Programming Windows Phone 7

Hello guys,

it should be quite interesting for all Windows Phone7 developers. The second draft preview of Charles Petzold’s upcoming Programming Windows Phone 7 ebook including several code examples is available to download :)

The final version of this ebook will be available in october and will be free!

Have fun!

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New MSDN technical article available

Hello guys,

a new MSDN article about Windows Mobile has arrived!!!       Take a short look into the intro of them and check it out!

xHopper Test Tool QuickStart Guide

xHopper is a software test tool that simulates input stress on Windows Mobile devices and triggers actions that execute applications at a random time or at fixed time cycles.

The xHopper tool, like Hopper, can help you identify application defects earlier in the development cycle, making them easier to fix and creating a more stable base on which to build the rest of your application. xHopper provides new functionality that is not available in Hopper and is intended to be used in conjunction with Hopper, not as a replacement for it.

Are you interested in? Just follow this link to get the entire article.

Have fun!

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Switching target OS from project to project

Ho ho ho and joyous Season Greetings,

from time to time I come across the situation to help out in projects with different Operating Systems. And guess what... sometimes one of the Operating Systems is a Microsoft Windows CE / Windows Mobile / MS Auto etc. Now assume that first such a switch of the target OS from one project to the other is happening and that second it is most likely that both Operating Systems are mainly developed in C/C++.

So we have compilers, linkers and other parts of the tool chain including make tool, etc. Thus we all (including you) run into issues that the environment variables of the development host have most likely the same naming even if we switch the compilers, linkers, etc.

You probably just came across such a situation if e.g. the Visual Studio Platform Builder Plugin for Windows CE 6.0 Rx behaves like that:

Starting Build: blddemo -q

Some output in Build Output window during sysgen phase but less than expected... There were build errors and build.log just says

Starting sysgen phase for project ( common )
Found localized resources for Languages ( 0404 0407 0409 040C 0410 0411 0412 0413 0416 0419 041D 0804 0C0A)

Microsoft (R) Program Maintenance Utility Version CE-6.00.1893.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

NMAKE : fatal error U1065: invalid option '-'
Windows CE Version (Release) (Built on Jun 30 2006 16:52:46)
Stop.

So what can possibly go wrong at that early build phase? If this is correlated to the same reason I am thinking of then this will happen in all your BSP building solutions yet.

The failure results from an nmake sysgen invoked in C:\WINCE600\PUBLIC\COMMON\CESYSGEN. Having a short look into the makefile reveals that from included cesysgen.mak the rules preproc and postproc described in makefile should be executed.

But where's this !"§$ option of that nmake error message above coming from? You never set that option?

On build console (build window) do a set MAKE. Probably you get something like:

MAKEFLAGS=-Id:/??????/target/????/usr/include

This could have been set up by other build environments and is normally or most likely not used in a Windows CE / Windows Mobile environment. If you clearly identify this to belong to some other target operating system than Windows CE / Windows Mobile and it is not used right now then remove this environment variable and run your build command again.

set MAKEFLAGS=
blddemo -q

This is most likely doing the trick...

To wish you the special gifts of this holiday season - Peace, Joy, Lasting Happiness and a working tool chain to build your favorite OS.

-- Oliver
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EB delivers Satellite-Terrestrial Smartphones

If you have been following our blog you may have read the different posts around Terrestar's project for a Sattelite-Terrestrial Service. The last news around this was during the middle of this year when Terrestar successfully deployed a satellite allowing the first calls to be made (read and watch here).

As of next year "EB will be responsible for delivering complete products to TerreStar based on the EB-designed satellite-terrestrial reference device" running Windows Mobile® 6.5.

Read the full news here and here.

So long and thanks for all the fish!
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Microsoft Wettbewerb: Top-Anwendungen für den „Windows Marketplace for Mobile“

Hallo zusamman,

endlich wieder mal ein Post auf Deutsch!

Im Rahmen des „Windows Marketplace for Mobile“ verlost Microsoft Deutschland im Wettbewerb „Marketplace – fertig – los“ 13 Geldpreise im Gesamtwert von 20.000 € sowie 20 Windows Mobile 6.5 Smartphones!

Teilnehmen können alle Entwickler, die sich erfolgreich im Windows Marketplace for Mobile angemeldet haben und mindestens eine DEUTSCHSPRACHIGE Anwendung oder Wiget dort eingestellt haben. Die Gewinner werden von einer unabhängigen Jury gekührt.

Neugierig geworden? Dann nichts wie anmelden!

Viel Glück!
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Windows Embedded CE and Windows Mobile Live Chat

Hello guys,

there is a new chance to talk with Microsoft guys about Windows Embedded CE and Windows Mobile.
Title: Windows Embedded CE and Windows Mobile Live Chat
Date: Sep 29th, 2009 19:00 - 20:00 Central Europe Time

What you have to do is, to follow this link and join the live chat! :)

Have fun!

