(Click here for a larger view of Windows Vista's SideShow control panel)With today's announcement, Microsoft provides its own freely downloadable software aimed at connecting Windows Mobile 5 and Windows Mobile 6 devices to Windows Vista computers via Bluetooth. In the company's words, the Windows SideShow for Windows Mobile Developer Preview "enables you to use your phone as an extra window into your PC."
According to Microsoft, the phone-based gadget client software allows accessing information on a PC from across the room and controlling applications such as Windows Media Player. Other potential uses cited by Toby Muresianu, a program manager for SideShow who announced it on an MSDN forum, include controlling PowerPoint presentations remotely while viewing speaker's notes on the phone, and downloading RSS feeds and viewing them on the road. Muresianu writes, "We've barely scratched the surface of what's possible here. Developers have the opportunity to invent a whole new range of scenarios using the software and the managed API SDK that allows Visual Basic and C# development, so we're really excited to see what's going to come out next."
Sideshow backgroundSideShow technology debuted with the Windows Vista operating system. It features mini-applications called
gadgets. The gadgets run on the Vista PC, but the PC's control panel (shown above) can be used to send the gadget's output to external clients connected via USB, Bluetooth, TCP/IP, or other protocols. Besides mobile phones, clients can include laptops, front-panel computer displays, displays embedded in keyboards, and digital picture frames, among other display-equipped devices.
The downloadable preview comes with a copy of Microsoft's .NET Compact Framework 2.0, which is required and may not already be present on Windows Mobile 5 devices. It also comes with plugins for both Windows Mobile Standard and Windows Mobile Professional devices that, once installed, allow perusing selected SideShow gadget information directly from a device's home/today screen.
Earlier this year, ControlThink, a division of home automation company Leviton, announced a "community edition" of its
ThinkRemote software. Primarily aimed at letting Vista gadgets be displayed on dedicated remote control devices, ThinkRemote -- still in an invitation-only beta -- extended gadget support to Windows Mobile phones as well.
Further informationThe free Windows SideShow for Windows Mobile Developer Preview requires a Windows Mobile 5, Windows Mobile 6 Standard, or Windows Mobile 6 Professional phone, along with a Bluetooth-enabled PC running Windows Vista. It can be downloaded from Microsoft's website,
here. To see Toby Muresianu's posting announcing the software, go to the Windows SideShow development forum on MSDN,
here.
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