Backstage at MED

Xperia Panels Update

Xperia™ Panels category submission date is now extended to January 30, 2009

The Xperia™ Panels category is now open for submissions until January 30, 2009 giving you more time to get creative using the Sony Ericsson Beta SDK for Windows Mobile 6.1. To help inspire you, here are three panel examples from Sony Ericsson’s partners: Facebook, Microsoft Windows Live and Dashwire.

· Download Sony Ericsson Beta SDK for Windows Mobile 6.1 (v1.0.4) for creating Xperia Panels>>

Entries to the Xperia Panels category are invited from any developer, both companies and individuals, who develop a panel for the Xperia X1.

The Panel category winner will be announced at Mobile World Congress. In addition, they will be invited to an exclusive two day workshop and presentation at the Sony Ericsson headquarters in Lund, Sweden where they will present their projects to top Sony Ericsson executives and spend one-on-one time with several senior Sony Ericsson directors to discuss new joint business ventures.

Xperia Panel examples

To help inspire you, here are three examples from Sony Ericsson’s partners: Facebook, Microsoft Windows Live and Dashwire. These panels are available for download from Sony Ericsson’s Fun & Downloads web site.

Facebook

The new Facebook application uses the Xperia X1 interface to deliver an intuitive version of the site, putting images of your friends onto your phone’s desktop (standby screen) and showing their latest status updates as you touch their images.

New functions available through the Xperia X1 Facebook panel include:

· An entirely new visual representation of friends’ statuses

· Simple and fast upload of photos to Facebook

· Easy access to Facebook friends list and phone numbers, with click to call capabilities

Microsoft Windows Live

The Windows Live panel uses existing Windows Live ID to sync contacts held in the X1’s phonebook, and the panel will provide easy access to an intuitive Microsoft messenger interface, including Hotmail and Live Messenger.

The panel gives end-users access to the Windows Live Search function, which is tailored to mobile phones and can be voice activated and controlled. Other Windows Live services will be incorporated into the panel throughout the year.

New Mobile Architecture Pocket Guide Available

The patterns & practices group has just recently released a new Pocket Guide that is targeted at Mobile Architecture and development. It covers a ton of information and common pitfalls that you can avoid when building serious mobile line of business applications.

Download a copy here : http://www.codeplex.com/AppArch/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=19798

Verizon launches the Omnia!

Nice! Finally a new phone from Verizon. They need to ship more phones quicker, I have a ton of friends on Verizon that need upgrades. here are the specs: (resolution is a bummer though, 240x400 and not the VGA version)

• Full HTML Web browser with touch navigation
• Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
  • Access to multiple e-mail accounts with Microsoft Direct Push for corporate users
  • Over-the-air synchronization of contacts, calendars and task lists with Microsoft Exchange Server
  • Supports Microsoft’s System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 that provides customers with software distribution capabilities and security-enhanced access to company data while they are away from the office
• Access to VZAppZone – downloadable games, ringtones, wallpapers and more
• Playback of MP3 files
• VZ Navigator(SM) capability – get visual and audible directions to thousands of destinations, locate businesses and other points of interest, get maps of a location and share directions with others
• Text, picture and video messaging
• Mobile IM using AIM®, MSN®, Yahoo!®
• Bluetooth profiles supported: headset – mono and stereo, hands-free (car kits), object push for vCard, basic imaging and phonebook access profiles
• 5.0 megapixel camera and camcorder with flash and zoom
  • Face Detection – centers on a face when taking a picture
  • Panorama, split shot and anti-shake camera settings
  • SmileShot – enables the camera to detect when a person is smiling and automatically takes a picture when in the SmileShot mode
• Wi-Fi technology (802.11 b/g)
• Support for Divx and Xvid movie files
• Personal organizer with calculator, calendar, alarm clock, world clock, stop watch and notepad
• Dimensions: 4.41” (l) x 2.24” (w) x 0.52” (d) with standard battery
• Weight: approximately 4.34 ounces
• Display: 3.2” display
• Usage time: up to 346 minutes with standard battery or
• Standby time: up to 464 hours with standard battery (subject to environmental and other factors)

http://news.vzw.com/news/2008/11/pr2008-11-25a.html

http://www.wmexperts.com/articles/verizon_announced_samsung_omni.html

Spin the Bottle – Touch Diamond edition

Daniel Siegl from Lieber Lieber Software wrote me a mail to let me know that he got inspired by our Accelerometer showcase at the Mobility Smackdown session at TechEd EMEA ,and he quickly wrote a Spin The Bottle application to demonstrate how it can be done quickly.

go download it and give it a try, it’s hilarious!!

Windows Mobile 6.1.4 Emulator Images Available now

Today we’re announcing the availability of the Windows Mobile 6.1.4 Emulator Images that includes the new Internet Explorer Mobile 6 browser built in.

