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Follow UsBANGALORE, INDIA: As we see a big surge in mobile industry, the growth of mobile operating system is also on a rise. Now mobile phones are no longer used as a device to talk but also for doing many applications.
To offer more features and applications to mobile phones users, Microsoft recently launched Windows Mobile 6.5, a mobile operating system that facilitates standard phone applications such has calling, messaging and online surfing.
In an interaction with Abhigna N G of CIOL, Sumeet Gugnani, director, Windows Mobile India, talked about the new features of Windows new mobile operating system and the kind of opportunity Windows Marketplace for Mobile offers to developer community.
He also talked about how developers can monetize by building applications for Windows mobile and the adoption of Windows 6.5 by Indian developer community. Excerpts:
CIOL: Could you throw light on the latest features, which are available in Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system?
Sumeet Gugnani: Windows Mobile 6.5, the next-generation Windows phones, deliver on several key innovation areas including a new user experience with improved touch, a powerful mobile browser, and a new generation of mobile Web services built into the platform.
Some key features include:
* A new home screen with customizable widgets that display glanceable updates, such as news, weather, traffic and more, from your favorite Web services.
* An improved user interface focused on finger touch and the ability to cut through clutter to accomplish what you want.
* Internet Explorer Mobile, a powerful new browser with an updated user interface that exceeds other mobile browsers in the ability to complete activities.
* My Phone, a free service, which provides Web sync of valuable data from the phone, like pictures, video and texts, to a Web portal for safe keeping and sharing.
* Windows Marketplace for Mobile, a new, rich application marketplace available on first-generation Windows phones which allows people to easily find, install and experience those applications that fit their needs and make the phone truly personal.
The Windows phones will also feature two new services: My Phone, to sync text messages, photos, video, contacts and more to the Web; and Windows Marketplace for Mobile, a new marketplace that will provide direct-to-phone mobile applications and can be accessed from both the phone and the Web.
CIOL: How does your new service, 'My Phone' help user to access, manage and back-up personal and professional information onto the device to a password-protected Web-based service?
SG: With automatic syncing and back-up capabilities for all contacts, appointments, text messages and other information, My Phone keeps all things up-to-date and easily restores them should you lose or upgrade your phone.
You will also be able to automatically upload photos and video from your Windows phone directly to My Phone service, making it simple to preserve content that, in the past, would have lived and died on the phone.
You also have the option of automatic data back-up available within My Phone application. You can enable automatic back-up of your phone content by going to your Windows Mobile 6.5 Menu -> Schedule and then set the frequency and the time of the day you would like the service to back-up your data, say, for example, you chose daily at 4 a.m. Once you chose the frequency and time of the day your phone data will automatically start syncing to the cloud.
CIOL: What kind of opportunity does Windows Marketplace for Mobile offer to developer community? And how does Marketplace address the challenges of distribution and monetization for developers?
SG: Windows Marketplace for Mobile is great news for developers, as it presents a tremendous opportunity for the developer community to generate revenue by enabling them to reach millions of Windows phone users directly.
Developers will be able to offer applications to customers through the marketplace via a simple security and compatibility check from Microsoft.
Since the launch of the first Windows Mobile-powered devices, Microsoft has sold in excess of 50 million worldwide.
In India, Windows Mobile is the fastest growing OS with 11 per cent share in the merged device market space and the popularity and growth for Windows Mobile phones remains strong. Thus Windows Marketplace for Mobile will provide inroads to developers to reach millions of Windows phone users worldwide.
The Marketplace will work as a centralized distribution channel for developers and a one stop shop for users to browse, experience and acquire applications and/or content. All this will help developers’ achieve broad reach with their application offering, and provide the user’s ability to leverage the power of their Windows phone.
Developers will also receive a 70 per cent revenue share of the application, ones chosen by Microsoft.
Further, unlike other platforms, developing applications for Windows phones requires developers to utilize familiar Microsoft tools and technologies like .NET and Visual Studio.
CIOL: How can a developer start developing an application for Windows Mobile? Is there any policy involved in this?
