Windows Mobile, Pocket PC and SmartPhone

Vintage Windows Mobile Commercials

Frank La Vigne — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:27:00 GMT

PocketNow has a bunch of “retro” commercials for Windows Mobile.

This one is my favorite: the “we have some catching up to do” line has a nice prophetic ring to it.

Technorati Tags: Windows Mobile,Windows Phone 7

Hands On Demo of Windows Phone 7

Frank La Vigne — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:59:00 GMT

Here’s a Channel9 video showing off some of the features of Windows Phone 7.

Technorati Tags: Windows Phone 7

Kids Start With the Mobile Tech Early

Frank La Vigne — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 08:39:00 GMT

I just saw this cartoon and it was too good not to share.

Technorati Tags: Mobile,GenY,Humor

White Screen of Death

Frank La Vigne — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:25:00 GMT

My HTC phone has been acting up so that from time to time, I get this "White Screen of Death."

Applications still run, and the phone still works, just the display is whited out.

If I jostle the slide out keyboard enough, the display eventually comes back, leading me to believe it's a bad contact somewhere.

Anyone else experience this? Or, better yet, have any idea on how to fix this?

Technorati Tags: HTC,Windows Mobile

Tag You're It!

Frank La Vigne — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:53:00 GMT

I discovered Microsoft Tag week via Twitter and I already see the possibilities.

What is Microsoft Tag?

Here's how the official website describes it:

Instant information and entertainment.

Microsoft Tag creates unlimited possibilities for making interactive communications an instant, entertaining part of life. They transform physical media (print advertising, billboards,product packages, information signs, in-store merchandising, or even video images)—into live links for accessing information and entertainment online.
With the Microsoft Tag application, just aim your camera phone at a Tag and instantly access mobile content, videos, music, contact information, maps, social networks, promotions, and more. Nothing to type, no browsers to launch!

While all the marketing speak may make your head spin, there are really good uses for this technology.

Jesse Liberty has made a tag with his v-card information on it to post at the end of all his slide decks.

Inspired by his idea, I started making a few tags of my own:

Here's a URL tag for www.FranksWorld.com.

Here's the 2009 Meeting Schedule for the CapArea.NET Silverlight SIG.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Tag,Tagging,Mobile

Microsoft Silverlight 2 for Mobile: Developing for Mobile Devices

Frank — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:23:00 GMT

In this PDC session, Amit Chopra and Giorgio Sardo talk about Silverlight 2 for Mobile Devices.

Abstract:

Wouldn't it be super cool if the Silverlight apps you build for the desktop can now run on Millions of Mobile Devices ?

If you have been building Silverlight applications and are wondering how to extend them mobile devices, this is just the right session for you. In this session, filled with some very cool demos you will not only learn how to extend your existing Silverlight 2 applications to work on Windows Mobile but also learn how to build rich mobile Silverlight apps that play media, handle simple gestures, have cool animations, and web services.

We will also talk about tooling enhancements in Visual Studio that support Silverlight app development on Windows Mobile, what to consider when delivering eye-popping UI on mobile, and help you understand the key differences from developing Silverlight apps for the desktop.

Slides: Available for download.

It looks like Silverlight 1 for Windows Mobile has been scrapped.

I say good riddance.

Having the mobile version lag one release behind sends out the wrong message and the lack of some basic controls raised some serious questions.

Now, we can the full suite of Silverlight 2 goodness on our phones.

Technorati Tags: Silverlight,Windows Mobile,Silverlight Mobile

Windows Mobile Event in Reston Tomorrow

Frank — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:29:00 GMT

Tomorrow, there'll be a Programming for Windows Mobile event at the Reston Microsoft Office.

Overview:
Join us for a full day of programming for Windows Mobile. This session is geared towards familiarizing the attendee with developing smart clients using the .NET Compact Framework 3.5 on Windows Mobile 6.x. Labs will be by demo only (not hands on), and will be available for download after the class. Lunch will be provided.
Topics to be covered:

Intro to Win Mobile

Tools: Intro/SDK/Emulators/VS2008/Debug/Deploy

Managed Code: NET CF Managed APIs

Data Guidance

Whole new level

Where:

Microsoft Reston Office [Map]

When:

Thursday, June 12, 2008 9:00 AM - Thursday, June 12, 2008 5:00 PM

Add to Calendar

[found via Community Megaphone]

Technorati Tags: Windows Mobile,Mobile Computing

Rumors: Could Silverlight Be Coming to the iPhone?

Frank — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Rumors are rampant around MIX about a curious set of circumstances and interesting turns of phrases heard at the Keynote.

First of all, a disclaimer, I have no inside information and all of this is conjecture and maybe even rumor mongering.

The first curious tidbit was an interesting phrase Scott Guthrie used during the keynote when he said that Silverlight would be ported to any mobile device "with an SDK."

This was right after the NOKIA "official" announcement. So, at first, I assumed he meant other Symbian-based phones.

But then, it hit me: Apple is set to release an SDK for the iPhone this week.

Curious.

Then things got really interesting when Steve Jobs said Flash isn't fit to run on the iPhone.

The rumors on the MIX floor were flying.

The keynote set for tomorrow afternoon includes Steve Ballmer and Guy Kawasaki.

For reference, here's Guy Kawasaki's bio from the MIX08 website:

Guy Kawasaki is the co-founder of Truemors and a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures. He is also a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine. Previously, he was an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer, Inc. Guy is the author of eight books including The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. He has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College.

His presence here at MIX may have more to do with his work post-Apple, but his connection to the Steve Jobs 1.0 era has only fueled the speculation about what may be coming out today.

Loren Heiny offers up some speculations about the situation.

As excited as I am about the potential of Silverlight coming to the iPhone, I've learned the hard way to not read too much into wild rumors.

After the rumors of a MacTablet and the subsequent letdown at MacWorld, I've learned to be cautious about things that seem too good to be true.

Either way, today looks to be another interesting day at MIX. :)

Technorati Tags: MIX08,Silverlight,Silverlight Mobile,iPhone,SDK,iPhone SDK,Guy Kawasaki,Steve Jobs,Steve Ballmer

Facebook Development for Mobile Devices

Frank — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 12:51:00 GMT

The Gen Y/Internet Generation adores Facebook and they love their mobile phones.

MSDN has an article on Facebook Development for the Compact Framework and the source code from the article is available on CodePlex.

To call Facebook a gianormous phenomenon would be an understatement.

Add the mobile factor to it and you've got an explosive combination.

Technorati Tags: Faceboook,Mobile Computing,Compact Framework,MSDN,Developer

No MEDC This Year

Frank — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:33:00 GMT

Call me behind the times, but I just found out that MEDC has been canceled this year.

I agree partly with the rationale that with mobile devices becoming more mainstream, the content belongs at TechEd.

However, Embedded development is hardly mainstream and I wonder if it ever will be.

One of the coolest parts of MEDC was seeing just how big Microsoft's impact in the embedded space is: something you would miss at an event the size and scope of TechEd.

Technorati Tags: Mobile Computing,MEDC,TechEd