These are the new resolutions that are supported:

• Windows Mobile 6.1.4 Standard
  DPI: 131 - Resolution: 320 x 320 pixels
  DPI: 131 - Resolution: 400 x 240 pixels
  DPI: 131 - Resolution: 440 x 240 pixels
• Windows Mobile 6.1.4 Professional
  DPI: 96 - Resolution: 240 x 400 pixels
  DPI: 192 - Resolution 480 x 800 pixels

Download it here : http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1a7a6b52-f89e-4354-84ce-5d19c204498a&DisplayLang=en

Sony Ericsson Content Awards 2008

Just got this email from Sony Ericsson for Developers.

www.sonyericsson.com/contentawards

The Sony Ericsson Content Awards 2008 is all about you and us together. It's about rewarding talent and making your mark in the mobile content industry. With increasing sophistication of phones, content and consumers, the bar for winning this year's awards is raised even higher. Seven categories + innovation + your content = winning

You know as much as we do about the importance of mobile phones in daily life. This year it's estimated that around 2,200,000,000 people have mobile access worldwide. From baby-boomers, tech-centred teens to gadget-focused business people, mobile phones do much more than let everyone talk to each other. Consumers expect the very latest and want content that uniquely personlize their own phone. This year's categories reflect this, so click on one to find out more.

Creating Xperia panels

In this category we challenge you to create XPERIA™ Panels for the Sony Ericsson X1 phone using new tools from Sony Ericsson Developer World. Nine XPERIA Panels are displayed at once on the X1's touchscreen and they expand to show a group of short-cuts, whole applications, web services or whatever your imagination comes up with. Download the tools using the Windows Mobile Docs & Tools tab below.

Read more about the XPERIA X1>>

https://developer.sonyericsson.com/site/global/newsandevents/latestnews/newsoct08/p_windowsmobile_sdkupdate.jsp?link_general=article-windowsmobilesdkupdate

Win a prize that money can’t buy – enter Sony Ericsson Content Awards 2008

Winning a category in this year’s Sony Ericsson Content Awards ensures that you will meet members of Sony Ericsson’s senior management and potentially change the future path of your company. Submitting your content by November 30, 2008 puts you in the running to win this prize of an exclusive, behind-the-scenes trip to discuss business with Sony Ericsson’s content decision makers.

Exclusively pitch your mobile content to Sony Ericsson’s decision makers

Winning a category in this year’s Sony Ericsson Content Awards ensures that you will meet members of Sony Ericsson’s senior management and potentially change the future path of your company.

These Sony Ericsson senior managers, software strategists and partner managers make the decisions about which content is preloaded and made available for download via the PlayNow™ arena, PlayNow over-the-air and Fun & Downloads distribution channels.

As a category winner, you will meet these decision-makers face-to-face, showcase your winning content, discuss business opportunities and hopefully see your content in Sony Ericsson’s upcoming phone portfolio.

Two way information flow

The information flow goes both ways in this behind-the-scenes glimpse. The Sony Ericsson management team will also share Sony Ericsson’s future vision with the winners – information that is normally only shared with signed-up business partners.

The prize

The Sony Ericsson Content Awards 2008 prize includes:

• Exclusive workshop at Sony Ericsson's development site in Lund, Sweden in March 2009 for two people per winning company featuring:
  • Pre-workshop support and presentation guidance.
  • Day 1: present to managers and Sony Ericsson staff in an exhibition format followed by senior managers presenting Sony Ericsson’s future vision. Discussions continue over dinner.
  • Day 2: join Sony Ericsson’s software strategists and distribution channel managers in a conference format followed by one-on-one business meetings.
• 2008 winner’s symbol which can be used on your web site and in marketing literature.

The Sony Ericsson Developer World team will be there to support you during your visit to Sweden – making this a great opportunity to meet us face-to-face too!

Competition categories – submission open until November 30, 2008

The Sony Ericsson Content Awards 2008 are open to all market-ready applications, games, graphics and services created for Sony Ericsson mobile phones by any third-party development company. The categories are:

• Being Productive
• Going Green
• In-Car applications
• Mobile Entertainment
• Lifestyle Experiences
• Themes & Graphics
• XPERIA™ X1 Panels

• Read more about each category and enter competition by November 30, 2008>> [link to SECA category page] https://developer.sonyericsson.com/site/contentawards/about/p_about_contest_categories.jsp

Live Mesh (tech preview) for Mobile available now.

To those of you who have Live Mesh accounts, you can download the Live Mesh mobile client now from www.mesh.com.

URL for Direct Download is : https://www.mesh.com/install/wm6/LiveMesh.cab

if you don’t have an account, ping me via email and I’ll send you an invite.

New Samsung Omnia w 806mhz CPU and 800x480 WVGA screens

Checkout these specs compared to the older Omnia (right). (sorry for the untranslated Korean)

Looks a little thicker though. wonder if they’ve updated the widget homescreen to make it more usable. With the 806mhz CPU, watching HD video would be very nice now.

Full release: http://www.samsung.co.kr/news/biz_view.jsp?contentid=121901

New Mobility Center on MSDN

It’s time again for a visual refresh for the MSDN Mobility Center. This time round we organized it by development phases instead of “type of content” which was really hard to navigate. With this new look, you can easily find information that you are interested in based on the phase of development you are in.

if you still can’t find what you’re looking for, then do a quick search using the search bar on the top of the site.

