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Microsoft Rolls Out Pocket PC 2003
An anonymous reader writes "Monday, June 23 was a big day for Microsoft's mobile devices software strategy. The company: (1) rolled out Pocket PC 2003 (and renamed it); (2) unveiled a new "Windows Mobile" branding strategy; and (3) launched a collaboration with three leading high-speed wireless service providers to provide easier access to more than 3,500 Wi-Fi wireless "hot spots" by Windows-powered PDAs throughout the US. All this (and more) is covered in this "special report" at WindowsForDevices.com (including a detailed list of enhancements in Pocket PC 2003)."
So they still aren't changing the name "Windows", since it has basically lost its trademark? You'd think they would change "Windows" to something else in all their OS products so they could trick..er..show that they actually changed the product (marketing scheme).
again
I see that the Pocket PC will be named Windows Mobile. It seems they want to use another brand, possibly to increase the wide-spread usage of the word 'Windows', but why?
I for one have always thought PocketPC as something that is LESS Microsoft, which is a Good Thing (TM). I would never buy a copy of Windows XP while I could consider buying a PocketPC (but not a Windows Mobile)...
I don't know what to do *Cries in horror*
Does this mean they'll finally start shipping the MSDN freebie?! That would be nice...
"... but you can love completely without complete understanding." - Norman Maclean, "A River Runs Through It"
I imagine that it wasn't a wild coincidence that Microsoft launches this product on the same day that a big part of the computer world is waiting on pins and needles to hear what Apple has to say at the WWDC, which won't begin for another few hours.
The cure for cancer is coming: Reovirus
Is it just me, or do you think cell-phone company when you read "Windows Mobile"?
-Pete
Soccer Goal Plans
theres also a summary here:
t ml
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/68/31369.h
Fry: heh, Yakov Smirnoff said it
Leela: No he didn't.
WiFi might be nice to give you added flexibility, but frankly do I really frantically want to search a hot spot every hour in order to download my 7 mails from which usually 7 are spam? I don't think so.
Granted, it might be nice to pass your time by browsing the web when you wait for a train. But I can do that just fine with a newspaper.
Methinks this is a rather desperate attempt to (finally) get a foot into the mobile, wireless world and Microsofts attempt to lure (GSM-)manufacturers/network providers in can only be described as a spectacular failure up to now.
Also, WiFi is not the GSM killer; a notion which seems popular in the US, but it's just plain wrong. Those are two very, very different technologies with very different objectives..
ich bin der musikant
mit taschenrechner in der hand
kraftwerk
Does anybody know if existing Pocket PC 2002 models will be upgradable to 2003 (Especially the Dell Axim)?
Here's to hoping that Apple truly does announce a 64-bit workstation today -- that will nicely put Microsoft's announcements in perspective. :^)
/me dons asbestos suit...
Slashdot's first reaction to VMware
Monday, June 23 was a big day for Microsoft's mobile devices software strategy.
What do you mean was? It's still before 7am in Redmond, and only approaching 10am on the east coast. Sounds more like marketing.
"Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door." - Emily Dickinson
Damn, Microsoft has hit their "version 3" of pocket devices...this is going to be a sure thing.
1) Windows CE
2) Windows Pocket PC
3) Windows Pcoket PC 2003
Damn you Microsoft! Damn you to hell!!!!!!
John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
(Yeah, it's a troll, but I'll answer anyway.)
Because the dislike for Microsoft largely isn't irrational. I use Windows at work and at home, and generally like the product. I don't mind Microsoft trying to be all things to all people, but I do mind the way it tries to shut everyone else out of the market. There's a fine line between responsible and irresponsible competition and Microsoft straddles that line.
That's one of the reasons I'd like to see Linux succeed: to act as a brake on Microsoft's behavior. (Another is that I think Linux is kinda cool and I like the ethics surrounding its development.)
Do some here have a knee-jerk response to all things Microsoft? Sure, but it's mostly born of experience.
