Kivanc Ozuolmez

This series of Web seminars will lead you through common application development scenarios in Windows Mobile 6.5. From “hello world” to embedded databases, from sending a simple SMS messages to using the new touch-screen enabled Gesture APIs, these sessions will get you started developing custom applications for your Windows Mobile 6.5 device.

 

Link is here

 

Just posted to MSDN Downloads is a brand new SDK for doing Windows Mobile development. The SDK is coupled with new emulator image downloads for the following languages GER, FRA, ITA, JPN, CHS and ESP. The download link is :  Windows Mobile 6.5 SDK Download page.

 

Edit on 25.Jan.2010 : SDK Download is pulled back by MS, with an explanation "SDK download has been temporarily pulled to address the necessary issues."

There’s been quite a bit of talk since the early CTP/Beta release of Visual Studio 2010 regarding the lack of support for Windows Mobile development. However, what most people fail to pick up on is that you can build Windows Mobile Widgets using either Visual Studio 2008 or Visual Studio 2010 (in fact you can probably do it using earlier versions of Visual Studio but I haven’t tried it). Interestingly an update to the Developing Widgets for Windows Mobile 6.5 MSDN article talks about coming support within Visual Studio for doing widget development:

Starting with Windows Mobile 6.5.3, developers can create Windows Mobile widgets using Visual Studio.

Given that you can already do most of the development within Visual Studio this would suggest better IDE support for perhaps debugging or packaging your widget…. This is pure speculation but if you want to get a bit of a heads up on widget development using Visual Studio, try the following posts from Nick's blog:

• Windows Mobile Widget 101 – Getting Started 
• Windows Mobile Widget 101 – Start Menu Icons
• Windows Mobile Widget 101 – A Gadget Side Note
• Windows Mobile Widget 101 – Handling Form Factors
  

The version of Windows Mobile mentioned in the MSDN article and by Mary Jo in Is Microsoft (slowly) picking up the pace with Windows Mobile? must be a reference to some of the leaked builds.

 

Couple of days ago Alex Yakhnin posted a nice brain storming article on RIAs and Mobile Devices, here. If you think about the Silverlight functionalities we have now and having them on a limited mobiel device....

That's explains a lot why we still don't know anything about Silverlight on mobile.

The Office Mobile 2010 offering is part of yesterday's release of the overall Office 2010 beta, which offers publicly downloadable versions of Office 2010, SharePoint Server 2010, Project 2010, Visio 2010, and Office Web Apps. The products are touted as delivering "the best productivity experience across the PC, phone and browser."

 

 

According to Microsoft, Office Mobile 2010 (above) includes mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and the new SharePoint Workspace Mobile 2010. The software is claimed to allow transfer of documents to and from desktop PCs while preserving rich formatting, such as tables, charts, font styles, and SmartArt graphics. Excel Mobile 2010 now provides more than 140 formulas, several previously only found in desktop Excel, the company adds.

In addition, the company says, SharePoint Workspace Mobile 2010 will let smartphone users browse document libraries on an enterprise's SharePoint server, open files for viewing or editing, and save them back to the server if desired. It's said the software can also automatically sync documents -- when a file is modified on the server, a copy on the smartphone will be updated without user intervention.

Microsoft says PowerPoint Mobile 2010 now allows a Bluetooth-equipped smartphone to be used as a presentation aid. When a PC and smartphone are connected, the PC's screen will display PowerPoint slides, while the phone displays any associated notes, according to the company. The phone can even be used to advance slides.

Outlook Mobile 2010 -- also promised but apparently not part of this week's beta -- will provide online access to corporate email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and other information from a smartphone. It will also include a Conversation View, which allows combining related messages and then moving, categorizing, or deleting them "in just a few clicks," Microsoft says.

The free Office Mobile 2010 beta requires Windows Mobile 6.5 devices -- we didn't see any word about whether they must be touchscreen-equipped, though this seems likely -- and Microsoft's Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Downloading the application from the Marketplace (below left) will automatically install the software onto a phone (below right). 

 

For further information about Microsoft's Office Mobile 2010, see the company's website, here. 

Looking for a quick way to get the basics of Windows Mobile development? Try the RampUp “Develop Windows Mobile 6 Applications” e-learning.  Whilst this focuses on Windows Mobile 6 using VS2008, a lot of the points covered actually apply to all versions of the Windows Mobile platform.  Topics include the following:

Level 1: Mobile Development Introduction
Level 2: Device Emulators
Level 3: Mobile Windows Forms Development
Level 4: Advanced Mobile Windows Forms Development
Level 5: SQL Server CE Introduction
Level 6: Security and Deployment
Level 7: Mobile Web Development

Well that should be the Microsoft chant with the simultaneous release of Windows Mobile 6.5, Marketplace and a host of complementary applications such as an updated MyPhone that’s available for download via Marketplace. If you’re like me, one of the cool new “premium” features of MyPhone is the ability find your lost phone.  Here I’m showing the “known location” feature but you can get MyPhone to ring your phone, even if it’s on vibrate.  I so want that feature for when I lose my phone.

