Welcome to the Microsoft® Windows Mobile® 5.0 Reviewers Guide. It discusses the overall vision of this release, details what’s new since the last major release, in 2002, offers a full feature chart that discusses specific product capabilities, and gives basic instructions on how to use the features.
Mobile devices are becoming more widely used. According to analyst firm IDC, by the end of 2005 there are expected to be more than 1.685 billion active wireless subscribers in the world.1 The growing adoption of mobile technology has been reflected in the sale of Windows Mobile-based devices. Five years ago, the first Windows Mobile-based Pocket PCs were shipped from three hardware partners. Today more than 40 device-makers are shipping innovative Windows Mobile-based products with more than 70 mobile operators in more than 50 countries.
Just as mobile device use has become more commonplace, users have become more sophisticated. People are demanding more from their devices: Consumers want richer multimedia experiences; quick, reliable Internet connectivity for messaging, e-mail and browsing; and the ability to personalize their devices to their liking. Mobile workers want to be able to do more and have less downtime while traveling. The demand for increased mobile capabilities is expected to continue: According to Gartner Inc., by 2008, over four-fifths of mobile knowledge workers will have access to wireless e-mail.2
Windows Mobile 5.0
Windows Mobile is a powerful software platform that has been developed to help maximize what users can do with their converged devices. The software is regularly updated based on extensive research on ways that mobile devices are actually used as well as what users dream of being able to do with them.
This latest version, Windows Mobile 5.0, is the most significant release of the platform since 2002. Most previous releases contained enhancements that were “under the hood.” This time, in addition to powerful changes behind the scenes, many new features will be obvious to the end user. The overall design goal for this version was to make Windows Mobile easier to use and more intuitive. The design team focused on three key supporting goals: enhancing productivity, providing an outstanding multimedia experience, and giving our device and mobile operator partners many options for customization. Following is a description of these goals and some of the new features developed in support of them.
Enhanced productivity when you’re on the go
Improved connectivity. Windows Mobile 5.0 was designed to make connecting to the Internet or work easier than ever, with great flexibility and support for many wireless networks. Depending on your hardware, you can connect wirelessly via Virtual Private Network (VPN), Bluetooth®, infrared technology and your mobile operator’s wireless data network. New in Windows Mobile 5.0 is support for Wi-Fi (802.11) wireless LAN. And now partners have the flexibility to add 3G radio stacks if they want. If you have signed up for a data plan with your mobile operator and have a data-capable, you should automatically be able to browse the Internet and receive data as soon as you turn on the device.3
Improved Web browsing. Internet Explorer Mobile is a mobile version of the familiar browser for the desktop. It has been redesigned to provide an improved customer experience with greater flexibility in viewing Internet content.
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You can now save images and audio files from a Web page locally onto your device or storage card, just as in a desktop Web browsing experience. You can use sound or image content as a ring tone, background picture, or picture for Multimedia Message Service (MMS) messaging. The Pictures & Videos application automatically opens after the content is downloaded.
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Internet Explorer Mobile now supports many more script elements, helping reduce script errors and allowing more pages to load correctly. The browser includes support for XHTML Basic, cascading style sheet (CSS), JScript 5.5, Wireless Markup Language (WML) 2.0 (XHTML WML 1.x), Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6), and Graphics Device Interface (GDI) Imaging.
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Many viewing options are available to customize and simplify the experience, including Default, Desktop, One Column, Full Screen, Pictures Off and Landscape modes.
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A new Download Progress Bar shows when the browser is connecting, when it has connected, and how much of a Web page has been downloaded. A Resume Download feature continues an interrupted file download from the point of interruption rather than from the beginning of the file.
Microsoft Office software for Windows Mobile. The updated Microsoft Office software for Windows Mobile offer familiar features to help you more effectively view, create and edit documents and manage e-mail attachments while away from your PC.
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You can now view tables, lists and embedded images in Word Mobile. Retention of document format has also been improved so that information from an original Word document, such as formatting and undisplayed meta data, is better retained after a Word document has been edited on the device.
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Excel® Mobile offers the ability to view and create charts.
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The new Microsoft PowerPoint® Mobile supports animation sequences, so you can view PowerPoint presentations on the go.
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Documents can be sent via e-mail directly from Outlook Mobile.
New Outlook Mobile. Many resources were devoted to improvements in Outlook® Mobile’s synchronization, user interface, Contacts, Calendar and Tasks. These enhancements represent Microsoft Corp.’s ongoing efforts to incorporate key customer feedback into the product and to enhance the overall synchronization and look and feel with the desktop version of Outlook.
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Outlook Mobile supports up to eight accounts, so that in addition to a corporate account via a Microsoft Exchange server, you could have a POP or IMAP account via a public e-mail provider, a Hotmail® account and others coming into your mobile device inbox at once.
