PPC2003 snippets + PPC2004 (Magneto)?

[Guest ClintEastman]

Spotted this on www.windowsfordevices.com.

Looks like Smartphone 2003 (a derivative of PPC2003) is just going to be a patch up of SP2002 (as i am sure most of you have already guessed).

What is more interesting is the fact that the real upgrade will be coming along next year in the shape of "Magneto". :lol:

[updated 7:30pm PDT] -- Several news sources and websites are consistently reporting that Microsoft will unveil Pocket PC 2003 on Monday, June 23.  According to a CNET story, the new release "is not expected to be a major revision of Pocket PC 2002, but it will include new features such as built-in support for wireless technologies Wi-Fi and Bluetooth."

A more substantial "overhaul will occur in the next version of the operating system, code-named Magneto, due out next year," the CNET story said, including improved phone features and increased flexibility allowing it to "be used in a wider variety of devices such as appliances."

ITNews Australia reports that Pocket PC 2003 will feature "no-configuration wireless-networking support, native Bluetooth support, an improved Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE), Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging (MMS) Instant Messaging (IM) capabilities, Windows Media Player (WMP) 9, barely improved versions of the bundled Pocket applications, and native support for the XScale processors that all modern Pocket PCs now use," and will also add multi-threading, thanks to its use of Windows CE .NET 2.0 as the underlying OS.

An article in April in the Guardian revealed Pocket PC details disclosed by Microsoft at the "European Mobility Developer Conference."  The new Pocket PC is capable of becoming more of a "component of a business IT infrastructure," as opposed to merely serving as a "personal electronic diary," through the addition of new or enhanced technologies for VPN access, wireless communications, web services, remote device management, ADO.NET database connection, MSMQ reliable message queueing, and enhanced web browsing, the article said.

A recent article from Brighthand's RumorMill confirms much of the above comments and adds some interesting additional perspective.

Meanwhile, MSMobiles reports that Pocket PC 2003 development kits have already been released to members of Microsoft's MSPP (Mobile Solutions Partner Program), and they've published what appears to be some of Microsoft's Pocket PC 2003 toolkit promotional documentation here, although we couldn't confirm its authenticity.

One thing's certain:  when the release does occur, you'll find the whole story right here at WindowsForDevices.com.