Also, we’ve created a Twitter account for the Windows Mobile developer team so that you can connect directly with us. You can sign up by clicking on the link on the top right box called Windows Mobile Buzz.

let us know if this is better and give us some comments. Come look for us on Twitter.

Oh and did I mention that the Windows Mobile Team Blog has a new look too? More pleasing to the eyes IMHO!

The O Fone is REAL!

I’m not kidding!! We made this parody for the MEDC 2007 keynote 1.5 years ago:

And now Motorola just announced the availability of their new phone called the AURA with circular screen! This is just hilarious!

it’s PRICY though at 2k a pop and it doesn’t run Windows Mobile.. oh well.

Full list of Windows Mobile 6.1 Upgrades

My buddy Raleigh Paenitz, whom you’ve might have met at our numerous conferences (he manages the device bar), put together a complete list of Windows Mobile 6.1 upgrades / updates that are available todate. here’s the list:

· AT&T Blackjack II

· AT&T Pantech Duo

· AT&T Motorola Q9h

· AT&T Tilt

· HTC Diamond (Update)

· HTC Touch Cruise

· HTC Touch Dual (Unlocked)

· HTC TyTN II

· Samsung Omnia (Update)

· Sprint Ace

· Sprint Mogul

· Sprint Q9c

· Sprint Touch

· Verizon i760

Hope you find this useful.

Can’t find the Windows Mobile DST Update?

For those of you who are having difficulties looking for the DST Patch from this page : http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/downloads/microsoft/daylight-savings-update.mspx

can download the PC install version here :http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=3BD7C55C-8AC1-4821-81FE-3F4ADA831FE0&displaylang=en

and the cab file for OTA install here : http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=0D6FC192-3142-4473-B435-B514E4B360A5&displaylang=en

Resco releases MobileForms Toolkit 2008

This is really handy for developers. Resco has released a ton of controls for .NET Compact Framework developers to help speed up application development time. PRESS RELEASE.

This toolkit contains the following controls:

• Resco SmartGrid for .NET - powerful grid control with built-in auto edit capabilities
• Resco AdvancedList for .NET - professional list control suitable for small displays of mobile devices
• Resco AdvancedTree for .NET - featured tree control excellent for displaying tree-organized data
• Resco DetailView for .NET - elegant and quick way of creating user input forms
• Resco CompactChart for .NET - charting control supporting 5 chart types
• Resco OutlookShortcutBar for .NET - popular shortcut control, common to all modern applications
• Resco OutlookWeekCalendar for .NET - Day/Week appointment scheduling control
• Resco OutlookMonthCalendar for .NET - Month/Year scheduling control
• Resco OutlookDateTimePicker for .NET - modern version of common control providing advanced styles
• Resco InkBox for .NET - ink control suitable for quick notes or signatures
• Resco ImageBox for .NET CF - versatile image control supporting various graphic formats
• Resco ImageButton for .NET CF - adjustable, modifiable and skinnable button
• Resco Audio for .NET CF - powerful library for playing and recording audio
• Resco Zip for .NET - industry standard compression library

you can checkout screenshots and find out more info here : http://www.resco.net/developer/mobileformstoolkit/overview.aspx

These controls integrate with Visual Studio 2005 & 2008 editions.

Imagination wins National Multimedia Award for Incredible Machine

Working together with Sam Gazitt, we created a project called Incredible Machine for Maker Faire in May this year. Recently, our partner (Imagination) won the National Multimedia Awards 2008 held in Austria for their innovation under the “culture, entertainment and games” category.

This multiuser game puts the focus on Windows Mobile smartphones. Using them as interaction devices, visitors can search and collect pieces of a virtual "incredible machine". The user has to look for markers (2D barcodes) hidden somewhere on the fair venue. Then he has to add the building blocks to his collection, come back to the Microsoft booth and compose them to a virtual machine.

You can find out more about this project and watch a video here : http://www.imagination.at/en/?Projects:Marketing_and_Sales:The_Incredible_Machine

Fantastic work guys!

Common Criteria Certification for Windows Mobile 6.1

Saw this as Jason’s blog :

I got some great news yesterday that Windows Mobile 6.1 has just gained Common Criteria Certification!

If you aren't familiar with Common Criteria then Wikipedia helps :)

The Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation (abbreviated as Common Criteria or CC) is an international standard (ISO/IEC 15408) for computer security.

Common Criteria is based upon a framework in which computer system users can specify their security requirements, vendors can then implement and/or make claims about the security attributes of their products, and testing laboratories can evaluate the products to determine if they actually meet the claims. In other words, Common Criteria provides assurance that the process of specification, implementation and evaluation of a computer security product has been conducted in a rigorous and standard manner

Our team headed up by Jon Wall has been working really hard on this so it's great to see that it has now been announced!

Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 completed evaluation to Common Criteria EAL 2 augmented with Flaw Remediation (ALC_FLR.1) in the AISEP on 7 August 2008.

The Windows Mobile 6.1 evaluation builds on and extends the core security features of the Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 evaluation at EAL 2+.

Further details about the scope of the evaluation can be found HERE

This is very significant. Now Windows Mobile 6.1 can be considered as very secure (rated by the US Government)