PS: Unfortunately the CE girls and guys still seem to be too busy to put the last chat transcripts online - I wonder if it has something to do with ESC Boston ;-)

Transcripts can be found: here
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Microsoft Technical Chat on August 25, 2009

Hi guys,

just a quick reminder: the next MS technical chat on Windows Embedded CE and Windows Mobile takes place on August 25th, 2009 at 9:00 - 10:00 A.M. Pacific time

To join this chat, please log on via the main MSDN chat page at:
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/chats/default.mspx

So don't forget to put the date in your schedule and join the live chat.

And in case you miss the chat – don't worry – we will be putting the chat transcript online straight after the chat.

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Webcast announcement about using Gestures in Windows Mobile 6.5

Hello guys,

in one of my previous posts, I wrote about the documentation about using gesture APIs in Windows Mobile 6.5.

If you need more information about gestures APIs, then just attend the upcomming Microsoft webcast at on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada).
with Alex Yakhnin. In this webcast Alex Yakhnin introduce you to the new gesture APIs and show how to use them.

Are you interessted?
Here are the dates again and the link for the registration:
Title: Developing for Windows Mobile 6.5 Devices: Using the Gesture APIs (Part 1 of 2) (Level 400)
Date: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
To register for this webcast, click on this link.

Join it!
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Windows satellite phones successfully tested

Hi folks,

nearly a year ago I posted some news around TerreStars plans to launch the slimmest satellite phone, based on windows mobile and designed by EB.

Now the next step has been taken to assure the service can go online at the end of the year:
On July 1st, TerreStar's TS-1 satellite, was successfully deployed into orbit by an Ariane 5 rocket allowing the first phone call to be made between two of the company's smartphones.

As EB puts it in their press release:
"The satellite-terrestrial smartphone reference design represents the world's first quad-band GSM and tri-band WCDMA/HSPA device running the Microsoft® Windows(TM) Mobile 6.5 operating system, and offering integrated satellite-terrestrial voice and data capabilities"

You can also read more about this on WindowsForDevices.com.
As the YouTube link is broken there and for those interested here's a video showing the launch of the Ariane 5 rocket on July 1st.

Source: juancarlosbascu

So long and thanks for all the fish!
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FREE Microsoft Technical Chat on Windows CE and Mobile on July 28th 2009

Hi Folks,

It has been some time now since the last Microsoft Technical Chat on Windows Embedded CE and Windows Mobile took place. So, if you have missed it, don’t worry the next one is coming up:

MS is hosting a live chat on July 28th regarding Windows Embedded CE and Windows Mobile.

Title: Windows Embedded CE and Windows Mobile Live Chat!
Date: Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 9:00 - 10:00 A.M. Pacific time (additional time zones)

Description:
Do you have tough technical questions regarding Windows Embedded CE or Windows Mobile for which you're seeking answers? Do you want to tap into the deep knowledge of the talented Microsoft Embedded Devices Group members? If so, please join us for a live chat and bring on the questions! Windows Embedded CE is the operating system that is powering the next generation of 32-bit, small-footprint and mobile devices. This chat will cover the tools and technologies used to develop devices using the CE operating system.

To join this chat, please log on via the main MSDN chat page at:
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/chats/default.mspx

There is also an archive of previous chats available at:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/chats/aa497439.aspx

Unfortunately the archive hasn't been updated lately and we are currently following up with Microsoft on this issue.

Have fun!
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Windows Mobile Blog has moved ...

Hello guys,

the Windows Mobile Blog has moved and officially joined the Windows Blog.
From now check out the latest Windows Mobile news here!

Have fun!
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Using Gestures in Windows Mobile 6.5

Hello guys,

there is a new MSDN article about gestures for Windows Mobile 6.5.

"Touch gestures describe gestures in which you use a finger or stylus to make a short, directional movement over a control or object on the screen. Most gestures are a single stroke. Therefore, they correspond to one finger–down (WM_LBUTTONDOWN) and finger–up (WM_LBUTTONUP) event pair. The exception is double tap, in which there are two finger–down and finger–up event pairs in short succession. Gestures are recognized based on finger–down and finger–up events, plus the direction, position, and velocity calculated by the gesture recognizer."

Windows Mobile 6.5 supports five kinds of gestures:

• Tap


• Double Tap


• Hold


• Flick


• Pan

Are you interessted in? Then check out this new document at MSDN.
Have fun!

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Windows Embedded CE and Windows Mobile Live Chat

Hello guys,

there is a new chance to talk with Microsoft guys about Windows Embedded CE and Windows Mobile.
Title: Windows Embedded CE and Windows Mobile Live Chat
Date: Jun 30th, 2009 9:00 - 10:00 A.M. Pacific time
What you have to do is, to follow this link and join the live chat! :)

Havre fun!
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Widgets for Windows Mobile 6.5

Hello guys,

check out the new document about widget developement for Windows Mobile 6.5.
It will give you a very good overview, code samples and best practices with the widget developement for WM6.5. It's available here.

Have fun!
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Windows Mobile 6.5 Developer Tool Kit is ready for download

Hi guys,

the Windows Mobile 6.5 Developer Tool Kit adds documentation, sample code, header and library files, emulator images and tools to Visual Studio that let you build applications for Windows Mobile 6.5.
Using of the Windows Mobile 6.5 Developer Tool Kit requires installation of the Windows Mobile 6 SDK. You can download the kit here.

