'WinMo Week Twenty Eight (point five) - software - Post conference-season lull edition' is now live!

[Guest Monolithix]

Paul and I are proud to present the WinMo Week Twenty Eight - software edition!

Sharing our views, activities and the news in this weeks Windows Mobile world.

This week we're continuing with our new shorter format experiment.

The fourth codeword for the Touch Cruise '09 competition is also in this episode!

In this weeks software edition, we're talking about:

• Competition time! Our Touch Cruise ‘09 competition and the Expansys Treo Pro giveaway
  
• Details for developers from Microsoft on the Windows Mobile Marketplace
  
• Crossover from the dark side - Net60 2.1
  
• Windows Mobile 6.5 widgets – hot or not?
  
• HTC interface enhancements on the Diamond 2
  
  
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  Link for enclosure purposes: http://donald.modaco.com/podcast/wmw-twent...htpointfive.mp3

[Guest Alcedes]

A version of VS Express for Windows Mobile is long overdue. But unbeknown to many is that you can develop for Windows Mobile without using Visual Studio. I did a writeup of it after hearing it was possible in the "Mobile Development Handbook"( http://www.codeproject.com/KB/mobile/WiMoSansVS.aspx ). The .Net Compact Framework command line compiler (Same one used by Visual Studio) is free. But unless you want to use notepad as your editor you will want to add an IDE to it. In the instructions I reference above I used the free IDE SharpDevelop.Net. I still need to do a writeup for debugging (I've found free solutions, I just need to document them). An individual wanting to commercially develop applications using Visual Studio can register for the ISV Empowerment program. Once registered (for around 375 USD) you will get an MSDN Subscription that contains Visual Studio 2008 Professional and several other software titles.

I don't see the 99 USD for the 6th app having a huge impact. Looking in the Apple App Store I can't find many freeware developers that have published more than 5 applications in a year; there's plenty of Flashlight and Flatus apps in there for which some one paid 99 USD to register in the Apple App Store. I looked into what it would require to make an application available through a carriers online store and I'd be looking at an 800 USD/app initial investment to meet requirements. BTW: Did any one notice the 99 USD yearly fee and other details of the Windows Mobile Market Place match the fees and shares of the Xbox Live Community Games (MSFT's program for allowing individuals to sell their Xbox 360 XNA based applications).

This is speculation, but I get the feeling the app store pricing may be to support Microsoft Partners. Microsoft has always had one of its partners to do certification testing for Windows Mobile applications and they've usually done the testing for 400 USD/app and another 400/USD for code signing. Rather than cutting those partners out I get the feeling that part of those fees are going to the certification entities.

The Windows Mobile certification seems a little lower risk than the iPhone certification. Before one begins design one can see what the certification guidelines are ( http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsmobile/bb327790.aspx ) and know what one should and should not do to pass certification. With the iPhone I understand that the rules are not quite so well defined and it is possible to find that your application has no chance of getting revenue after you've spent time developing it.