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Pocket PC 2002 handhelds, equipped with fast RISC microprocessors, are capable of running applications that would be too demanding for most Windows CE devices. A major impetus for Pocket PC 2002's new high-performance hardware specification is Microsoft's plan to extend the reach of its Net technology into the mobile device market.
At its Professional Developers Conference in October, Microsoft distributed a prerelease of the .Net development environment for mobile devices. Dubbed Smart Device Extensions, the new tools extend Visual Studio .Net to support the development of C# and Visual Basic applications for handheld PCs and mobile phones. With these extensions, developers can easily create mobile applications that tap into remote databases, communicate with Web services, and otherwise make business information accessible in places where PCs can't go.
The Smart Device Extensions must be installed on a Windows 2000 or Windows XP workstation already running Release Candidate 1 or later of Visual Studio .Net. The package includes IDE (integrated development environment) enhancements, preliminary online documentation, code samples, device emulators, and deployment tools.
A key component of the Smart Device...