 

 

 

Review by WMExperts on the new Zune HD, very cool indeed:

Couple of days ago, in one of the communities I follow, a question was asked if there is a way to integrate a map into a  integrating the Bing Map (javascript) Control into a Windows Mobile Widget.  Whilst the javascript engine in Windows Mobile 6.5 has been given a massive injection of life, I was very skeptical that the javascript control would work out of the box. I was proven wrong with the map working with no modifications.  The following code is taken out of the online visual sdk, with the only change being the height and width of the map div to fit into the widget.

<html>
   <head>
      <title></title>
      <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
      <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ecn.dev.virtualearth.net/mapcontrol/mapcontrol.ashx?v=6.2"></script>
      <script type="text/javascript">
          var map = null;           function GetMap() {
              map = new VEMap('myMap');
              map.LoadMap();
          }  
      </script>
   </head>
   <body onload="GetMap();">
      <div id='myMap' style="position:relative; width:240px; height:260px;"></div>
   </body>
</html>

The only issues I found with the javascript control relate to the gesture support within the widgets in Windows Mobile 6.5. When you pan your finger within a widget it attempts to scroll the widget itself.  Unfortunately this means that you can pan the map by dragging your finger across the map.  Instead you have to use the navigation control in the top left corner.

 

I'm quite late to announce the paper here, but two mobile MVPs, Michele Leroux Bustamante and Nickolas Landry, did an excellent job talking about using WCF from the .NET Compact Framework: http://wcfguidanceformobile.codeplex.com/ . If you wonder the capabilities and the usage of WCF services on Windows Mobile, please pay attention to this whitepaper.

One of the things that continually frustrates me about building Windows Mobile applications in Visual Studio is that for some reason it takes so long to do a build. Behind the scenes there is a lot that goes on and I always forget that there is one part of the build that you can mostly do without, the platform verification.  As pointed out by the now quite old post by the Visual Studio for Devices team you can disable this part of the build quite easily:

1) Open the file %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\Microsoft.CompactFramework.Common.Targets for editing.
2) Go to the line which reads:
Name="PlatformVerificationTask">
and change it to:
Name="PlatformVerificationTask" Condition="'$(SkipPlatformVerification)' != 'true'">
3) Add the SkipPlatformVerification environment variable to the system and set it to "true" (To re-enable Platform Verification set the environment variable to "false")
4) Restart Visual Studio for the changes to take effect (If building from the command line using MSBuild, add /p:SkipPlatformVerification=true to your command line to turn off the task. You can specify the variable in the project file also, so that this information is persisted across sessions).

As noted by Thomas you may just want to disable this functionality, instead of having it contingent on an environment variable.  In this case just change the PlatformVerificationTask line to: Name="PlatformVerificationTask" Condition="false">

Doing this you should notice that your mobile projects build just as fast as other projects within Visual Studio.  Note: This is still relevant in Visual Studio 2008 with SP1.

For any queries, questions, thoughts, feedback on the Marketplace

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/mktplace/threads

Frank posted about this a few weeks ago now but I didn’t want to repost it until I’d had a chance to use the new Spb Mobile Shell 3.0. If you’ve ever felt that the Windows Mobile interface is tired and stayed then this product will give your device a new lease of life.

 

Unlike some of the other interfaces that OEMs such as HTC have been working on, Spb Mobile Shell doesn’t seem to completely drain the system resources.  It works nicely on Windows Mobile 6, 6.1 and 6.5 from what I’ve seen and means that just about everything you want to do is just a few clicks or slides away.  At $29.95 this is a must!

 

As I mentioned in my previous post, CellID is the identifier for the GSM towers. So these towers are very generally fixed and their location (also address and/geographic location) is known by GSM providers. But for sure this is their business data and is not publicly shared.

Some biggies, like Google, OpenCellID and other communities developed some solutions to gather CellID vs. Latitude, Longitude data and they share them through their services. The bigger the community gathers the data, the better the data freshness, coverage and accuracy is. So Google has the best data for now.