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The new look and feel is closer to the familiar desktop version of Outlook, with support for high- and low-priority e-mail indicators.
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A redesigned message layout with clear separation between header and body helps make the data “glanceable.”
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Dynamic e-mail headers allow you to quickly add to or open a contact’s information by selecting the header and adding information with the menu that is provided. You also now have the ability to dial a contact directly from the e-mail message.
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E-mail attachments have been moved to the header in the top of the message so you no longer have to scroll to the bottom to view them.
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A completely redesigned Outlook Mobile Contacts application offers an improved user experience. You can easily and quickly communicate with someone from the list and view a summary of Outlook Mobile Contacts with one finger.
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You now have the ability to add pictures to contacts on the device and from a PC.
ActiveSync 4.1 support. Microsoft ActiveSync® provides a great synchronization experience with Windows®-based PCs and Microsoft Outlook right out of the box. ActiveSync acts as the gateway between your Windows-based PC and Windows Mobile-based device, allowing easy transfer of Outlook information as well as Office documents, pictures, music, videos and applications from your desktop to your Pocket PC. In addition to synchronizing with a desktop PC, ActiveSync can synchronize directly with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, so that you can keep your e-mail, calendar data, notes and contact information updated wirelessly when you’re away from your PC. It also can sync pictures in Outlook Contacts and wirelessly sync to your PC using Bluetooth.
Faster access to e-mail. Windows Mobile 5.0 provides faster access to e-mail, with one-key access to Hotmail and MSN® inboxes within Outlook. It also offers better integration with MSN Messenger for seamless instant messaging (IM) with colleagues and friends.
Persistent memory storage. Persistent memory storage has been added to Windows Mobile 5.0-based Pocket PCs, helping you avoid losing important data when battery power runs out. In addition, overall device efficiency has been improved, yielding as much as 30 percent more battery life.
Keyboard integration. Enhanced integration with a physical keyboard on the device delivers an outstanding one-handed navigation experience.
Enhanced security. Windows Mobile 5.0 is compliant with the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 standard, meaning that it meets the stringent U.S. government security requirements for IT products.
Pocket MSN. Pocket MSN is an exclusive mobile data service optimized for Windows Mobile that delivers an always-on experience so that you remain available to other online users. It provides one-touch access to MSN Hotmail and MSN Messenger — some of the most-used e-mail and IM services in the world — as well as easy access to Web pages designed for mobile users.
Windows Mobile supports the ability to send and receive attachments in Hotmail; the devices can interpret most sound, graphic and text files. Easily set up with a simple wizard, the Hotmail interface makes use of all the great new features of Outlook Mobile that let you easily compose messages offline and schedule sync sessions.
MSN Messenger offers instant communications with co-workers, friends and family.
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An upgraded Contact list displays more contacts and additional information. MSN contacts lists can be shared between a desktop and a mobile device. New support is offered for blocking contacts and adding new ones. Since the MSN Messenger Contact lists are hosted by Microsoft, as soon as you log on from a Pocket PC, you have access to all your contacts and can send instant messages.
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An updated user interface more closely resembling the desktop client provides easy navigation.
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If you receive a phone call during an IM conversation, MSN Messenger holds incoming IM messages on its server until you’re off the call to help you avoid losing your connection.
A superior multimedia experience
Windows Media Player 10 Mobile. With Windows Media® Player 10 on your Windows XP-based PC, you can easily transfer music, video and picture files from your desktop to your mobile device.
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Full-screen-mode video playback. Now you can watch your television shows and other video clips in a Landscape format to maximize the experience.
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All-in-one mobile media player. Enjoy your favorite music, videos and more with broad support for popular file formats, including Windows Media Audio (WMA, which includes online music store content), MP3 and Windows Media Video. Windows Media Player 10 Mobile also adds support for Microsoft DirectShow® technologies, allowing mobile operators and others to add support for more media formats such as 3GPP. You can now access more than 1 million protected digital songs and videos from more than 25 content partners such as Napster LLC, CinemaNow Inc., MusicNow, Movielink LLC, MSN Music and TiVo Inc.
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High-quality audio and video. The high quality of WMA makes for the ultimate listening experience. Windows Mobile 5.0 is now the first mobile device platform to offer audiophile quality with WMA Lossless and WMA Professional. And advancements in hardware technologies are making 640x480 VGA playback possible on VGA-enhanced mobile devices.
