Mark Arteaga

This Sunday, the Red Bull Cheever team will use wireless technology at the Indianapolis 500.  Currently cars use RF technology to send car data back to the pit crews so pit crews can tweak the cars when cars come in for a pit stop.  They get data such as tire pressure, drag, engine status etc.  The main problem was they could only get a limited amount of data sent back to the car and there where dead spots throughout the track.  Now they are moving to an IP based system with Cisco routers placed through out the track and pit lanes.  They have no more dead spots and send 30times the amount of data as they did with RF technology.  They are even using VOIP so the driver and pit crew can talk and even have live video feeds so pit crews can see the driver and different parts of the car.

Pretty cool if you ask me!  Wouldn't be suprised if other teams start using this 802.11 since they can get a much wider range of car data.  Wonder if any F1 teams use this or what technology they do use?  Wouldn't it be nice if the fans could have access to the video feeds or even stats like how fast the car is going in realtime.  Imagine a bunch of race fanatics walking around with a Window Mobile device and checking realtime stats of the car as it's racing.  I have always thought of this type of access when at a hockey game...being able to access the live replay feeds or realtime access to stats or other games.  Would be cool to work on a project like that!

A new version of the bluetooth library was released at OpenNETCF.org.  Check out Peter Foot's post which includes a class diagram.  To download the library goto the product page at OpenNETCF.org

This year it looks like Microsoft will be participating in six sessions and also have a booth at the Javaone Developers Conference.  I think it's a great idea to finally have the two companies work together on interoperability of both .NET and Java.  Even though i have worked with both I still prefer .NET over Java and don't plan on going back to java anytime soon other than keeping up with J2ME happenings.

In The Hand (run by Peter Foot) has released a new community preview product called WindowsMobile In The Hand.  It's a set of APIs to match Windows Mobile 5 APIs but can be used on previous Windows Mobile versions.  Check out the online documentation and download the preview here. 

Looks like palmOne has come out with a new device called the LifeDrive...strange name if you ask me.  Maybe it's there last shot at “life” in the market :)  The device contains a 4GB Hitachi harddrive with WiFi and BlueTooth built in.  They are trying to market it as a digital media device to contain all content such as Photos, mp3 etc but still keep it's roots as a digital organizer.  It still has the ability to open MS Office documents and connect to Exchange servers.  With Windows Mobile 5, iPod, and PSP it's going to be a challenge for the LifeDrive to reclaim some of the market share, and personally I don't think it will reclaim any. The only thing it might do is give Palm III or Palm V user a reason to upgrade their palm (which doesn't gain market share), but at $499US they might as well look at the other options.

I finally launched the corporate website for Neoteric Software.  The company's main focus will be Mobility Solutions using Microsoft technologies.  Second focus will be a few developer and consumer oriented products targeting the Windows Mobile platform.  I will hopefully have those released end of August.  If you browse the site email me what you like and don't like.

The SmartDevice Framework 1.3 from OpenNETCF.org was released on Thursday at MEDC 2005.  There are some great new additions to the SDF.  Biggest one I think is the Application Blocks for Compact Framework.   Check out Neil Cowburn's entry on the whole story behind the Blocks and OpenNETCF  Also check out the new integration of the SDF within VS.NET.  There is also a new mailing list available to communicate with the SDF team and users. Just type 'subscribe' in the subject and send mail to sdf-dev@netcf.tv to subscribe.  Go download and enjoy and give feedback!!

I'm back from MEDC in Vegas and it was an awesome show!!  Saw the keynote which was alright since I already knew about many of the items being announced. It was great to meet all the other MVPs and Microsoft folks and now I'm able to put a face to all the names.  Saw a few sessions (sorry I missed yours Alex F. on COM interop).  There are some cool things coming with Windows Mobile 5 and VS.NET.  Here is a list from Jon Box showing some of the WM5 features.  There are some exciting things happening with WM5 and vs.net and hopefully post more on this later.

Looks like VOIP is being regulated in Canada but only when it's used for a local telephone service.  The CRTC (equivalent to FCC in the US) is regulating the VOIP services the same way they are requlating regular PSTN services.  This will give small startups offering VOIP services a chance to compete in this area.  When Bell or Telus want to change pricing of thier services they first need permission from the CRTC.  The whole reason behind this is so the “big players” can't squeeze the smaller guys out of the market offering too low prices that smaller companies can't compete.  They want to “encourage” competition and growth in the industry. Cable companies like Rogers and Shaw are going to be offering VOIP services this summer with the highspeed service and companies like Vonage and Primus are already offering services here in Canada.  The CRTC's goal is to not have telecommunication regulated once there is more competition and hopes VOIP will help them reach that goal.  Personally I think this is a great move and hopefully bring more competition and lower prices.  The CRTC is still pretty strong on it's stance not to regulate the internet.