E-GUIDE Windows Mobile 6.5: Enabling business mobility, today and tomorrow Windows Mobile: a phrase that embodies on-the-go business initiatives. By marrying today's dominant office computing environment with increasingly compact-but-powerful handheld devices, Windows Mobile OS makes it possible for millions of workers to conduct business on their feet and from the road. According to market research firm iSuppli, Windows Mobile OS already powers more than 27 million smartphones, expected to double and more by 2013. In this e-Guide, we recap Windows Mobile OS’s evolution and look at the wide array of Windows Mobile-powered devices available to unteth - er today's workforces. We'll explore where and why Windows Mobile OS devices are used to support a wide range of mobile apps, from vertical business automation to knowledge worker access. Finally, we'll exam - ine the appeal of ready-to-roll apps like Office, Outlook, and Communicator Mobile that integrate seamlessly with enterprise and in- the-cloud Windows services. Sponsored By: Windows Mobile 6.5: Enabling business mobility, today and tomorrow Table of Contents E-GUIDE Windows Mobile 6.5: Enabling business mobility, today and tomorrow Table of Contents: Windows Mobile OS evolution Mobilizing business operations Enabling on-the-go business applications Resources from Microsoft Page 2 of 11 Sponsored by: Windows Mobile 6.5: Enabling business mobility, today and tomorrow Windows Mobile OS evolution Windows Mobile OS evolution Windows Mobile OS began its journey as a compact edition of Windows for small devices in 1996, before Symbian or BlackBerry were even conceived. Originally Pegasus, Windows CE (WinCE) was created as an industry-standard operating system for early handhelds from Casio, HP/Compaq, LG, NEC, and Philips. Right from the start, WinCE was designed to satisfy requirements like portability, internationalization, and data synchronization that are still essential today. In those days, handhelds were just personal information managers (PIMs). WinCE nudged this nascent market beyond that niche by running other kinds of applications – in effect, putting a Handheld PC (H/PC) in your pocket. For example, WinCE 1.0 not only synchronized PIM data with Microsoft Outlook, it supported third-party apps developed using a WinCE platform toolkit. By 1997, H/PCs had taken root and WinCE continued to mature. Over the next three years, Microsoft released updates that extended WinCE 2.x to other kinds of devices. Many new products, from consumer electronics to automotive computers, incorporated WinCE as compact-but-scalable embedded operating system. "Smart" features could now be implemented by easily updated software, running on inexpensive microprocessors like MIPS, StrongArm and SH3. During the WinCE 2.x era, H/PCs – aka Palm-sized PCs – capitalized on hardware advances such as color displays and network adapters. By 1998, an H/PC running Windows CE 2.11 (marketed as Handheld PC Pro) could browse the Internet with Explorer and open Microsoft Word, Excel and Access files using included "Pocket" versions of familiar Office apps. In 2000, WinCE 3.x separated the core operating system that powered diverse devices from the graphical user interface and apps that made mobile handhelds usable. At this point, Microsoft Pocket PC 2000 (today's familiar touch-screen form factor) split from Microsoft Handheld PC 2000 (the old clamshell form factor). As Pocket PC became increasingly popular, it was joined by a new little brother: Smartphone 2002. By 2003, wireless was hot – from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to GSM and CDMA. WinCE 4.x .NET let app developers tap into this mobile connectivity, leading to a new generation of Pocket PCs and smartphones sporting a graphical interface christened Windows Mobile 2003. This "mobile" moniker resonated with users, which is why WinCE 5.x and WinCE 6.x-based Pocket PCs and smartphones ran Windows Mobile 5.0 and Windows Mobile 6.0, respectively. Along the way, Pocket PCs (which focused on apps) and smartphones (which focused on telephony) began to merge. For example, Pocket PCs could create and edit Office documents, while smartphones could only view email attachments. But phones "got smarter" and mobile broadband voice and data grew ubiquitous. By Windows Mobile 6.0, this differentiation was reduced to Pro (for touch-screen smartphones) or Standard (for all other smartphones). Today, Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphones (below, right) can run hundreds of Microsoft and third-party apps – includ - ing those hosted on-line at Windows Live or downloaded from Windows Marketplace. Because so many users now depend on smartphones to meet business and personal needs, Windows Mobile 6.5 enables collaboration via social Page 3 of 11 Sponsored by: Windows