The Windows Mobile RSS (Reed and Steve Stuff) Feed : fun and games

Microsoft OneApp – what is that thing?

hegenderfer — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:15:56 GMT

Okay, so this is officially my second week in the OneApp team, and I must say I am really impressed with the group…sharp cookies one and all. I am definitely bringing down the bell curve here :)

But I am equally as jazzed around the opportunities that OneApp will bring to mobile developers world wide. The ability to reach MILLIONS of users with the EXACT SAME code base ACROSS DEVICES…that is cool!

Of course, the reason we can do this is because we have a CLR that runs above a VM on the device (and boy, it’s a tiny shim…very efficient). So, you won’t be ‘going native’ with OneApp to the metal (so to speak), but you can create some extremely cool apps.

Best of all, for you folks out there that like to tinker, the platform supports free apps and a free tool chain…when I say free, I mean free. As in really free. As in, no cost (aside from your valuable time, of course). I’ll have more info to share in the coming weeks and months, but it is very nice.

And the distribution model should be killer as well (remember the MILLIONS of users ACROSS DEVICES thing above…was that a gratuitous use of caps?).

We are still finalizing some pieces of the business models and such, so I can’t talk about those right now, but I will say that this is a different model…flat out. I think you’ll like it :)

At any rate, as I dig in more, expect me to post more (like I used to); and as tools become available, I’ll try to let you all know about ‘em ASAP!

In the words of my friend John Smith (Xbox team)…peace.

Hegenderfer

Giant Robot Lovers Unite :)

hegenderfer — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:40:40 GMT

Okay, I found this on CNET last night and thought it was kinda cool...so I'm posting it here :)

Windows Mobile at SXSW

hegenderfer — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 21:19:24 GMT

Well, I'm sitting here at SXSW in Austin, TX, in the Blogger's Lounge that we are sponsoring...it's really busy :)

Lots of interesting folks here from all over the place, but what I'd really like to see are some folks who want to develop for Windows Mobile.

So, if you're down here and are a mobile dev, or want to figure out how you can get over to Windows mobile, stop by the blogger's lounge on the 3rd floor and come say hi!

Look forward to seeing some of you down here...

Sync Windows Mobile with your DVR

hegenderfer — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:16:51 GMT

Was just crusiing thru some sites and came across this. Many of you already know how to do this, but it not, give it a whirl...it's pretty cool :)

http://pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=reviews&id=1113

"Have you ever wanted to watch one of your favorite TV shows while you were on the train or away from your home DVR system on your Windows Mobile device? Before we get started, I should mention that this is something that none of the other smartphone operating systems out there are remotely capable of. Secondly, Windows Mobile has been doing it since 2004 with the release of the i-mate JAM and Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition. Unfortunately, between 2005 and 2007, Windows Mobile phones became severely underpowered in the video playback and storage capacity department, but now that 2008 has come around, we've got phones that are fast enough to play quality videos again and memory cards that are big enough to handle plenty of video. So let's get to it."

Check out that UX

hegenderfer — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:23:38 GMT

I'm sure most of you have seen this...if not, click the link.

What do you guys think? I particularly like the OSX iconography :)

My Love Affair With Classic Arcade Games

hegenderfer — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:10:51 GMT

Okay, for those who know me, you know that I am a total sucker for classic vids. I LOVE them. Video games are essentially how I got involved in technology way back when in my formulative years.

So, I collect every compilation out there, but there is always missing. It's that great feel that you got when you were actually playing a big old machine that ate your quarters. No free play, man...that stuff cost $.25 a pop! Not cheap when your allowance was about $5 a week. So maybe there was a sense of accomplishment when you could ride that quarter for 1/2 hour or so; maybe it was the musty arcades themselves; maybe it was simply having that nuclear-resistant joystick and some buttons that never seemed to break. It was probably a confluence of all of those things.

At any rate, I have been thinking about building my own cocktail cabinet for a long time. Something cool you could set a beer on and play some classic vids. Yes, I'm into MAME, but the emulated SW images always seemed a little off. So, when I found a 60-in-1 board that had some sweet classics at a good price, how could I pass it up? I decided to take the plunge.

In my spare time (which has been non-existent latest), I like to wood work. Building furniture, crafts, gifts, whatever, I've done it. I've been doing it for several years now; I'm not great, but I know how to build a good piece of solid furniture. So I went to my graph paper and immediately started the task of designing the actual cabinet.

I wanted it to have the same feel and dimensions of one of those old-school cocktails that we used to play on, so it's the pretty standard 28" high, 22" wide, and 19" deep (roughly). The top is 32" x 22", also standard. When I build stuff, I tend to over-engineer, so I consciously tried to keep things simple. The entire thing is made out of 3/4" Birch-finished plywood.

I debated adding a track ball to the control panel, but if I had, it would have lost the look and feel I was going for. I went for the 8-way joysticks instead of the 4-way; they make things a little hard on some of the games (think Lady Bug which really wants a true 4-way), but work for ALL the games on the PCB (besides, Time Pilot is my fav and it requires an 8-way...well, that and Dig Dug are my favorites...and Xevious...and Mappy...and...).

