Windows Mobile

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Windows Mobile is a compact operating system combined with a suite of basic applications for mobile devices based on the Microsoft Win32 API. Devices which run Windows Mobile include Pocket PCs, Smartphones, and Portable Media Centers. It is designed to be somewhat similar to desktop versions of Windows.

Common Windows Mobile Features

Windows Mobile for Pocket PC carries these standard features in most of its versions:

• Today Screen shows the current date, owner information, upcoming appointments, e-mail messages, and tasks. It also includes the notification bar which includes icons to notify the status of Bluetooth and also includes the New button. Programs can be installed which adds extra items to the Today screen. One of these is Microsoft Money for Pocket PC. The background image can be customised directly through the Pocket PC, or themes can be created and syncronised onto the Pocket PC.
• The taskbar shows the current time, the volume, and the connectivity status. When a program or message box is open the blank space after the clock is filled with an OK or close icon. The main feature of the taskbar is the Start Button, which is designed similarly to the Start Button which features on desktop versions of Windows. The Start Menu features recently opened programs at the top, nine customisable menu entries, and links to the program, settings, find (search), and help.
• Pocket PC versions of Microsoft Office applications are included in Windows Mobile. These include Pocket Word and Pocket Excel. In Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PowerPoint has been included. These versions include many of the features which are used in desktop versions, but some other features like inserting tables and images have not been included in pre 5.0 versions. ActiveSync has capabililites which convert desktop versions of files to Pocket PC compatible versions.
• Outlook mobile comes with Windows Mobile. This includes tasks, calendar, contacts, and inbox that can be sync'ed either with Outlook or direct with an Exchange Server (internet connection is required for this method). Microsoft Outlook for desktop versions is sometimes included in a value-added CD-ROM which is included with the Pocket PC hardware manufacturer.
• Windows Media Player for Windows Mobile is bundled with the Windows Mobile software. Currently, all Pocket PCs include Version 9 of the player, but Version 10 has been included with newer hardware and newer versions of Windows Mobile. For existing devices, Version 10 is available for download for only specified devices — these include devices from the Dell Axim range. The player supports .WMA, .WMV, .MP3, and .AVI files. Currently MPEG files are not supported file types, and a third-party program must be downloaded to play these, and WAV files are played in a separate player. Some versions are also capable of playing .M4A audio.

PocketPC 2002

PocketPC 2002 was powered by Windows CE 3.0. Targeted specifically at 240 × 320 (QVGA) Pocket PC (keyboardless) devices, PocketPC 2002 was, like the original PocketPC 2000 release, a stand-alone entity in the Microsoft Embedded device range. With future releases, the Pocket PC and Smartphone lines would increasingly collide as the licensing terms were relaxed allowing OEMs to take advantage of more innovative, individual design ideas.

Windows Mobile 2003

The third version, named Windows Mobile 2003, was released on June 23 2003, and was the first release under the Windows Mobile banner. It came in three editions, two of which were similar: Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC and Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC Phone Edition, which is designed especially for Pocket PCs which include phone functionalities (as HTC's Himalaya, distributed in many countries as Qtek, XDA, MDA or VPA).

The third edition is named Windows Mobile 2003 for Smartphone, which — despite several similarities with Pocket PC — is a substantially different platform that also requires software applications to be specifically targeting this device type. To name a few specifics, Windows Mobile powered Smartphone devices do not have touchscreens, have lower display resolution, have a regular phone keypad, and are specially designed for single-handed use.

Windows Mobile 2003 is powered by Windows CE 4.20.

Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition

Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, also known as Windows Mobile 2003SE, was released on March 24 2004 and first offered on the Dell Axim x30. It includes a number of improvements over its predecessor, such as:

• The option to switch from landscape to portrait screen layout. This is not available in the Smartphone version.
• Pocket Internet Explorer (otherwise known as PIE) includes the option to force a page into a single-column layout, making reading easier since one now only has to scroll vertically.
• VGA (640×480) screen resolution is now supported in addition to the previous 320×240 resoution. Also supported is a new square form factor (240×240 and 480×480 for VGA screens), which is ideally suited for manufacturers wishing to include a hardware keyboard. Although it wasn't originally slated to contain this feature, Microsoft decided to add it due to pressure from Pocket PC manufacturers.
• Support for Wi-Fi Protected Access.

Windows Mobile 2003SE is powered by Windows CE 4.21.

Windows Mobile 5.0

Windows Mobile 5.0, originally codenamed "Magneto", was released on May 9, 2005. It is powered by Windows CE 5.0 and uses the .NET Compact Framework 1.0 SP2 — an environment for programs based on .NET to be used.