Mobile 6.5: Enabling business mobility, today and tomorrow Windows Mobile OS evolution networks like Facebook and MySpace, messaging with services like Hotmail and Messenger, and email via Exchange, Windows Live Gmail, Yahoo! and others. A redesigned graphical interface with touch-screen gesture support (below, left) delivers faster access to favorite apps, further boosting productivity. Feature Windows Mobile 6.5 Standard Pro 1. Lock screen message/appointments √ 2. Customizable Today screen √ 3. Faster access Start screen √ 4. Internet Explorer Mobile 6 √ √ 5. Windows Marketplace for Mobile √ √ 6. Windows Media Player Mobile √ √ 7. Microsoft My Phone Backup √ √ 8. Social networking apps √ √ 9. Designer and custom themes √ √ 10. MSN Widgets for News/Weather √ √ Top Ten Features in Windows Mobile 6.5 Source: Microsoft Page 4 of 11 Sponsored by: Windows Mobile 6.5: Enabling business mobility, today and tomorrow Mobilizing business operations Mobilizing business operations Unlike most other smartphone operating systems, Windows Mobile did not start out powering cell phones or pagers. Rather, its computer operating system heritage gave Windows Mobile OS a head-start on powering small/mobile devices with diverse programming needs. By separating out the WinCE core, Microsoft created an easily embedded modular OS that manufacturers have since incorporated into a wide array of consumer and business products. The latest version of this core is called Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3. This small (300 KB) 32-bit real-time OS can run multiple tasks concurrently on ARM, MIPS, SH4, and x86 processors, serving as the "brain" for devices commonly found today in homes, stores, factories, hospitals and offices. For example, many consumers own game consoles, digital photo frames, media players, navigation systems, and television set-top boxes based on WinCE (below). WinCE-Based Consumer Electronic Devices In addition to the booming consumer electronics market, there are many different WinCE-powered devices used by businesses – especially in vertical markets that can readily benefit from process automation and workflow mobilization. For example: • Retail establishments and warehouses commonly use barcode and RFID scanners, mobile point-of-sale (PoS) terminals, and kiosk registers that run some flavor of WinCE. • Factories often employ industrial control systems, process monitoring devices, and human machine interfaces that are based on WinCE. • Field service and delivery workers often rely on WinCE-powered ruggedized scanners, handheld terminals, and vehicle navigation systems. • Healthcare workers use IV pumps, bedside/remote monitors, portable ultrasound scanners, and voice- over-IP badges and phones that run on WinCE. Page 5 of 11 Sponsored by: Windows Mobile 6.5: Enabling business mobility, today and tomorrow Mobilizing business operations Mobilizing business operations can increase productivity, reduce data entry errors, and speed responses to customers and co-workers. Specialized devices running WinCE (below) have long helped businesses achieve these goals by enabling mobile or remote access to business data and as-needed communication between business systems and workers. For example, tens of thousands of FEDEX drivers and warehouse workers now record shipment progress and delivery using Motorola MC9500 ruggedized WinCE handhelds. WinCE-Based Embedded Devices WinCE is popular among device manufacturers because it can adapt to so many varied and challenging hardware platforms while leveraging familiar development tools and expertise. Of course, few end users realize that all of these purpose-built devices use WinCE. When most users hear "Windows Mobile," they picture smartphones. But even Windows Mobile 6.x phones carried by so many knowledge workers today come in a variety of shapes and sizes (below). WinCE/Windows Mobile 6.5-Based Smartphones Page 6 of 11 Sponsored by: Windows Mobile 6.5: Enabling business mobility, today and tomorrow Mobilizing business operations Why? Diverse jobs call for different devices. On-the-go workforces that conduct business in harsh or wet conditions often require rugged smartphones (right). Mobile professionals who communicate with brief messages may prefer touch-screens with virtual keyboards (center), while those required to precisely input a lot of data benefit from integrated physical keyboards (left). Beyond intended use, factors like carrier, coverage, network and peripheral interfaces, on-board GPS, expandable storage, battery life, OS version, price, and IT endorsement can also affect smartphone selection. Today, it is common for an IT organization that has standardized on the Windows Mobile OS platform to offer employees a choice of devices that reflect differences in work location, tasks, applications,