Previous releases of IDEAM Mobile were compatible with Windows CE and Windows Mobile 5, and the new version continues that support. In addition to new support for Windows Mobile 6, the toolsuite now employs Microsoft's .NET Compact Framework 2.0, Teklynx says.

As before, Teklynx claims that IDEAM requires no programming to create powerful mobile applications. For example, it's said designers can drag and drop user interface fields for check boxes, list boxes, buttons, frames, drawings and text.

Similarly, form controls such as name, location, behavior on entry, validation, file locations, error handling, etc. can be dragged directly onto a form. Control behavior is configured using a Windows standard properties page (see below).

IDEAM uses a standard Windows properties page to manage control behavior

IDEAM also has a server component that runs on Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003. This provides a standard administration platform for configuring, monitoring, and managing all of the components of a data collection system, including portable data collection devices, fixed readers, wired and wireless printers, and mobile computing platforms, the company says.

As for IDEAM Mobile platform compatibility, while Teklynx maintains a list of devices it is known to be compatible with, the company says "virtually any device" will work. This is said to include those using SH3, SH4, and MIPS processors as well as ARM and XScale based systems.

Availability

Both IDEAM Mobile version 6.0 and the IDEAM Server appear to be available now. Pricing was not disclosed.

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