Microsoft made a big statement with the launch of Windows Mobile 5.0 this spring. Rather than simply better than the last version, Microsoft released a significant upgrade of its mobile OS, adding innovative new features, like GPS sharing between applications, and powerful multimedia capabilities including DirectX and robust support for digital imaging. In this issue, we'll take a close look at a few applications that take advantage of these new features.
Pocket Informant: Special Edition
One of the top third party applications to enhance the PIM (Personal Information Management) features in Outlook Mobile is Pocket Informant by Web Information Solutions, Inc. (http://ssl.webis.net). When I spoke with Alex Kac, President and Founder of Web Information Solutions, he informed me that many of the improvements to Pocket Informant would be to backend APIs, which affect the way information is managed on the device. According to Alex, Pocket Informant is receiving an overhaul that will include across the board support for reading and writing PIM data via Windows Mobile 5.0, support for the newer and more reliable task alarms, and enhancements in database and device management to improve the speed and reliability of the application. [APIs, or application programming interfaces, are sets of standard programming tools used to build applications. Good APIs make it easer to develop programs by providing the necessary building blocks. Microsoft provided a number of new or updated APIs with the release of Windows Mobile 5.0.]
But one of the most interesting front end features new to Windows Mobile 5.0 is the support for contact pictures. In previous versions of Pocket Informant, users could assign a picture to a contact, but this photo did not display in Pocket Contacts and it was not synchronized with Outlook 2003 running on a desktop PC. With Windows Mobile 5.0, a contact picture integrates with all three applications. In other words, you can assign a photo to a contact in Pocket Informant (Fig. 1) and it will appear in Pocket Contacts (Fig. 2), or vice versa. In addition, these contact images are synchronized between the Windows Mobile 5.0 device and Outlook 2003 on the PC.
Fig. 1: In WM 5.0, photos attached to contacts in Pocket Informant appear in Pocket Contacts, and vice versa.
The Web Information Solutions team is also working on integrating the new custom data field capability of Windows Mobile 5.0 into Pocket Informant. This would allow users to add new contact data fields in Pocket Informant so, for example, a physician could add a separate field for the each contacts blood type, body weight, etc. Unfortunately, data in these custom fields is not synchronized with the desktop PC version of Outlook, or with Pocket Contacts, but will be available when viewing the contact information in Pocket Informant.
Photoblogs and podcasts from your Pocket PC
Without a doubt, Photoblogging (posting still photos to a Web page) and Podcasting (streaming audio and video) are becoming very popular methods of sharing information via the Internet. Digital images and full-motion video not only provide more information through visual media, but also make it much easier to keep a Web site fresh, since snapping a picture or recording a video is often much easier than writing a story. Two new applications for Windows Mobile 5.0 will enable Pocket PC owners to Photoblog and Podcast with ease.
Printer-friendly version