Features include:

• A new version of Office called "Office Mobile"
• *PowerPoint Mobile has been added
• *Excel Mobile adds graphing capability
• *Word Mobile adds tables and graphics insertion
• Windows Media Player 10 Mobile
• Photo Caller ID
• Picture and Video package, which converges the management of videos and pictures
• Bluetooth support with fewer features than prior Broadcom/Widcom alternatives
• Global Positioning System (GPS) management interface to all navigation programs installed
• Microsoft Exchange Server "push" functionality improvements - Improvements only function with Exchange 2003 SP2 installed: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2003/sp2mobility.mspx. The "push" functionality also requires vendor/device support: http://www.palmblvd.com/articles/2005/10/2005-10-19-Microsoft-Looks-to.html, with the Palm Treo and Motorola Q scheduled to receive support with Q1 2006 firmware updates.
• QWERTY keyboard-support is included by default
• Error reporting facility similar to that present in desktop and server Windows systems
• ActiveSync 4.0, promising 10–15% increased speed on synchronization
• Client for PPTP and L2TP/IPsec VPNs.
• Persistent storage (PS) is now supported in Pocket PCs allowing devices increase battery life. Previously up to 50% (enough for 72 hours of storage) of battery power was reserved just to maintain data in volatile RAM. Windows-based devices are moving from using RAM as their primary storage medium to the use of flash memory.

Windows Mobile 5.0, was released at Microsoft's Mobile and Embedded Developers Conference 2005 in Las Vegas, May 9–May 12, 2005.

Current speculation indicates that Microsoft is working on an update to Windows Mobile 5.0, which will be released in 2006 as "Windows Mobile 5.0 Second Edition" or perhaps "Windows Mobile 2006".[link]

Photon

Photon is the next major revision to the Windows Mobile platform, and will likely be called Windows Mobile 6.0. In December 2005, Microsoft announced that the Smartphone and Pocket PC platforms will be merged for Photon but that the release is still several years away. Very little is currently known about Photon other than it is expected to have special design improvements and greatly improved battery life.

Challenges

Historic

• Prior to Windows Mobile 5, Microsoft powered phones had essentially unstable phone functions with difficulties in properly handling incoming calls and text messages. From this period, models made by others than HTC showed further hardware challenges and memory leakage problems. Gigabyte sized memory cards could easily crash these early-generation models.
• Attempts to introduce managed code on PPC2003 put additional strain on memory causing application-specific instabilities

Current

• With Windows mobile 5, storage moved to safer flash memory, creating a write-lag surfacing as occasional response times well of over one minute on prevalent 195 MHz devices
• The over-the-air protocol proved flawed, being unable to handle large items and slowly corrupting over time
• A serious issue remaining to be solved for all devices, but very apparent on this platform is operating system updates
• * Reading the fine print, Microsoft provides no support to end users of Windows Mobile
• * Warranty wording from for example HTC tries to avoid supporting the operating system as well
• ** Therefore, there is no support outside commercial law for a challenged operating system versions
• * Update rollouts by operators ceased due to support volume and update failures

See also

• Style Tap
• Microsoft
• Windows CE, Windows CE 3.0, Windows CE 5.0
• ActiveSync
• Handheld PC
• Palm-size PC
• Pocket PC
• Smartphone 2002, Smartphone 2003
• Tablet PC
• Palm OS
• Browser wars: Other browser competition: Mobile Devices
• Microsoft Xplayer, a rumored portable music, gaming, and video device that will compete with Apple Computer's IPod and the Sony PSP [link]

External links

• [MoDaCo Windows Mobile News and Community]
• [AppForge.com]- Development software for Windows Mobile.
• [Official site of Windows Mobile]
• [Windows Mobile Product Team Blog]
• [Windows Mobile on the Microsoft Developer Network]
• [HTC Club] — Unofficial support site for all HTC devices that run on Windows Mobile
• [Pocket PC Magazine] — dedicated exclusively to Windows Mobile devices
• [PDA Hotspots] — List of websites that adjust to the small PDA screen
• [Pocket PC Thoughts] — Windows Mobile Community & News site.
• [Mobility Today] — Windows Mobile Community & News, Reviews and Podcast site.
• [Modern Nomads] — Wiki, blog and articles for helping windows mobile users (and the people that have to support them) get the most out of their windows mobile devices.
• [Handster.com] — Software for Windows Mobile devices

 

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