Mark Arteaga

I recently completed a project with Art Gallery of Ontario were we used a Windows Mobile device to play media related to a work of art.  The Windows Mobile device was encased in a plastic enclosure and mounted on the wall so the users would only have access to the touch screen and the application was set to run in ‘Kiosk mode’.  We are putting together a case study on the solution delivered and will post the link on my blog once it’s up if you are interested in more details.

Reason for this post?  Well, I submitted the solution to the Ignite IT Canada awards being held by Microsoft Canada.  You can see a description of the solution and if you like it vote for me!

Here is an image of the software in action.

Pretty cool to see people of all ages use software you have built to learn more about the artwork in the gallery!  Remember, don’t forget to vote!

The 2009 version of Toronto CodeCamp is coming up on April 25 2009.  I’ll be there and of course doing a session on Windows Mobile.  If you are in the Toronto area and have some time on a Saturday there will be some great sessions going on. Best part about it is it’s free … and that’s a good thing these days!

There has definitely been a lot happening in the Windows Mobile world lately and for good reason, the competition is heating up! 

Here is another good piece of information, if you are building a mobile application and are a start-up you will definitely want to take a look at Mobile Incubation Week being held at Microsoft’s Silicon Valley Campus from April 13-17.  The only requirement, you are planning on building for Windows Mobile 6.1 or 6.5 and you don’t even have to have an application built.  Your app could be one of the first apps featured in the new Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

To nominate your team send an email to Mobile Incubation Week with the following:

• Contact information
• Geography: North America, Europe, Asia
• Size of company and year founded (if applicable)
• Overview of your idea
• Why you’d like to participate
• How your application is unique to Windows Mobile
• *Note: please do not send confidential materials at this time as no NDA has been signed

Spots are limited so hurry!  Also if you are a start-up and use Microsoft technology you should probably leverage Microsoft Startup Zone and especially BizSpark.  $100 gets you a lot of software from Microsoft for development *and* for production.

You may or may not have heard about Windows Marketplace for Mobile but Microsoft recently announced the developer strategy for the Marketplace.

As a developer myself here are the key facts:

1. You get 70% and Microsoft gets 30%
2. $99/year and you can have up to 5 applications in the marketplace.  After that it’s $99/app/year.  If you are in the DreamSpark program, it’s free.
3. Available in 29 markets.
4. Doors open sometime in Spring 2009.

If you are serious about selling your apps this is not a bad price to pay to be part of the Marketplace.  The pricing is similar to iPhone App Store and that has been pretty successful.   I just hope Microsoft gets some good market penetration with Windows Mobile 6.5 and get a large user base to buy the apps!

The Windows Mobile Team blog has a lot more details on Marketplace for Mobile and a video with the product manager for Marketplace.

People have been asking me for links to get more information on Windows Mobile.  Here is a list that I have been sharing:

1. Windows Mobile for the End User – everything you need from an end user perspective to the many different Windows Mobile phones to various features available on your phone. There is a great section on Help and How to, Downloads and various way you can use your phone (for both personal and business).  Don’t forget to take a look at Total Access 
2. Windows Mobile for Business – If you are a business looking at implementing a mobile solution based on Windows Mobile this is the place for you.  It has an executive overview, an ROI/Value calculator and solutions offered by Microsoft and Partners
3. Windows Mobile for the Developer – this is the starting point for developers.  The meat of the content you will find on MSDN but this is the place you want to look at for anything developer related to Windows Mobile.  From here you will have many other links to technical articles, community blogs and MS blogs.

If you have some other links feel free to leave a comment.

I was recently asked by Microsoft Momentum Magazine what my views are for Windows Mobile 6.1 for the enterprise.  You can read my views and four other views on Windows Mobile 6.1 from various people in the industry also.