I then found a site that has a TON of great arcade machine marques in Adobe Illustrator format...some really cool graphics. From there, I found all the art I needed.

Of course, I had to have a custom piece of glass made to fit the thing (remember the beer thing above?) and that completes the scene.

I debated whether or not I wanted an actual coin box. In the spirit of not over-engineering, I decided to rig up a button on the back that would act as the coin drop (besides, I would have had to keep opening the thing up to grab the quarters I had just shoved in there...I never carry change).

All of the electronics where pretty easy; I imagine that most of you reading this have built a PC. If you haven't, it's really not too hard to do, actually...kinda like building something out of expensive Legos that you can fry without the proper grounding. Anyhow, the electronics of this were not too much harder than building your own PC, except that you might want some skills with soldering and wiring (as you'll need them to build the harnesses for the control panels, etc...although I also found some pre-wired harnesses out there as well). If you guys are interested, I can post more details on where I got everything and how I actually made this thing. I should have documented every step of the way, as I will probably end up building a few of these for friends.

But at the end of the day, I am EXTREMELY happy with what I build, and I have a sweet, totally authentic cocktail arcade game in my casa. I rarely take the time just to do something for myself anymore, and I must admit, it was awesome. If you haven't taken the time to do something cool for yourself in awhile, you should :)

Hope you enjoy!

PS: The pics were taken with my HTC Touch Diamond...not a bad little camera :)

Four Reasons the iPhone is Evil

hegenderfer — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 01:59:02 GMT

Not sure how many of you are Comedy Central fans, or like Lewis Black (Root of all Evil), but this stuff is hilarious :)

This clip contains explicit language, so be forewarned...but dang, this is funny :)

And make sure you watch ALL the way until the end...

Chris Craft's 30 WM Apps in 30 Days

hegenderfer — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:26:25 GMT

I know that most of you have already seen this, but if you haven't, it is DEFINITELY worth taking a look at.

Chris decided to build 30 Windows Mobile apps in 30 days...and a LOT of these apps are really useful! Go ahead, take a look!

My favorite, I think, is the Mobile Capture app (day 5). Give it a shot :)

Hegenderfer

Rumors of my Death have been Greatly Exaggerated

hegenderfer — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:51:51 GMT

So, lately, I have been reading a lot about RIM vs Apple vs Android. It's all pretty interesting stuff, really. But people seem to forget that their is one other player out there, us. Google hasn't even made a phone yet. We have WAY more phones out there than either RIM or Apple.

Yes, I realize that we don't do a very good job of branding 'Windows Mobile' right now, but that will change (and soon). I also realize that maybe WM isn't the sexy beast these other platforms can spin up, but I have to tell you, that is changing as well.

How many of you have used the Diamond yet? I've been using it for about 5 days right now, and I must say I am pleasantly surprised by it. There are some things that bother me about it, but for the style of device that it is, I am pretty happy with it. And this is essentially a V1 of the type of device that we will be seeing on the market.

How many of you have seen the Experia or the Omnia? I have...they rock! And the form and function is REALLY nice. I think you'll start seeing a trend towards these types of devices moving forward as we keep innovating on the platform side...I guess in some ways we have Apple to think for really spurring some innovation on design, so thanks Steve Jobs :)

As a marketing org, yes, we need to really start pushing the WM brand...more so than every before. And from a partner aspect, you guys need to help me scream from the roof tops that there is a solid platform out there that exists in many different form factors, that has great functionality, that is equipped to do MS Office natively, that has an AMAZING TCO story when compared to RIM, and that has an AWESOME enterprise DM and Security story compared to iPhone and Android. And let's not forget the ROI for applications on devices; apps that almost every company has the talent to create with the toolsets and languages that they already know.

If you guys could see what Reed and I get to every day, I think you would agree that the short and long term future of the WM platform is very bright...and we'll even throw in some love for the non-business consumers out there VERY soon :)

Hegenderfer

Okay, so I've been a slacker.

hegenderfer — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:37:52 GMT

Yes, I admit it...I have been a 'blog slacker.' It's just one of those things; get into a new team, try to hire a bunch of good people, bring them up to speed, work on your deliverables at the same time, work on fiscal planning for FY09...yes, I am full of excuses today (and you know what they say about excuses).

Thankfully, my good friend Reed has been picking up the slack for me. Sorry I missed you guys at TechEd Dev last week; I heard it was great! I'm start to gear up for PDC this year. If you are a mobile dev, you will DEFINITELY want to be there...that's all I will say right now :)

I ran across this internally...

It came from CodeForEternity...pretty funny stuff, but all true.

At any rate, I will be taking on a new role with MCB, one that will put me much closer to my roots: developers. I'm really looking forward to it.