In the code, we query Google’s map service to get latitude and longitude data with the cellId we had in my previous post. In the future posts, I’ll extend this project to show a map control thorough bing maps (live maps) and virtual earth services. Code is pretty straight forward with some HttpWebRequests and documents itself. So I’ll not tell the functions or response reading algo here. But it is “as is”. 

 

You can download the codes : GetCellDetailsII.rar (35.85 kb)

 

 

For an internal competition project here in Avanade, my colleagues and I implemented a location aware service works on the cloud. So I’ve many outcomes from that project and want to share them with you. Our aim was to go get the a location data, based on Latitude and Longitude but alas our HTC Touch devices don’t have GPS hardware installed in. So I decided to go for GSM CellID based location awareness and worked quite well. So here is the first step to demonstrate the basic structure on how to get GSM CellId with couple of lines C# code. I just referred to MSDN codebase the RIL_GetCellTowerInfo function in the Radio Interface Layer (RIL) API. 

 

        1.Call RIL_Initialize to get a RIL handle

        2. Call RIL_GetCellTowerInfo to get the information about the cell tower the phone is connected to

The “Cell” string that FindMe displays seems to be a combination of the dwCellID, dwLocationAreaCode and dwMobileCountryCode

       3. Call RIL_Deinitialize to release the RIL handle

 

You can find the code here. GetCellDetails.rar (24.03 kb)  I’ll add other steps to decode geo info (latitude and longitude data) from that cellID identifiers soon. Meanwhile you can check http://www.opencellid.org/ and similar services from other public or commercial vendors and get more info on GSM CellID.

 

Nick has posted a very nice trick on how to turn your widgets into Windows vista/7 gadgets. It’s impressive how easy it is. Check the link out.

If you are planning to build a widget for Windows Mobile 6.5 there is quite a useful page of documentation available at MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd721906.aspx

I was quite lucky that I haven't faced with that problem. Actually I haven't implemented web services (on SSL) integration lately. But I've seen many questions, mails about that bug in Compact Framework. Thanks guys in development team, they announced a hotfix for that bug. The link is : FIX: A System.Net.WebException occurs when you run an application to send HTTPS Web requests to a server in an embedded device.

Peter Nowak has published a complete library on CodePlex for creating Managed Services for Windows Mobile.

Project Description

This lightweight library contains functionality for creating Windows like Services in managed code, as creating Windows Services in Windows Mobile/Windows CE isn't supported. The library is compatible with the .NET Compact Framework 2.0 and higher.

Details
The .NET Compact Framework doesn't offer any functionality for creating Windows Services in full managed code, as like on the .NET Framework. Therefore this library enables creating Service in managed code to be like Windows Services as near as possible.
This library bases on Pavel Bánský's blog post, on how to create Services in Windows Mobile in managed code.

Features

• Easy to use library in managed code. No P/Invoke required.
• Based on the .NET Compact Framework 2.0 for maximum compatibility.
• Extra samples to show, how to use this library.
• Service Launcher application to start services automatically on system start
• Additional Service Manager Utility is available for controlling Services similar to Windows.

 

 

After a long silence on my blog, I've great news :

    Microsoft's beta My Phone service for Windows Mobile now free to all http://myphone.microsoft.com/  And for more info about My Phone, please refer to my previous blog entry Microsoft launches new mobile phone stack

Have fun

Windows Mobile 6.5 is done and that’s a good opportunity to provide a quick jump-start to developers wishing to learn more about the OS.

Microsoft has a tendency to overload developers with abundant API of its various platforms and technologies. Windows Mobile is no different. Managed and native API, .Net, MFC, ATL, Win32… it’s all there for the confused developer. Luckily, Microsoft has recently published an article discussing APIs for Windows Mobile 6 and later, and how to select the best fit for your application needs. BTW, don’t be tempted to choose managed .Net API before fully understanding the functional requirements from your application and the devices it needs to run on. Win32 is better if you wish the application to run on as many devices as possible. 

A good place to learn Windows Mobile development is MSDN’s ramp up which is a community-based learning program, teaching various aspects in development for WM. Another excellent source for learning and help is blogs of mobile gurus. I recommend subscribing to the following blogs: Raffaele Limosaniblog, Alex Yakhnin, Christopher Fairbairn, Windows Mobile team blog, Reed and Steve blog, the Moth, and finally, Chris Craft (especially his 30 days of .Net series).

OK. You’ve done your reading and fill ready to start developing? hold on. Make sure you took into account globalization and localization issues. Simon Judge lists many of them.

Once done development, you need to QA your application. If your application aims for numerous devices in many countries, involving different networks, you should consider using DeviceAnywhere or maybe even Mob4Hire.

Finished the cycle? congratulation! Now you can go and publish your application on Windows Marketplace.