SG: Windows Marketplace for Mobile has opened for developers to submit their applications starting May 1, 2009 for a period of three months. There is an annual registration fee of $99 for developers to participate in Windows Marketplace for Mobile.
Some application types may be blocked from the marketplace, in order to ensure security, privacy policies, and a friendly use of the mobile operator network resources.
Further, there are some things that the developer must keep in mind while developing the application, specifically that the application should not have any pornographic content, the application should not be over 10 MB etc.
CIOL: What are the tools/applications that you recommend for the developer community to build application without having to learn new skills or programming languages?
SG: The best part about Windows Marketplace for Mobile is that the developers will be able to use familiar development tools and technologies to create global market opportunities for themselves.
Most of the developers have been developing on this platform and can leverage their .NET and Visual Studio development experience and connect with millions of Windows Mobile users worldwide. For new developers as well this is a great opportunity as they can use their expertise in Microsoft technologies to develop some cool applications.
CIOL: Are there any changes in the Windows Mobile 6.5 platform for developers?
SG: Microsoft is expanding its development story for the first time since the launch of Windows Mobile 6. We are making it easier and more accessible to write applications.
Up until today developers had basically two options to create applications for Windows Phones - Native Code (primarily in C/C++) and Managed code (using the .net compact framework).
However with Windows Mobile 6.5 we are adding a new option for developers named “Windows Mobile Widgets”, a rich Internet application.
The Widgets are written using all the web technologies (HTML, CSS, AJAX, and JavaScript) and, are powered by our new Internet browser; hence have full access to flash and other ActiveX controls available on the device. Thus allowing the developers to look and feel, to the end user, as a normal standalone application does.
CIOL: Could you brief our developer community on the API's available through Microsoft Windows Mobile namespace?
SG: Microsoft had introduced APIs like Visual Studio and .NET Framework to improve developer productivity. The company provides APIs to create client and Web-based applications, developers can build applications through Visual Studio using Visual Basic or C# and the .NET Compact framework that allows developers to build Windows Mobile applications very quickly.
CIOL: Will Office Mobile for Windows Mobile Standard powered devices support the editing of Word and Excel documents?
SG: Office Mobile suite (Word Mobile, Excel Mobile and PowerPoint Mobile) has been made available to all Windows Mobile devices since the launch of Windows Mobile 6.
This feature on Windows Mobile provides greater operability and an increased level of productivity by helping users manage, review and edit office documents easily on any Windows Mobile 6 and above powered device.
CIOL: How do you see the adoption of Windows 6.5 by Indian developer community?
SG: The best part about Windows Mobile is that the OS remains the same across the PC and phone. So developers will be able to use familiar development tools and technologies to create global market opportunities for themselves.
Windows Mobile 6.5 will allow developers to build innovative mobile applications without having to learn new skills or programming languages, by leveraging familiar desktop and server development tools such as Win32, Active Template Library and Microsoft Foundation Classes (Visual C++), Visual C#, Visual Basic .NET, ASP.NET and asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX).
Most of the developers have been developing on this platform and can leverage their Microsoft expertise and development experience to connect with millions of Windows Mobile users worldwide.
CIOL: How can developers submit their applications to Microsoft for Marketplace for Mobile?
SG: Windows MarketPlace for Mobile opened for registrations on 1st May 2009. All that the developers need to do is log on to and register themselves to submit their applications on the website by paying an annual registration fee of $99. Once they have submitted their application Microsoft will do the vetting and certification of the application.
CIOL: When can we expect Microsoft's Facebook app for the new Windows Mobile 6.5 operating?
SG: Microsoft announced the first official Facebook application for all Windows Mobile 6 phones and newer on Friday, May 8, 2009. the service will be avialbale to the Windows Mobile users as a free download. The Windows Mobile Facebook application is the only version on the market today offering the ability to upload video right from the phone.
People will also be able to access status updates, friend requests and photo tags, as well as read and create wall posts, share photos, send messages and update profile pictures. Facebook users will also be able to share many of their Facebook activities, including photos and status updates, across the full range of Windows Live services.