The NEW EXCITING Pocket PC 2003.NET - the best possible portable Bluescreen(tm) technology, now optomised for Intel Xscale for a 20% faster experience.
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
Should you feel a sharp sting on your buttocks and the smell of searing flesh, don't worry, it's just Msft's Branding Strategy - simply continue walking down the chute and back out into the stock yard.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
According to Microsoft's Pocket PC 2003 Reviewer's Guide, the following new features and enhancements are contained in the newly announced 2003 version of the Pocket PC software platform . . .
.NET Compact Framework -- The integrated .NET Compact Framework brings the power of new applications that simplify the overall development and integration of Web services on smart devices, enabling developers and enterprise end users to access a wealth of data from various sources such as back-end servers, intranets and the Internet.
Enhanced Connection Manager user interface (UI) -- A new and more intuitive Connection Manager wizard features enhanced tabs to give users more control over selecting networks and setting dialing preferences.
Zero Configuration connections -- Pocket PC 2003 has added Zero Configuration for Wi-Fi, designed to simplify connection with and authentication to 802.11 wireless networks. Zero Configuration is also supported when adding a dial-up modem or Ethernet network card.
Improved animated connectivity status icons -- When using the cellular phone features of the PPC, new connectivity icons have been merged onto the navigation bar to better illustrate radio signal strength and data flow.
Improved connectivity bubbles -- Connectivity message bubbles are clearer and less cluttered and more easily convey information about connection status, synchronization and signal strength.
Bluetooth partnership wizard -- New wizard pops up at (Settings | Bluetooth | Paired Device Tab | New), which turns on the radio, searches for available devices and asks users to set a PIN to pair with a device. This feature allows users to easily configure Bluetooth bonding.
Always-on Bluetooth discoverability -- The Bluetooth discoverable mode stays turned on after users activate it (until users manually changes the setting) to allow for easy Bluetooth bonding.
Use of Bluetooth modems -- Bluetooth phones may be used as a modem to connect the Pocket PC to the Internet. This feature represents Microsoft's commitment to serving OEMs and mobile operators and to supporting the growing popularity of the Bluetooth wireless connection standard.
Bluetooth beaming -- Users can now beam data such as Contact files using Bluetooth.
Auto-correct -- Common spelling errors are automatically corrected during typing. Auto-correct can easily be overridden. (Not available in East Asia.)
Auto-suggest -- Auto-suggest is extended to the email inbox, allowing users to type email more quickly.
Turn all radios off -- One-touch ability allows users to turn off all wireless radios (802.11x, Bluetooth, cell phone, etc.) to conserve device power when not on a network or allow other features to be used while traveling on an airplane when cell phones must be turned off.
802.1x support -- 802.1x Wi-Fi security is supported natively.
Certificate Management UI -- New control panel applet allows users to manage client and root certificates. This is useful when users have installed a bad certificate and have difficulty logging onto Wi-Fi networks.
IPSec/L2TP -- Windows CE provides the support for IPSec L2TP (the Microsoft VPN standard for connectivity).
Support for Multiple VPNs -- The new Connection Manager also supports multiple VPNs.
IPv6 support -- PPC now supports IPv6/v4 mixed environments.
New Today screen -- Today screen automatically shows users the next day's appointments immediately after the last current day appointment expires to better manage early morning meetings.
Smart Lookup in Contacts -- Pocket PC 2003 incorporates Smart Lookup, a feature that enables users to input the first few letters of the contact they want to open.
Windows CE 4.2 operating system -- With the new and improved operating system, Windows CE 4.2, users will experience improved performance and stability of applications built for Pocket PC 2003 devices.
Enhanced developer support
We've just begun a project developing an app for .NET Compact Framework, and I have to say, I'm impressed. RAD for a wide range of CE & Pocket PC devices using C# and VB.NET is quite inticing. The framework is fairly light, considering, but is similar enough to the full framework that it's esentially identical to programming for a full PC. Debuging is cool too: you can debug on an emulated or real-live device.
/.'s alternatives for rapidly developing mobile business apps?
