WindowsForDevices.com Newsletter -- July 1, 2004
WELCOME TO THE WINDOWSFORDEVICES.COM WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
July 1, 2004
by Rick Lehrbaum -- Editor-in-chief
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SPECIAL REPORT: EMBEDDED DEVCON 2004
Microsoft kicked off its annual Windows Embedded Developers' Conference
(DevCon) this week in Diego, with major announcements about Windows CE
5.0 and its "shared source" license. This is the fourth annual Windows
Embedded DevCon, bringing developers face-to-face with the Windows
Embedded development team. Don't miss our DevCon special report.
Read full story
MICROSOFT EASES "SHARED SOURCE" RESTRICTIONS
In an effort to help device makers differentiate their products and
innovate, Microsoft is eliminating many restrictions on the use of the
"shared source" license for its Windows CE operating system. The
change, which accompanies the impending full release of Windows CE 5.0,
will counter competition from Linux and is likely to expand Microsoft's
slice of the roughly $1B embedded OS market pie. Find out more details
in our comprehensive news item.
Read full story
MICROSOFT REVEALS FINAL WINDOWS CE 5.0 DETAILS
Microsoft revealed details of the final version of Windows CE 5.0
(formerly codenamed "Macallan"), the next major release of its operating
system for smart devices, at DevCon this week. Relative to the
"technology preview" of Windows CE 5.0 released earlier this year, the
full CE 5.0 release -- scheduled to begin shipping later this summer --
will include networking performance improvements, more than 60
"production-quality" device drivers, new technology for remote
monitoring of device performance, and Direct3D Mobile technology to
"enable high-intensity gaming applications."
Read full story
MICROSOFT KEYNOTE INAUGURATES EMBEDDED DEVCON 2004
Microsoft formally inaugurated DevCon Tuesday morning with a keynote
talk by Tom Adams, General Manager of the Windows CE Platforms group.
Adams briefly reviewed the enormous diversity of present and future
smart devices, and outlined Microsoft's strategy of offering low cost,
reliable, and easy-to-use development tools and software for smart
devices. The keynote also included demonstrations of new Windows CE and
Windows XP Embedded development tools and technologies, and of devices
based on them, as well as some entertaining videos. Don't miss the cool
bit about the ARM7-based "SPOT" development platform Microsoft is
developing, that runs a tiny version of the .NET Compact Framework.
There's also a pointer to an online video demo of a project to create a
digital picture frame using Win CE.
Read full story
MICROSOFT NAMES ITS TOP WINDOWS EMBEDDED PARTNERS
Microsoft announced the winners of its annual "Windows Embedded North
American Partner of the Year" awards earlier this week, at DevCon. The
awards recognize industry partners who have helped to quickly bring a
wide range of innovative Windows Powered devices to market over the past
year, Microsoft says. Find out what companies were named Best
Distributor, Best Independent Hardware Vendor, Best Systems Integrator,
Best Independent Software Vendor, Best Original Equipment Manufacturer,
and Best Silicon Vendor.
Read full story
SECURITY ALERT: DOWNLOAD.JECT IMPACTS XP EMBEDDED WEBSERVERS
Microsoft has issued a security alert that applies to Windows XP and XP
Embedded based systems and devices running the Internet Information
Services (IIS) webserver. Microsoft says the attack is not a "worm" or
virus, but is instead a "targeted manual attack by individuals or
entities towards a specific server." Microsoft advises developers
running IIS 5.0 on a Windows XP or XP Embedded based device to make sure
they have Security Update MS04-011 applied to their device.
Read full story
RUGGED PDA WITH 480X640 SCREEN RUNS WINDOWS EMBEDDED
Amrel has released what it claims is the first fully rugged PDA in its
size class to offer a 4-inch transflective touchscreen display with
480x640 resolution. The device boasts a sunlight readable display and
offers a choice of operating systems -- Windows CE .NET 4.2, supporting
the full 480x640 screen resolution; or Pocket PC 2003, at 240x320
resolution.
Read full story
OTHER NOTEWORTHY ITEMS FROM THE PAST WEEK . . .
* WE-DIG .NET, do you?
Read full story
* Via promises "full support" for Windows CE 5.0
Read full story
* New benchmarking tool for Windows CE
Read full story
* Dynamic power management software cools Windows CE handhelds
Read full story
* SBC vendor enhances Windows Embedded support
Read full story
* Tech-Ed and Mobile DevCon Europe kick off in Amsterdam
Read full story
* Biometric plugin adds fingerprint authentication to Windows CE 5.0
Read full story
* Bsquare trumpets 300th Windows CE design engagement, CE 5.0 support
Read full story
* Whitepaper tackles mobile security issues
Read full story
* New book explains .NET Compact Framework programming
Read full story
* Pocket Boingo brings Wi-Fi to Windows Mobile devices
Read full story
* Pocket PC + mobile phone + Bluetooth = high-speed wireless access
Read full story
* New VIA mini-ITX board targets vertically challenged apps
Read full story
* Intel rounds out Pentium M "Dothan" family
Read full story
* Digital Home Working Group releases guidelines, changes name
Read full story
. . . and that's not all. Check here for the latest breaking news:
WindowsForDevices.com News Page
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