Rob Tiffany, the mobile accelerator guy, just announced the new release of Windows Mobile Line of Business Solution Accelerator 2008. It a collection of windows mobile centric samples that showcase different new technologies and help developers greatly accelerate building their applications, thus the name “Accelerator”. Rob also has a great blog that I read regularly. Here is a quick overview of what this new release contains:

• 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 application training 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.
  

I am playing with it right now.. pretty cool stuff. Download Now

Update: Just to let you know, I left Microsoft to start a new company, Raveable Hotel Reviews. See examples: Top 10 Hotels in Myrtle Beach, Best Hotels in NYC, Romantic Hotels in Seattle, Kid Friendly Hotels in Orlando and Top 10 Hotels in San Diego. Your feedback is welcome on twitter.com/raveable, raveable blog.