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Microsoft announced today that it will bring the power of .NET to handheld devices with the beta release of the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework. The .NET Compact Framework, which enables XML Web services on mobile devices, is the company's next step in providing a rich computing environment to any device.

The new mobile application framework technology shares the same programming model and application development tools as the .NET Framework and can be used on Windows CE .NET-compliant devices, including Pocket PC 2000 and Pocket PC 2002.

"As the power of Microsoft .NET extends to wireless Pocket PCs and smart phone devices, the next generation of rich revenue-generating wireless applications and services will surge," said Juha Christensen, corporate vice president of the Mobile Devices Group at Microsoft. "Developers are key to creating applications and services that will deliver value and revenue to mobile operators, service providers and device manufacturers. The .NET Compact Framework will now enable millions of Visual Studio developers to automatically transfer their skills to mobile device development."

The .NET Compact Framework is designed to work with other Microsoft technologies, such as SQL Server2000 Windows CE Edition version 2.0 and the Microsoft Mobile Internet Toolkit.

Along with the .NET Compact Framework, Microsoft has released the beta version of the Smart Device Extensions (SDE) for Visual Studio .NET, a technology that specifically targets development on mobile devices. Features of SDE include new project types, device emulator support, remote debugging support and automatic deployment.

The development experience for these technologies is unified through Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, which provides a set of tools and interfaces for building applications. This ensures that .NET developers can apply their existing skills to mobile solutions.