Mobile Development Microsoft Mobile Platforms Rob Miles Department of Computer Science

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Mobile DevelopmentMicrosoft Mobile
PlatformsRob MilesDepartment of Computer
Science
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Introduction

• A bit of history
• 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

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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• Superseded in the following year with Version 2.0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

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Breakthrough Pocket PCCompaq 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

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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!

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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

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Breakthrough SmartphoneSPV 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

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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

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Pocket PC Phone Edition

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

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Breakthrough Device XDA II

• Launched in April 2004
• 400MHz Processor
• 128MB RAM
• Camera
• Bluetooth
• Windows Mobile 2003

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State of the Phone EditionXDA IIS

• Launched in April 2005
• Integrated Keyboard
• Improved performance

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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

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Other devices of note

• Gizmondo
• 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

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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

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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

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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
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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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!

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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!