Introduction
Windows Mobile-based devices, both Pocket PC and Smartphone, are widely deployed around the world. Much of what drives the popularity of these highly portable devices is their rapidly improving hardware capabilities. These devices now provide high-quality displays, cameras, increased memory sizes, and powerful communications capabilities that were unimaginable not long ago. Windows Mobile 5.0 puts these powerful device capabilities and much more into easy reach of developers.
Windows Mobile 5.0 introduces a new generation of platform application programming interfaces (APIs) that expose rich multimedia support, rich two-dimensional and three-dimensional drawing capabilities, easy interaction with device hardware such as cameras or global positioning system (GPS) devices, straightforward interaction and integration with Pocket Outlook, and improved communications capabilities. These new APIs provide not only greater application capabilities, but they also improve developer productivity by encapsulating the details of these features in the platform, which allows developers to focus on the specific needs of their applications.
Windows Mobile 5.0 is the first platform to expose both native and managed versions of platform APIs, which allows developers to choose the most appropriate development model based on their skills and application appropriateness. Windows Mobile 5.0 also incorporates many API enhancements to provide greater continuity between Windows Mobile devices and Windows desktop and server computer platforms, allowing developers to use a common skill set across all Windows platforms.
This article explains these new features in Windows Mobile 5.0 from a developer’s perspective and explains the tools that developers use to create Windows Mobile 5.0 solutions. The following sections outline some of the most notable Windows Mobile 5.0 features.
Improved Productivity
The following list provides an overview of some of the ways that Windows Mobile 5.0 improves developer productivity:
New APIs address many of the most common mobile device development challenges, which include picture management, contact management, and GPS, freeing developers to focus on building compelling applications. Greater continuity between Windows Mobile software for Pocket PC and Windows Mobile software for Smartphone provide greater portability of code and applications between devices. New state and notification broker API allows applications to easily track system activities such as changes in network status, receipt of a short message service (SMS) message, or an incoming telephone call. Visual Studio 2005 simplifies device development through several productivity tools such as data designers, a faster debugger, and improved user interface designers, which include support for developers to view application presentations across different screen orientations, resolutions, and devices. Improved emulators, including a new ARM emulator, simplify application testing by more accurately representing the device environment, thereby reducing the number and level of tests developers need to run directly on a device. Multimedia Support
The following list provides an overview of Windows Mobile 5.0’s rich multimedia support:
Integrated camera APIs enable developers to embed camera, picture, and video functionality directly into applications. Windows Media Player 10 Mobile enables developers to integrate media player functionality into their applications, including library management and playback. Direct3D enables developers to deliver rich three-dimensional gaming environments. DirectDraw provides developers with greater control and flexibility in rendering high-speed two-dimensional graphics. Managed Code Support
Windows Mobile 5.0 provides first-class support for managed code developers. The following list provides an overview of Windows Mobile 5.0’s managed code support:
All Windows Mobile 5.0 devices have the .NET Compact Framework 1.0 Service Pack 3 installed in ROM. This provides a consistent target platform for managed application deployment. Many core device features such as messaging, telephony, and Outlook Mobile now expose managed APIs, making them directly accessible from managed code. Many operating system features exposed directly as managed APIs provide access to managed developers across all versions to the .NET Compact Framework.