| Windows CE zeroes in on feature phones |
Feb. 13, 2006
 Intrinsyc Software has released a feature phone software stack based on Windows CE, which it demonstrated at the 3GSM World Conference in Barcelona this week. The company claims that its Soleus software stack represents the first Windows CE implementation aimed specifically at the feature phone market.
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Strategy Analytics said last fall that it expected "feature phones" -- mid-range mobile handsets with features such as color screens, cameras, text and photo messaging, digital music, video streaming, and games -- to account for about half of over 700 million mobile phones that would ship in 2005, with higher-end "smartphones" representing just six percent. Further, feature phones were forecast to become the largest mobile phone category by 2010 (see chart).
Soleus thus targets Windows CE at a sweet spot in the mobile phone market -- a market segment unserved by Microsoft's Windows Mobile smartphone OS, but hotly contested by rival embedded Linux.
Soleus
Intrinsyc describes Soleus as a "turnkey" development platform for designing "cost-effective and feature-rich" handsets based on a customized version of Microsoft's Windows CE 5.0 operating system. The Soleus software development kit (SDK) provides essential telephony platform functions and includes "the most popular" voice and data applications, according to the company. It also implements a mobile phone API (application programming interface) said to facilitate integration among applications by giving every application access to all mobile phone services.
Soleus software architecture
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Voice, data, and utility applications provided as part of the Soleus SDK include alarm, calculator, calendar, call history, camera, contacts, dialer, file manager, media player, phone settings, and SMS client functions, among others.
According to Intrinsyc, the Soleus OS kernel (labeled "Windows CE Core OS Services" in the above diagram) is about one-third the size of a standard Windows CE 5.0 kernel. Minimum device hardware resource requirements vary according to desired features, but can typically be as little as a 100MHz CPU equipped with 12MB of flash (8MB used for Soleus image) plus 12MB of RAM.
Soleus supports various processors that are compatible with Windows CE 5.0, including ARM, MIPS, SHx, XScale, and x86 architectures, according to Intrinsyc. Other currently supported hardware features include 176x220 pixel, 64K-color displays; 2 megapixel cameras; triband (900/1800/1900MHz) GSM/GPRS cellular communications, including EDGE; Mini SD card slots; Bluetooth v1.2; and USB 2.0, including OTG (on-the-go) capabilities.
 
Typical Soleus feature phone idle and contacts screens
Development environment
Soleus-based feature phone development makes use of two standard Microsoft development tools -- Windows CE Platform Builder and Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 -- along with several Intrinsyc-developed plug-ins and extensions that work with these tools.
The feature-phone software platform is configured using Microsoft's familiar Platform Builder tool
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Platform Builder (screenshot above) is used to develop the device's basic software platform. Developers can use simple drag-and-drop operations to add, change, or delete both Windows CE components and feature phone components, the company explains. Additionally, various software components, design templates, and test tools that are included with Soleus extend, and are managed by, Platform Builder.
Additionally, device makers can use source code available from
Microsoft's Shared Source licensing program to modify the Windows CE source code and kernel to meet specific requirements, according to Intrinsyc.
 | UX Designer tool
(Click image to enlarge) | Visual Studio 2005 is used to develop applications, which can take advantage of the standard Windows CE API (application programming interface). Visual Studio's "rich coding and debugging support [help's them] quickly and efficiently develop and debug" their software, the company says. The software can be tested using either a customized feature phone emulator or on actual hardware.
The Soleus UX Designer (screenshot at right), a plug-in for Visual Studio, is intended to simplify the process of creating feature phone UIs (user interfaces). The UX Designer tool allows device developers and mobile carriers to fully customize both the UI and the branding of their mobile handsets, in order to meet the needs of specific market segments and end-user demographics, according to Intrinsyc.
Third-party software ecosystem
Intrinsyc says it plans to partner with third-party ISVs (independent software vendors) to make additional applications, beyond comes with the Soleus SDK, available to its customers.
The company lists the following available or planned third-party applications: Java virtual machine (MIDP 2.0); email client (POP/SMTP); SMS and MMS wireless messaging; IP-based instant messaging; and browsers (WAP 2.0 / XHTML).
First Soleus ODM
In related news, Intrinsyc announced that Wistron Corp. a Taiwanese ODM (original design manufacturer), plans to integrate Soleus into various custom handset solutions and is demonstrating its Soleus-based feature phone concept in Intrinsyc's booth at the 3GSM show this week.
"Intrinsyc's Soleus provides a flexible software platform to build the benefits of Windows CE into our next generation feature phones," said Wistron senior director Benson Chin.
Intrinsyc CEO Derek Spratt said Wistron is "one of the world's largest ODMs."
Availability
The Soleus SDK is immediately available, according to Intrinsyc. Toolkit pricing and runtime royalty rates were not disclosed. Further details can be found on the company's website.
Another perspective on Soleus is available from this article at PC Magazine.
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