Download Cab File

Easy to type mobile URL:

http://tinyurl.com/wmfbcab

New from Windows Mobile: a Facebook application for your phone! Download the new Facebook application for Windows Mobile and:

• Send messages to any of the people in your Friends list.
• Take pictures and videos on your phone, then upload them right to Facebook.
• Send messages or call people in your Friends list.
• Manage your profile and post anytime, anywhere.

Keep up with the latest news and posts with Facebook on your phone. Now your status updates can be up-to-the moment accounts of what you’re doing. Photos and videos are about as close to live-action as you can get. Show your friends what you’re up to, while you’re out and about.
Connecting and sharing on Facebook just got a lot livelier!

Chris Tacke shows in his blogpost, how to create a Screen Capture with less than 10 lines of code. Without any P/Invoke or any more hacking, it just uses managed code. Really and very simple, thanks Chris.

In a keynote at this week's Mobile World Congress, CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled an interim upgrade to Microsoft's mobile phone stack. To ship during the latter half of the year, Windows Mobile 6.5 brings support for two online services, including an app store and a data sync/backup service.

In the announcement, Microsoft emphasized that the new 6.5 stack uses the same tools, and has the same API (application programming interface), facilitating forward compatibility. Additionally, the tools used to develop apps for Windows Mobile 6.5 are the same as those used to write PC apps, Microsoft said, citing Visual Studio, .Net, and SQL.

Microsoft's two new services, unsurprisingly, include:

• "My Phone," a Web-based sync service for text messages, photos, video, and contacts
  • Password-protected web interface
  • Facilitates upgrading phones without data loss
  • "Automatic" syncing and backup
  • Currently available in a limited invitation-only beta
• Windows Marketplace for Mobile
  • Search, browse, and buy apps and widgets, from a PC (Windows Live ID required)
  • Direct-to-phone installations
  • Applications qualified by "simple" security and compatibility check from Microsoft

Additional touted new features in Windows Mobile 6.5 include:

• New home screen "dashboard" showing new e-mails, texts, missed calls, and calendar appointments
• More finger-friendly touch-screen interface
• Updated Internet Explorer Mobile browser

First Windows Mobile 6.5 phones

Participating in the launch were Microsoft phone partners HTC and LG. Both pre-announced specific phone models slated to ship with the 6.5 upgrade in the second half of the year:

• LG said its LG-GM7300 -- available first on Windows Mobile 6.1 -- will gain a 6.5 option
• HTC flagged its Touch Diamond 2 and Touch Pro 2 as its first Windows Mobile 6.5 models

 

Slated for WM 6.5, in version "2" releases next year
(HTC Diamond Touch, Touch Pro. Click either for details)

Additional news may be about available on Microsoft's MWC partner list [.doc format], the company said.

Other announcements

Besides the big news related to Windows Mobile 6.5 and its associated services, Microsoft announced several other items. It touted a voice search technology called Recite, for Windows Mobile 6.0 or better. Currently available as a free preview, here, the technology lets users search for spoken notes and reminders using just their voice, Microsoft said.

Additionally, Microsoft announced a long list of new mobile advertising partners, including:

• Mobistar (Orange Group) and BASE, the second and the third largest mobile operators in Belgium respectively
• Mobile travel site WAYN
• eFinancialNews and Private Equity News, part of Dow Jones
• Le Parisien.fr, the mobile site of Le Parisien-Aujourd’hui en France, described as the "first" daily newspaper in France
• La Vanguardia, a Spanish daily newspaper
• Spanish sports newspaper El Mundo Deportivo
• Le Post.fr, an interactive French mobile site

Microsoft said it offers advertising services in a dozen countries, delivering mobile ads on both Microsoft and partner properties.

Finally, Microsoft partners also announced mobile broadband connectivity for Windows 7, Microsoft's netbook-friendly OS, currently beta-testing. Such partners reportedly included Acer, Asus, Birdstep Technology, Dell, Ericsson, HP, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Huawei Communications Technologies, Option, Qualcomm, Sierra Wireless, Smith Micro, T-Mobile International, and ZTE.

In a statement, Ballmer commented, "Windows phones bring together the best of the Web, the PC, and the phone.”

I heard many complains about slow startups of mobile applications and also got questions how to increase the startup performance. In most of the projects, the problem was a design issue, just like trying to connect a remote server on startup or populating big datasets etc.. But on the other hand, if you think your startup sequance is totaly clear and correct than you may find some more things to do in general.

Take a look at the article on how to optimize the your application's loading time.
http://blogs.msdn.com/raffael/archive/2009/01/05/netcf-improve-startup-performances.aspx