And I'll try not to be such a slacker...pinky swear :)

Steve

Windows Mobile - alive and well in the mid-market!

hegenderfer — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:29:56 GMT

Well, I am about to get on a plane back to cheery old Seattle (and by that, I mean typical rainy spring in the great Northwest). I just finished up a nice trip to Orlando for the 2008 US Convergence show, and it was cool.

It was great to see and talk to so many customers and partners about the thriving ecosystem around MS Dynamics. But it was equally as cool as talk to them about mobility. No doubt about it, all of these folks wanted to know more about mobility and how they could take advantage of it.

We keep hearing about how the smartphone/converged device space will take off, but it's really nice to see it for yourself first-hand. And we're only looking at the tip of the ice berg. I have said this before, this space is exploding...we should all be happy to be a part of it!

On another note, I wanted to remind you all of some very coo ROI and TCO tools that we have available around Windows Mobile. If you are a certified or Gold Microsoft Partner, you can get access to these tools here.

I expect that the presence of Windows Mobile at the Convergence shows will definitely increase over time, as will our penetration into small, medium, and large businesses.

On a totally unrelated note, I was walking through Downtown Disney (yes, it deserves it's own special name with capital letters, evidently) and saw this in the window of the Virgin Megastore display. Yes, American Hair Metal!

Although I was unable to find the book in the actual store, I have since found the bugger on eBay...it should be arriving in about 5-10 business days :)

Cheers,

Steve

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PS: Almost forgot...most of you, if you go to any of the trade shows where we have the WM booth, will recognize Erik Helgerson. He's a big dude...but evidently, when he's not tramping around in his home state, he REALLY like the Minnie Mouse Princess stuff :)

Happy Holidays!

hegenderfer — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 06:10:07 GMT

I just wanted to get one more post in before I took some serious time off.

This calendar year has been crazy...really crazy. Like, I feel like one of Santa's helpers busy crazy. But, it was all worth it :)

In this last year, we've launched another major mobile OS, driven new growth and revenue into MCB, and announced our first really killer enterprise app, SCMDM. Plus MEDC, the WM Partner Summit, TechEd, TechReady (two of 'em), CTIA, CES, WW Partner Conference, and a myriad of other shows and events; yup, busy year for Steve.

But I have a lot to be thankful for. I have a great family which I dearly love. I have great friends. I have awesome co-workers who I respect and admire. I have strong management up and down the chain. I work at an excellent company in an awesome division in a sweet market place. I ALMOST got one of my friends to name her new baby boy 'Bacon' (come on, EVERYONE loves bacon). And I have a blog with Reed :)

2008 will see many more challenges. I'll be taking on a new role within Windows Mobile which I am VERY excited about. It should actually provide more ops for all of you partners out there who have great enterprise/business solutions. As a new group, we'll be taking on some serious challenges, but I think I'm up for it...after I recharge my batteries.

Which is the reason for the post, just to say I probably won't be updating for a bit, and I'm looking forward to my down time to recharge.

What will I be doing, you ask? Well, hopefully not much :) Playing some Xbox, eating a lot of great food, enjoying my family and friends, and NOT thinking about work :)

Hey, how could I forget? I'll be watching pretty much EVERY Christmas show known to man during this time (Rudolph, anyone? -- come on, EVERYONE loves that little guy) while trying to pull off my best impression of Clark Griswold.

At the end of the day, I want to wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season and a renewed an energized New Year!

And if I fall of the roof whilst putting up the lights, you'll all see the picture here first :)

Happy Holidays!

Steve

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

hegenderfer — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 20:14:08 GMT

Yes, this is the time of the year that I LOVE most...the beginning of the Holiday season. That means eating a ton of great food, gaining about 5 pounds, putting up lights, the tree, and all that jazz, watching every known Christmas cartoon known to man, hanging out with my family and friends, drinking a little too much at the family get together, and vacation!

True, this is only Thanksgiving Day week, but it marks the start! I mark the official start of the season by when 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' comes on the tube. That thing is CLASSIC!

I'm actually on vacation this week; seems I've accumulated a wee bit too much vacation time this last year (read: I had no time to actually TAKE vacation), so I'm in a position where I have to 'use it or lose it.' Don't get me wrong...I usually take vaca around this time of the year anyhow, so I'm cool with it.

At any rate, I love this time of the year. Most people just seem a bit nicer. Too bad they can't keep that demeanor all year round, but I'll take what I can get.

As a Turkey Day gift to you, I'm leaving you this darn funny cartoon a friend of mine sent me last week. I think you'll enjoy it!

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Steve

PS: technically, if you look at the cartoon, this IS a blog about Windows Mobile :)

Fun and Games

hegenderfer — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 01:27:41 GMT

Okay, so no games really. Reed and I are still trying to figure out how we'll do THAT one :)

But I DO have something that's pretty darn funny.

I received this in email the other day...I watched it once, laughed myself silly, and then watched it again. Some of you may have seen this, but if you haven't, it's worth 3 minutes of your time.

Enjoy!

Steve