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.