The new operating system brings with it a whole slew of new API?s and interfaces that make application development simpler and more powerful. However, the best news of all is the arrival of an integrated development platform providing all the tools necessary to target this new release ? Visual Studio 2005. Although Visual Studio 2005 is currently in Beta you can use it to develop Windows Mobile 5.0 applications and even take them to market. This article will explore:
- Getting started with Windows Mobile 5.0 development
- What Windows Mobile 5.0 brings in terms of new Productivity APIs
- What Windows Mobile 5.0 brings in terms of new Multimedia APIs
Windows Mobile 5.0 also introduces new managed libraries that work with .NET Compact Framework programs in addition to the expected Win32 API sets. Developers using C# or VB.NET can use these libraries from applications based on either version 1.0 or version 2.0 of the Compact Framework. This article will describe these new libraries but will not cover libraries that are part of the Compact Framework itself. By the end of the article, you should have a basic understanding of the new features available for your use in developing the next killer mobile application. As Visual Studio 2005 is still a Beta product at this time, information provided in this article is subject to change. However, Windows Mobile 5.0 is a released product and information is accurate at the time of writing.
Getting Started with Windows Mobile 5.0 Development
Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2 ships with the Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition SDKs pre-installed. Thus, you can immediately develop for that platform out-of-the-box. In order to add Windows Mobile 5.0 support to Visual Studio 2005, you will need to add the necessary Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC or Smartphone SDKs to your installation list. The installation steps below, downloads, additional tools and additional information can be found in the following MSDN article. Install the Tools You Need to Get Started Today
As a minimum, the following will provide you with a development environment that can be used to write programs for Windows Mobile 5.0 devices.
- Start with a default installation of Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2.
- It is highly recommended to then install the DMA Transport Update.
This update changes the default communications method between the device emulators and Visual Studio from TCP/IP to DMA (Direct Memory Access) with a marked improvement in performance since the TCP/IP network protocol stack is eliminated and data is transferred directly via DMA.
- Install ActiveSync 4.0 which is required for connections to Windows Mobile 5.0 devices. Note that the development environment needs ActiveSync to support application deployment and debugging.
- Finally install either or both the Windows Mobile 5.0 SDKs. There is one for Pocket PC development and another targeting the Smartphone platform.
Each SDK provides headers, libraries, samples and most importantly emulators for testing your applications. These high-fidelity emulators allow developers to test most functionality and are vital in the absence of new Windows Mobile 5.0 devices coming to market soon. Once the above actions are completed new device targets will appear in the New Project Dialog for the language you have selected. Note the entries labelled Pocket PC Magneto and Smartphone Magneto. Magneto was the codename for Windows Mobile 5.0 during development and these entries will be changed to reflect the release version of the name in due course. Now that we have the development environment ready, let?s have a look at what Windows Mobile 5.0 brings to mobile developers. As mentioned in the introduction section of this article, Windows Mobile 5.0 is really about three things ? Increased Productivity, Great Multimedia and Differentiation. Differentiation is primarily the domain of device manufacturers and cellular operators. We will thus look at the APIs that application developers have access to in the areas of Productivity and Multimedia.