[NEWS] Windows Mobile 7: Fifteen New Details

[CYBER WEESJE]

We recently got access to some Windows Mobile 7 documentation and provided some early analysis. We've had more time to go through the documentation with a fine-toothed comb, and we have some interesting information to share, plus the screenshot below which shows the general layout of pivoting lists. This is congruent with the leaks of Windows Mobile 7 we saw a long time ago.

We should preface this list by saying that this documentation was highly technical, and some of the following details may make more sense to developers than to end-users. Enjoy =D.

1) SmartSearch is included, which is a system wide search capability. "SmartSearch is a user interface that puts the application into a touch screen-enabled dialing mode and invokes a context-sensitive search based on the Association Engine. Applications can bring SmartSearch to the foreground, selecting which page to display (for example, the Contacts page), and optionally add a contextual data set to the selected page during the Smartsearch session."

2) Camera APIs in Windows Mobile before were very basic. Much like what the iPhone had in version 1. In WM7 it now offers a huge amount of stuff with overlays, video capture, EXIF, etc... So that'll bring developer support to what the iPhone has and maybe even more.

3) The entire OS has been majorly upgraded. This is not Windows Mobile 6 with some interface changes. This is a huge statement in so many ways. Windows Mobile developers have been suck in the late nineties with the APIs available. This finally brings Windows Mobile's core OS up closer to to today.

4) Office Mobile is now upgraded to support SharePoint, better round trip, charts, etc.

5) Multi-touch support is in there.

6) There is no longer a suspend/resume power model. Its always on.

7) Big changes to the SDK. Right now in many ways WM tools are also in the dark ages compared to the iPhone. On the iPhone you can get instruments and CLANG for analyzing my source code - neither of which are even possible on WM today. With this new SDK we get some of that. Very nice.

8) Smart Card support removed.

9) Association Engine. This is really cool. Imagine that you're looking at a contact. Now you can say "Call this contact" in code and it will just do the right thing. Or "View Call history". But here is the cool part - it's completely extensible. So you can create a verb and association and any app can use it. This will allow extremely powerful applications. in fact, its a lot like Apple Script on the Mac, but only within the apps.

10) The menu system is completely redone.

11) Cron jobs. You can now set task scheduling.

12) Pocket Outlook Object Model (POOM) now supports multiple folders - i.e. right now you only can have one Contacts folder. In WM7 you can have many. Same for calendars, tasks. You can also have multiple data stores.

13) POOM now handles Mail and note items. That seems to indicate that Notes are now a data store and not just files.

14) Menus are totally redone. Again.

15) Built-in XML - finally.
source link

Code

http://pocketnow.com/thought/windows-mobile-7-fifteen-new-details

GRTZ CYBER WEESJE
ADMINISTRATOR@Wckediden

[D/\SH]

ok to read this i think i tear just came to my eye, this is great news that wm7 ISNT going to be just a polished version of the nineties wm interface...... these changes that they are suspected to bring or are bringing are amazing. this should be able to boost wm and get them back in the game and back to one of the best selling devices out there. quite honestly this may be the thing that saves me as a customer since they werent showing iniative to make change and make better. (come on wm 5-6.1 wasnt much of a change and in most cases even through 6.5. i hope all this is true and we can see this come for the wm platform, this will not only bring more interest from the users but the sdk change among the other major platform changes is going to bring much more interest in the development of wm apps on top of what microsoft has already done with making an easy way to convert iphone apps to wm apps for the developers and having them build for wm store in the future as well :)

thanks again for the great psot and find weesje.