1. Mobile Development Microsoft Mobile Platforms Rob Miles Department of Computer Science

2. Introduction A bit of history At bit of architecture
Where the Pocket PC came from
Where the Smartphone came from
Pocket PC Phone Edition
At bit of architecture
How the platforms run the programs
Why managed code is wonderful
A bit of construction
The tools you will need

3. Pocket PC Originally called the “wallet PC”
Launched in 1996 with Version 1.0 of Windows CE
Superseded in the following year with Version 2.0
Initially available in keyboard and keyboard-less versions

4. Breakthrough Pocket PC: Compaq Ipaq
This was the first device to deliver on performance, display and battery life
120MHz processor
32MB of RAM
Flash ROM
RS232 and IR ports
240x320 TFT colour display

5. State of the art Pocket PC
Dell Axim V50s
624Mhz Processor
64MB RAM
480x640 colour display
WIFI and Bluetooth
3D Graphics accelerator
Windows Mobile 5 upgradeable
£150 less than the original IPAQ!

6. Smartphone
In 2001 Microsoft announced that it would be launching a range of Smarpthones (codenamed "Stinger")
The Smartphones would be "Windows based"
The version of Windows in question was Windows CE 3.0
Launched in October 2002 with Orange SPV

7. Breakthrough Smartphone: SPV E200
First to deliver on performance and battery life:
32MB user memory
Built in Bluetooth support
Built in camera
Smartphone 2003 Operating System
.NET Compact Framework

8. State of the art Smartphone: SPV C500
Launched in August 2004
64MB of internal memory
Fast internal processor (200 MHz)
Small form factor
Runs Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition
Being replaced by the C550 which adds Media Player 10 for protected content

9. Pocket PC Phone Edition
Combines PDA with phone
Launched in July 2002
206-MHz Intel StrongArm processor
32MB RAM
Based on Pocket PC 2002

10. Breakthrough Device: XDA II
Launched in April 2004
400MHz Processor
128MB RAM
Camera
Bluetooth
Windows Mobile 2003

11. State of the Phone Edition: XDA IIS
Launched in April 2005
Integrated Keyboard
Improved performance

12. What you should be saving up for….
First 3G Windows Mobile Device
Branded as Orange M5000
VGA resolution display (640x480)
WIFI support
Two cameras
Windows Mobile 5.0
Want one

13. Other devices of note Gizmondo Imate JAM
Offers a Windows CE based gaming platform with GPS, GPRS and 3D Acceleration built in
Licensed developers only (sadly)
Imate JAM
Very small Pocket PC phone edition
New form factor for Pocket PC

14. The Future…
The development of the devices over the last few years has been amazing
The systems are going to get more powerful and more connected
Location based behaviour is now very easy to implement in systems

15. Architecture
If you write programs for the mobile devices you should plan to work in the Compact Framework using “managed” code
This makes your programs
Portable
Safe
Easy to write

16. Managed and Native Code
Managed Code User Program
.NET Compact Framework Class Libraries
Native (Unmanaged Code) User Program
.NET Compact Framework Common Language Runtime
Processor and Operating System Services

17. Native (unmanaged) code
Programs are compiled to machine code for the target processor
Created in C++ or Visual Basic and compiled for the specific hardware in the device
Has direct access to the processor instruction set
Scary stuff for uber-geeks

18. Managed Code Programs execute within a managed environment
Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) is Just In Time compiled on the target device
Code is not produced for a specific target hardware
Code is validated before execution
Helps programmers sleep at night

19. Managed Code is Best
You should concentrate on managed code development
it is easier and faster to create
programs are inherently more reliable and easier to debug
However, we need to be aware that there is a performance penalty for working this way
the first time a method is called the run time system must "Just In Time" compile the MSIL code for that method into machine code
this can lead to delays when programs start up and, sometimes during execution when new classes are loaded

20. Inside a Managed Code Program
Because the executable is a .NET program you can use ILDASM and other tools to manipulate it
You could even create MSIL applications for mobile devices if you wish

21. P/Invoke is your friend
If you need to get “down and dirty” from managed code you use Platform Invoke (P/Invoke)
This provides marshalling of data to and from calls to native methods
You will use this to access some parts of the operating system the Compact Framework cannot reach:
Device Data: Battery Life etc
Placing Calls and SMS messages

22. So, Rules To Code By Use Managed Code wherever possible
Good reasons to use Native Code:
You *really* want speed
You *really* want to drive the hardware directly
You are being paid *really* large sums of money to do it
Compromise
If you need native code, put it in a native code library and then talk to it via the Platform Invoke (P/Invoke) mechanism

23. Writing the Code You can use C# if you like (in fact I insist)
You can use Visual Studio
A lot of the forms behaviours map directly across to the mobile platform
You do not need a real device
Unless you want to place phone calls or send/receive SMS messages

24. Visual Studio 2003
Visual Studio 2003 as supplied will develop managed code applications for the Pocket PC
By adding the Smartphone Developer kit to Visual Studio 2003 you can use this to develop Smartphone applications
The Smartphone Developer Kit is a free download, but you need to have Visual Studio to make use of it

25. Visual Studio 2005
This is a significant advance over Visual Studio 2005
The Forms editor now functions with a more complete emulation of the mobile device display
The emulation of the devices is now at processor level rather than an 8086 version of the device
You can pick up Beta 2 for free!

26. Deploying the Program
When the program is executed from within Visual Studio it is copied into a directory on the target device and executed from there
You can deploy the program just as an executable file if you wish, by copying it into a directory on the Smartphone using the ActiveSync
Or you can build an installer

27. Debugging The debug tools are very powerful You can:
Pause an executing program
Add a breakpoint to an executing program without stopping it
These facilities work on the target device too
You must however have used Debug mode to build the application
The Remote Display Power tool can be useful here

28. Finding the Program
The more recent mobile phones are shipped with file browser programs you can use to find and run the executable directly
Pocket PC owners can use the built in file browser

29. Developers Toolkits… To start to develop you need: Visual Studio 2003
Active Sync. 3.7 or better
Smartphone 2003 tools
Visual Studio 2005
Active Sync. 4.0
Powertoys
You should also get the Power Toys

30. Call to Action
The devices out there are getting really powerful and connected
They are about as easy to write for as desktop machines
This is a genuinely new area where the scope for innovation is huge
So get out there and get started!