That said: what are
After all, you're buying from a convicted criminal...
Galileo: "The Earth revolves around the Sun!"
Score: -1 100% Flamebait
Name changing is basicaly a way to try and get people to forget how much your product sucks. two name changes is realy bad.
Take Pascal for example, a teaching language, that has some major suck factor for real world programing. But a bunch of tech school clubies started using it for real world apps.
Most real developers know it sucks, so they renamed it to Delphi, just to confuse people into using it.
This was posted in a previous article, it is from a "contact" from within Dell. Whatever that means, but it seems legit.
Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.
Yes, Pocket PC 2003 is real. I do not have a firm date when Dell will begin shipping Pocket PC 2003, or when upgrades will be available, or who will be eligible for free upgrades.
One warning. I have been told that many applications that work in Pocket PC 2002 do not work in Pocket PC 2003. It appears that Pocket PC 2003 is a major Operating System upgrade and that some applications will have to be recompiled for it.
I am at the moment testing a few applications on Pocket PC 2003, and so far I have only found one application, the game Argentum that will not run. I do not have a list of applications that will work with Pocket PC 2003, but I will try to keep you posted about any applications that I have trouble with.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur
I myself like that Microsoft renamed this version. With the name "Pocket PC" many people have abbreviated that even further to just PPC. When searching for software ventors, it's jsut a bit frustrating to be looking for Pocket PC software and keep getting Power PC related links. Both use PPC as their Acronym.
Now all I have to worry about is a bout of retardism making me type MSM, to get SMS...:-p
But anything MS does to improve their products is should be viewed as a welcome change.
... how slashdot uses an old Palm Pilot icon for Microsoft PocketPC announcements.
</pedantic>
"[T]he single essential element on which all discoveries will be dependent is human freedom." -- Barry Goldwater
So when does the PocketPool module come out?
Arm your Digimon against the Microsoft Menace!
T.
This space for rent.
3,500 Wi-Fi wireless "hot spots"
Make that 3,501 if you are standing within 20 feet of my basement window.
(+1 Funny) only if I laugh out loud.
J2ME.
That's only of course if you want to write apps that will work on an order of magnititude more devices...
Including the PocketPC, and many many cellphones.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Actually it is not PocketPC 2003 (GET IT RIGHT ALREADY, hehe) it is "Windows Mobile 2003 software for Pocket PCs". Oh, and CE.NET is already released, it has been released for a while now. CE.NET 4.2 was actually released in April by memory. In fact 4.0 and 4.1 were released in fairly quick successions last year (I figure due to major bugfixes/distribution cock-ups???)
.NET Compact framework. The .NET cf is entirely different to CE.NET which is just an alias for the 4.x OS version. It unfortunately did not undergo the last minute name withdrawal like Windows Server 2003 (ie. Windows Server .NET). That version is rumoured to be released in a couple of years. I would imagine it's a complete rewrite.
.NET fiasco. That is not to rename their products and cause dramatic confusion in the industry. Many people are increasingly seeing Microsoft as inconsistent and totally lacking in any direction. Confidence is dwindling.
... M$ vs SYMBIAN/NOKIA/PALM/WORLD.
Windows Mobile (aka PocketPC 2003) is based on CE.NET 4.2 to be precise.
The version I think you are talking about is the one slated to be based on the
I'm a little worried about all this name changing, it sounds like a complete mess. Hasn't Microsoft already learnt from the
I gather this name change is to align themselves for the next onslaught in
Geez, so it comes with wheels, now? It that what they mean by "mobile"?
Healthcare article at Kuro5hin
Apple is commonly referred to as "R&D south" by the Redmond campus. This term is quite apt of how most big players look at apple.
essentialy apple is probably the greatest trend setter in consumer computers. The big boys don't use thier resources to explore new design concepts and tech use. Instead they watch apple roll out new products, and see whether or not they are succesfull and viable (iPOD + Itunes Music Store, iMac) or just a bad idea (cube).