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Refined player design. In addition to an all-new chrome skin, the Media Library has been improved to allow browsing by popular metadata tags, including artist, album and genre.Artist (frans. artiste - bilimdon; lot. ars, artis - kasb, hunar, sanʼat) - dramatik spektakl, kinoda rollar, ope-ra va balet partiyalari, estrada konserti va sirk nomerlari ijrochisi. Teatr va kinoda aktyor, aktrisa deb ham yuriti-ladi. The newly added Queue Up feature allows you to add music, video, television and entire playlists to the Now Playing list from anywhere in the enhanced Media Library.
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Album art support. Album art is added automatically by Windows Media Player 10 whenever it is available on the Windows XP-based PC.
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Photo Sync support. Carry your digital photo library with you on a Windows Mobile-based device. Using Photo Sync in Windows Media Player 10 on the desktop, you can easily transfer picture files to the Pictures & Videos album on your Windows Mobile-based device.
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Auto Sync. Windows Media Player 10 Mobile supports intelligent Auto Sync options for automatically transferring the media you want to your Windows Mobile-based device. You can select certain criteria for music, video and picture files to download automatically when the device is connected to the PC. And with Auto Sync, any new music you add to a playlist in Windows Media Player 10 will be seamlessly added to your device.
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Library view. This easy interface organizes various media on the device into a user-friendly format to help you more easily find your music, videos and playlists.
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Media Center-based TV sync support. With a Windows XP Media Center-based PC, you can synchronize recorded television content to your Windows Mobile-based device for playback on the go.
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DRM support. Windows Media Player 10 Mobile supports Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection of digital media files. DRM support helps ensure that only music that has been downloaded legally can be played.
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Playlist support. Playlists created with Windows Media Player 10 on the desktop synchronize to Windows Mobile-based devices, delivering a familiar and easy-to-use music experience on your Pocket PC.
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ActiveSync wizard. The new ActiveSync wizard allows you to easily find out how to synchronize music, video and pictures with your Windows Mobile-based device.
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Storage card support. If you have added a storage card, you will be asked if you would like Windows Media Player 10 Mobile to search for audio and video files to add to the library.
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Hard drive and USB 2.0 support. Windows Mobile 5.0 adds support for integrated hard drives, enabling you to carry several gigabytes of music or information on your mobile device. It also provides added support for USB 2.0, which will greatly increase file transfer speeds and synchronization of information between PCs and Windows Mobile-based devices.
Pictures & Videos is a new application for viewing and sharing pictures and video on Windows Mobile-based devices or stored on removable media. The program offers a one-stop shop to thumbnail views of picture and video files on the device and also serves as an entry point to quickly access the Camera or Video Recorder application, for devices that include these hardware options.) The Pictures & Videos feature lets you easily view and edit photos with a thumbnail view and adjust for rotation, brightness/contrast, zoom, crop and transparency. You can also share photos, create a slide show or set a picture as wallpaper. Digital camera support is provided, and digital camera images (DCIM) directories are recognized.
Games. Windows Mobile 5.0 comes with two popular games: Solitaire and Bubble Breaker. But with connectivity, you can visit Web sites where you can purchase and choose from 20,000 commercial applications — everything from games to travel tools and movie clips.
A highly personalizable device
Make your mobile device a true expression of yourself with more ways to personalize your experience, access your information, and enjoy your music, videos and photos. The software includes numerous enhancements that allow you to customize your Windows Mobile experience. It also makes it possible for device manufacturers and developers to add new functionalities to specific devices and develop innovative applications.
For end users. There are literally dozens of ways you can customize how your device functions and looks. For instance, now you can take a picture from your phone and easily assign it to a contact for display not only in the Contacts application but in the caller ID window and e-mail message header when that contact calls or sends e-mail. Or you can assign a picture on a PC in Outlook and synchronize it to your device. You can customize ring tones for callers, change themes, alter Today items, add applications and change numerous other features to your liking. Tens of thousands of applications are available for you to download that extend the system’s functionality, letting you do everything from translating text into and out of Japanese to running news, stock and weather updates.
For operators and device-makers. With Windows Mobile 5.0, Microsoft has provided many flexible options for operators and device-makers. Partners can add in their own 3G radio stack, and services such as voice over Internet protocol (VoIP). In addition, device-makers and mobile operators now have greater flexibility to customize branded device experiences and can take advantage of extensible menus and new soft keys to build new features, such as push-to-talk (PTT), right into the phone dialer.
For developers. Developers can take advantage of a host of new managed code and application programming interfaces (APIs) in addition to a new ARM-based emulator, which enables them to build applications more quickly and add new functionality to applications. The new APIs include Camera Capture, which can integrate camera functionality with third-party applications; State and Notification Broker; Contact Picker; enhanced messaging and Pocket Outlook Object Model (POOM); and powerful new graphics APIs for Direct3D®, DirectDraw® and DirectShow.
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