Smart Client Software Factory

Microsoft patterns & practices Developer Center has announced new factory for mobile devices called as "Smart Client Software Factory". This new factory can be applied for the application which has the following features

• Having a rich user interface that takes advantage of the power of the Microsoft Windows desktop.
• Connect to multiple back-end systems to exchange data with them.
• Present information coming from multiple and diverse sources through an integrated user interface, so the data looks like it came from one back-end system.
• Take advantage of local storage and processing resources to enable operation during periods of no network connectivity or intermittent network connectivity.
• Easily deployed and configured.

To know more about this factory: Click Here

Are you ready for yPhone? Yes Yahoo Phone!

Earlier this week Michael Arrington at TechCrunch dropped a bombshell that has yet to be explained: Yahoo is supposedly working on a cell phone.
Here is the quote in question:
And just to throw another tidbit out there - the HTC exec that was mentioned on CrunchGear yesterday said Yahoo is on a parallel track as Google, and has actually been working on custom phones for longer than Google. We may be seeing a Yahoo phone next year, too.
I suppose one could argue that if it makes sense for Google to launch a cell phone, it makes just as much sense for Yahoo to launch one too.
Now, I have to admit that Arrington's reference here is one of the first I have seen about a Yahoo Phone. After I went poking around, I came across this little tidbit:
So far, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo hasn't talked to other universities about similar arrangements, he said.
Yahoo will open the center with 120 employees and has said it plans to add more. Most of the first employees will come from a pool of workers left behind by Motorola Inc. when the cell-phone maker closed a software design center on campus earlier this month.
Yahoo plans to put most of its new hires to work developing better ways to use data the company gathers on its users to refine its search technology and its ability to target users for advertisers, Ojjeh said.
Yahoo is opening a research center with a bunch of software engineers who used to work at Motorola? Why is no one else talking about this? Yahoo claims these engineers are working on ad targeting, etc., and they may well be. I can't say for certain what they're going to work on, but the fact that they used to work for Motorola is interesting.
OK, I can hear you skeptics out there groaning. Hear me out. It's not like Yahoo hasn't been pushing mobile applications just as heavily as Google. This year they've expanded their oneSearch service to work with more than 85 percent of the mobile phones in the U.S. And according to my fellow blogger, Eric Zeman, oneSearch can give Google's mobile search a run for its money. Yahoo also expended its Go platform to mobile devices, expanding its widgets and other applications to cell phones.
Also of note, a survey released by The Equs Group in May showed that 55.5 percent of U.S. consumers would buy a cell phone branded by Google or Yahoo. Not only does this give credence to the Google Phone rumors, it also supports the idea that Yahoo could also be making a mobile device.
There is nothing concrete to support the Yahoo Phone rumor. And right now it seems like an even bigger act of speculation than the growing rumors surrounding the Google Phone.
What do you think? Is Yahoo also working on a cell phone? And if so would you use it?

Source: http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/08/six_questions_f.html

Infrared Programming Using the .NET Compact Framework

Infrared communication is one of the most common forms of communication for devices today. If you've ever used a TV remote control, you've experienced the convenience of using infrared communications. While infrared communications require line-of-sight between the sending and receiving devices, they are a quick and cheap way of communicating between devices.

Most Windows Mobile devices you buy today come with an infrared port, but latley it seems like Bluetooth has been taking the limelight because it has a wider operating radius and most importantly it does not require line-of-sight in order to work. Despite this limitation, infrared requires no pairing of devices, and certainly does not require the hassles of exchanging secret pin numbers. For this reason, it is quite suitable for applications that require fast exchanges of information.

Using infrared on Windows Mobile Pocket PCs is easy using the System.Net.IrDA library, available in the .NET Compact Framework. What about using infrared on the desktop PC? Unfortunately, the .NET Framework does not come with the System.Net.IrDA library, which means you cannot use infrared using the .NET Framework directly. To do so, you'll need the 32feet.NET library,written by fellow MVP, Peter Foot (http://www.peterfoot.net/). This library makes infrared programming available to managed developers. 32feet.NET is a project that aims to make wireless networking (via Bluetooth and IrDA) much more easily accessible from .NET code, whether it's on mobile devices or desktop computers. You can download the latest version of 32feet.NET (v2.0.60828) from here.

Thanks to DivX.
Source http://www.devx.com/dotnet/Article/35145?trk=DXRSS_WIFI

Why tap when you can talk.

Today i came to know there is some more new advancements in the filed of speech recognition especially for mobile devices. Yes, you can speak the words and this application will recognize whatever you emit without need for any training. You can integrate this technology with any application and you can customize your existing application to incorporate this technology. This technology is developed by a company called "vlingo"

Initially to try out this company provides first 1 million word recognition free for first one year. Right now this supports major service providers in USA (Hope it will be introduced in other countries also). To see the demo check here.