Pocket PC Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

There are a few significant problems with the new Windows Marketplace for Mobile, not the least of which is security from a developers point of view. The idea is that you buy an app from the Marketplace, it installs onto your device, then deletes the CAB file that it downloaded to install itself, and that's that. But what happens if you don't allow the CAB file to be deleted, or find a way to grab it before the process deletes it? More than one person has been able to figure this out, and it's not that difficult apparently. The concern here is, of course, that developers will be reluctant to put their apps onto the Marketplace if they don't feel their investments will be protected.

From a user perspective, knowing that sometimes phones get messed up - and let's not forget the disaster that is ROM updating on the Windows Mobile platform - it's important to keep backups of your applications. I haven't heard anything about a new version of Windows Mobile Device Center that would allow the user to keep a copy of Marketplace applications on their PC. So how exactly does the consumer protect their investment in software? That's a piece of the puzzle that can't be ignored. Ideally I suppose you'd be able to enter your Marketplace ID into the device and be able to re-download all the apps you've purchased...but I don't think it works that way. Anyone with a 6.5 device care to comment? Yeah, this is me not having a clue again because I don't have a 6.5 device to test. <sigh>

"WinMoDevCamp is a series of not-for-profit gatherings to develop applications for the upcoming release of the Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 OS. Our first Windows Mobile Developer Camp event is scheduled for August 19th in Redmond, Washington at the Microsoft Campus Conference Center. The event is also being planned in at least 5 additional cities around the world: Austin, London, New York, San Francisco, and Singapore. We also encourage our extended mobile developer community to host events in the cities that we will not be visiting this time. The http://winmodevcamp.org website will soon have facilities for you to organize events."

Loke Uei Tan invites you, and all your developer buddies, to attend the first Windows Mobile Developer Camp in Redmond on the 19th of August (If you happen to be around there...). Other venues are also in the works. Looks like a great opportunity to tell your boss you need some "skill development" time and head off to an interesting event!

"In the latest update to http://developer.windowsmobile.com, developers can now Register to participate in Windows Marketplace for Mobile. This marks another milestone in providing Windows Mobile Developers a clear path to develop, test, certify and distribute their Windows Mobile applications via the Windows® Marketplace for Mobile. Throughout the registration process, links to key documentation for distributing apps through Windows Marketplace for Mobile are provided."

Developers, if you haven't registered to participate in the Windows Marketplace for Mobile, now's as good a time as any to do so. You'll have to pony up an annual subscription fee of $99, but doing so will net you assistance with the development, certification, and distribution of your app. Check out the FAQ, if you have any queries. It's worth noting that participation is optional. You may consider the cost or the policies of the Marketplace to be too restrictive, in which case, you're still welcome to develop your app and distribute it through third-party storefronts as you're probably already doing so in this pre-Marketplace era.

"At Microsoft's Silicon Valley campus this week, the company held a talent show for mobile software developers that it called Mobile Incubation Week. A group of six finalists demonstrated a variety of programs that run on Windows Mobile, Microsoft's operating system for smartphones. The finalists included an application called VoiceMuffler, described as a "real-time two-way speech-to-speech translation designed for foreign military personnel and civilian travelers," according to the blog of Brian Hoskins, a senior development manager at Microsoft involved in the competition."

Code competitions sponsored by Microsoft are nothing new, but it's nice to see one with a mobile bent. The winner gets early placement in the Windows Mobile Marketplace, and a nice shiny Zune. Let's hope Microsoft continues to promote developers in this way - maybe even making it easier for novices to step into developing without a hefty price tag attached.

"We're really excited to announce that the new Windows Mobile Line of Business Solution Accelerator 2008 has been released to the web and can be found here at the Microsoft Downloads site. Having the best mobile development platform and tools is more important now than it’s ever been before and that’s why we’ve delivered this new Accelerator to empower our developer community to do their best work on the Windows Mobile platform."

I couldn't have found a better first post on our new interface (and first Smartphone Thoughts post) than this little gem courtsey of the Windows Mobile team blog. Some of the pieces of the solution accelerator look positively sublime, especially the Adapt your App (Create 1 binary that runs on both smartphones and pocket pcs, in landscape or portrait!). If you need to create something rather complex (e.g. signature input) on short notice, take a look at ths plethora of commented code - available now for download!