Apple hsn't got market share, they've got style share, or should i say... they are trendy. If something works within the apple community, it is almost garenteed to work in the windows community. Thus Companies who watch apples endeavors closely, can get a good idea on what markets to tackle, and what to leave alone.
There are reasons why apple's brand and OS/hardware have a much higher user satisfaction, it's because they spend almost as much money (and more in some cases) on product development than the much larger players (MS, IBM, DELL, HP, etc...). They also can afford to do so... it's their identity, and what keeps them alive. Since apple has it's own market, it doesn't have to worry about it's dollars spent on reasearch vs dollars spent on market growth in comparison to other players in the same space.
That is, dell must keep a tight budget on it's spedning, because they've got to save money to fight off sony, toshiba, HP, and others in distribution and identity. Whereas apple's identity is secure and has no DIRECT competitors in it's market (albeit a much smaller market, though apple ships nearly as many machines as the big boys do individualy) so apple's main goal is to preserve their identity of being something appealing, different and very well made. Part of being very well made and different AND APPEALING is TONS of R&D.
I hear rumors that panther (OS X 10.3) will have native ActiveDirectory support along with a 970 at 2ghz (which should be on par with a P4 at 3.5ghz or so), Coupled with a 1ghz FSB along with a crapload of hardware goodies.... it looks like apple may be making a play for being more than trendy... but a horse-powered consumer product as well. If the next rumor is true... the implications are huge.
Panther supposedly has a fully featured multi-user environment built for wireless displays. As in you can have 6 people with all of their own wireless displays connected to the same computer in their house. Each one has a full user environment complete with aqua and everything. Eliminating the need for multiple machines, and providing one point of data storage and access. The implications are quite similar to what was expected to be thin client computing of our day (everyone has a dumb terminal that runs from a server somewhere)
but we shall see what happens. I personaly love the ideas of all these things, and think they would be great if implemented by apple (since apple does a stellar job on their projects)... but also find apple's releasal of products to be inconsistent, and often rumors are just that. Rumors.
--Idiots, Every single one of YOU, A flaming mass of conglomerated morons, hey wait a second, isnt that how RAID works?
Screenshots: http://pdajunkie.net/index.html?pdajunkie_net_ppc2 003.htm&2
Benchmarks:
http://www.pdabuyersguide.com/ipaq_2215.htm
133 comments so far and not a single one says anything other than "M$ sux", well, gee, I (and everyone else who reads /.) knew that already, what's your point?
On the very limited possibility that someone is reading this thread for information, I just talked to Toshiba and they say that you get 2003 for free if you purchased an e75x after May 1, everyone else (including e740 owners) needs to pay $50 by calling 1-888-874-8247. I, for one, am going to get it just for the improvements in IE.
And it starts:
% 3Ben-us%3B820161
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb
http://slashdot.org/~tf23/journal
First, a lot of serious programmers dispute your estimate of Pascal's suck factor. Intel certainly didn't think so when they designed the 80x86 stack frame to efficiently support Pascal nested procedures. The Pascal-versus-C debate continues to this day, though I think in all practical terms C has won the argument.
I used to believe in the "teaching language run amuck" theory of Pascal's origins too. But that was before I started using Object Pascal in the real world, and found that it had many of the virtues of Java. The biggest of these is simplicity -- it's a lot easier to read OP code than the equivalent C++ code. And this simplicity also makes Object Pascal better suited for IDE work than C++. Since Object Pascal can be compiled in a single pass, it's a lot easier for the IDE to keep track of your changes.
Second, there's the name change: your understanding of the time frame is mistaken. It's a pretty common mistake: I heard it when Borland hired me in late 1999. But in fact the official name of the language was still "Object Pascal" when I was hired. Perhaps the documentation confused this issue by being sloppy about what features were in the IDE, which were in the object framework, and which were in the language itself -- too easy to just say "Delphi" and be done with it.
The official change actually came only last year, while I was still working there. Basically, they just wanted to more closely identify Kylix with its Windows sister product Delphi. Never understood why they didn't just call Kylix "Delphi for Linux".