A very good introduction to usage the Windows Mobile 6.5 Developer Tool Kit wrote Jorge Peraza at the Windows Mobile blog. Check this post and get started!

Have fun!
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Ramp me Up

Hi folks,

just wanted to point any Windows Mobile application developers to a new free online training program to help you get productive with Windows Mobile in short time: Windows Mobile RampUp

The Windows Mobile Track currently consists of 7 Modules starting with an introduction to Mobile Developement and Device Emulators. You can learn how to create your own User Interface Controls using Mobile Windows Forms and find out how to deal with data on Windows Mobile Devices using SQL Server CE. And, if your concerned about Security and Development, you will also find a Module covering security and deployment considerations.

So long and thanks for all the fish!
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FREE Microsoft Technical Chat on Windows CE and Mobile on May 26th 2009

Hi Folks,

It has been some time now since the last Microsoft Technical Chat on Windows Embedded CE and Windows Mobile took place. So, if you have missed it, don’t worry the next one is coming up:

MS is hosting a live chat on May 26th regarding Windows Embedded CE and Windows Mobile.

Title: Windows Embedded CE and Windows Mobile Live Chat!
Date: Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 9:00 - 10:00 A.M. Pacific time (additional time zones)

Description:
Do you have tough technical questions regarding Windows Embedded CE or Windows Mobile for which you're seeking answers? Do you want to tap into the deep knowledge of the talented Microsoft Embedded Devices Group members? If so, please join us for a live chat and bring on the questions! Windows Embedded CE is the operating system that is powering the next generation of 32-bit, small-footprint and mobile devices. This chat will cover the tools and technologies used to develop devices using the CE operating system.

To join this chat, please log on via the main MSDN chat page at:
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/chats/default.mspx

There is also an archive of previous chats available at:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/chats/aa497439.aspx

Have fun!
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Living in the box ....

or developing applications with only 32MB virtual memory on Windows CE systems (before WinCE 6.0).
There are several sources about Windows CE Memory Management, my favorites are:
- Advanced Memory Management by Douglas Boling
- Virtual Memory Layout: Windows CE 5.0 vs. Windows Embedded CE 6.0 on MSDN
- What is virtual memory? by Sue Loh

okay,
but how to detect, if your app is running out of "in proc" 32MB virtual memory?
Very usefull is a tool provided with the Platform Builder on the Windows CE Shell called "mi" (memory information).
You can input mi [kernel | full] to display memory information. The full parameter displays a set of tables showing the virtual memory usage for all the processes in the system.
You will receive a detailed info about virtual memory usage in the following form:

Memory usage for Process 819b5de8: 'device.exe' pid 3
Slot base 08000000 Section ptr 83fca000
08000000(1): -----r----------
08010000(0): -CCCCCCCCCCCc
08020000(0): ------------S--S
08030000(0): WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
08040000(0): WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
08050000(0): WWWWWW---------
08060000(0): ---------------S
08070000(0): ---------------S
08080000(0): ---------------S
08090000(0): ---------------S
In the memory information "--" represents the memory space is reserved but not in use. Which indicates that a virtual page is currently allocated but not mapped to any physical memory. "C" represents code pages in ROM, "S" indicates a virtual page that holds a stack, "W" indicates a virtual page that holds read-write data and "R" represents r/o data pages in ROM.
Detailed info about the "mi full" output is provided in the Platform Builde help.

The investigation of the commandline output may be hard, but you can get these information also as an image, which is easier to interpret as the commandline output.
Just take a look at the "VirtualMemory.exe" from CodeProject.

Red means, that memory block is completely empty. Blue means that the memory space has been reserved. Green means the memory space has been committed. A mixture of colors means some combination of all three.
This app allows you a very quick and detailed analysis of the usage of the virtual memory on your Windows CE system.

Then avoid memory leaks and have fun!
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Windows Marketplace for Mobile

Hi folks,

Microsoft has just started their Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Thereby Microsoft enables Windows Mobile application developers to easily manage and distribute their applications. If you want to post your application you need a valid tax number and a Windows-Live ID. Furthermore you need to pay $99 US for up to 5 applications and an additional $99 US for each additional application and acknowledge the “Application Provider Agreement”. Now you can distribute your application. In return you get 70% of the profit from your applications.

The Marketplace itself will be launched in the second half of 2009 as a competitor to similar offers form Apple and Google.

Further information can be found at the Marketplace’s FAQ page.

Have fun!
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Check out the new documents about ...

Windows Mobile application mobile development at MSDN.

The first one is very useful particularly for newbies to make first steps with Windows Mobile Application Development and to get an overview of the Windows Mobile platform, tools and SDKs:
Getting Started with Building Windows Mobile Solutions with Visual Studio and Windows Mobile 6 SDK.

The second one shows you how to use the alpha blending and gradient drawing APIs to create a compelling and attractive user experience on Windows Mobile platforms:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd630622.aspx

Have fun!
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