred pages of helpful documentation.

Adapt your App :: Create a single binary that runs unchanged on Windows Mobile Standard or Pro, Portrait or Landscape, Rectangle or Square. No more wasting time building separate executables to accommodate different screen sizes or input methods.

Sync Services for ADO.NET :: Synchronize your data between SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server Compact 3.5 using the new Sync Framework. Keep all your occasionally-connected mobile workers on the same page.

Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) Store and Forward :: Reliably push messages to servers or other devices via Exchange Server 2007. Programmatically notify peer devices that they have new orders waiting for them and need to sync.

MapPoint :: Guide delivery drivers to their customers via either the shortest or quickest route. Integrated mapping means you’ll never get lost again.

LINQ :: Use the new Language Integrated Query to filter results from Generic Object Collections. Query both your objects and XML using a familiar, SQL-like syntax to boost developer productivity.

Custom Controls :: Capture signatures and dazzle your end-users with 3D and Alpha-blended controls that alter their behavior depending on the platform they’re running on.

Managed Stored Procedures and Triggers :: The pluggable data layer allows you to say goodbye to compiling Dynamic SQL inside your code and fires events to react to INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE operations.

Notifications and Online Help :: Formerly only supported on Pro, say hello to Popup Notifications and Online Help on Standard. Popup Notifications, also known as “toast,” display an HTML message and then disappear after a pre-determined amount of time. Using Online Help on every screen reduces your applicationtraining costs.

Language Switching and Localization :: Change Language/Regional Settings inside your app and watch text and Online Help speak a different language. Don’t wait until your application is finished to realize that it needs to be world-ready.

Time to Market :: Stop reinventing the wheel and use this Accelerator as the foundation for your next Windows Mobile development effort. If you don’t want to use the whole thing, pick and choose the components that are the best fit for your project.

Windows Mobile earns more Security Certifications

MSDNArchive — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:21:00 GMT

I want to share some very exciting news with you. Windows Mobile has achieved Common Criteria certification as well as approval from the US Department of Defense to be used as a secure wireless e-mail platform. These certifications open incredibly large opportunities for Windows Mobile and our partners in government. They also serve as a testament that WIndows Mobile is secure.

Link to Microsoft Press Release

How does Microsoft Manage 55,000 mobile users?

MSDNArchive — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:46:00 GMT

Microsoft does a good job about sharing best practices from their own IT department in a content series they call It Showcase.

Takle a look at this Showcase link on TechNet for articles on how Microsoft's IT build line of business applications, manages email and user experience and how they do it securely.

You may also want to consider attending this webcast from John Albertson

IT Manager Webcast: How Microsoft IT Secures Mobile Devices (Level 200)

Registration url: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032372844&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

Date:

Thursday, April 10, 2008 9:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)

Event Overview

Join this webcast and find out how Microsoft IT is empowering the mobile workforce via the deployment of the Windows Mobile platform. Microsoft IT fully integrates Windows Mobile features and applications, with both established hardware and infrastructure, and future plans support master security policy migrations, such as complete two-factor authentication operations.

Presenter: John Albertson, Microsoft IT Mobile Service Planner, Microsoft Corporation

John has 30 years background as a security and technology design, delivery, and operations professional. After his early role of mobile field troubleshooter, he became determined to work in the computing headwaters of improving infrastructure and mobile services, for the past 16 years at Microsoft. He has recently inverted his traveling devices profile from 3 PC’s and 2 handheld devices, to 1 notebook and 5 or more handhelds.

Silverlight and Mix

MSDNArchive — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:11:00 GMT

Last week Microsoft hosted the second edition of Mix, the event for the web and graphic design community. Last year I believe Microsoft launched the Expression portfolio of tools at the event. This year the big news for me is Silverlight. Microsoft announced the next version of Silverlight, which seems to getting quite some good traction, the next version of Expression tools, and more interestingly, Silverlight Mobile.

Silverlight is meant to be a mass-market cross-platform rich-media technology. It received a huge endorsement from Nokia as the company announced their SYmbian smartphones will support Silverlight Mobile. Microsoft then announced Silverlight for WIndows Mobile. This is all very intresting because surprisingly, Flash Lite has not been very popular so far. I have only seen very few apps built on Flash. The announcement will give Silverlight an increadible head start in mobile devices, shipping in tens of millions of phones per year.

From a technology perspecive, Silverlight provides Flash-like multimedia capabilities with a few technological advantages like enhanced codecs, much better zoom and other small features. The key difference is that you can build SIlverlight applications with .net capabilites. Thismeans the programmability of Silverlight applications is incredible, giving them the bility to connect to full-blown applications, data sources, etc,; and that millions of .net developers can now develop SilverLight applications.

In short, mobile applications are about to get better. Much better. Nicer-looking, too.

Department of Defense certifies Windows Mobile

MSDNArchive — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 23:56:00 GMT

A while back I bloged about WIndows Mobile getting the US DoD DISA STIG certification. Now Windows Mobile and Blackberry have received the Australian Government's Defence Signals Directorate's (DSD's) Common Criteria certification. You can read more in this article from ComputerWorld Australia.

Interestingly enough, this newspaper informs that the Indian Government is banning Blackberry service citing security reasons. Which is interesting because they are only banning services from one operator while the other ones apparently have no problem. UPDATE: Apparently the government in India has stated it will not ban Blackberry. Apprently, the issue was that the Balckberry system would not allow for the Indian government to eavesdrop on personal email.

Speed up your Sprint Mogul

MSDNArchive — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 18:16:00 GMT

HTC and Sprint have released a ROM update to enable Rev. A speeds on the Mogul. You can download it from http://www.america.htc.com/support/mogul/software-downloads.html

The key benefit is faster upload speeds. Over 10 times faster. 145Kbps to 1.8Mbps. This can be especially useful when uploading video, streaming information from the device or simply sending a large file to via email. Rev. A also provides roughly 50% faster downlink speeds (2.5 Mbps to 3.1 Mpbs)

Date:	Thursday, April 10, 2008 9:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)


Event Overview
Join this webcast and find out how Microsoft IT is empowering the mobile workforce via the deployment of the Windows Mobile platform. Microsoft IT fully integrates Windows Mobile features and applications, with both established hardware and infrastructure, and future plans support master security policy migrations, such as complete two-factor authentication operations. Presenter: John Albertson, Microsoft IT Mobile Service Planner, Microsoft Corporation John has 30 years background as a security and technology design, delivery, and operations professional. After his early role of mobile field troubleshooter, he became determined to work in the computing headwaters of improving infrastructure and mobile services, for the past 16 years at Microsoft. He has recently inverted his traveling devices profile from 3 PC’s and 2 handheld devices, to 1 notebook and 5 or more handhelds.