Windows Phone
Windows Phone, also known as Windows Mobile or WinMo for short, is one of the most trusted platforms with enterprise users. The ability to enforce an enterprise-wide mobile security policy, ease of provisioning, carrier independence, solid integration with Exchange and support for Office are some of the enterprise-friendly features of Windows Mobile. Other advantages include support for a wide range of hardware from mobile phones to handhelds from different manufacturers, presence of a powerful development environment and debugging tool (Visual Studio), and general availability of developers who are conversant with the platform. Thus Windows Mobile applications has been widely deployed by enterprises to connect employees on the move with corporate systems. Some of the applications include collection of field data, workflow systems and integration with ERP and CRM systems.
With the introduction of Windows Phone 7, Microsoft is targeting the consumer market. This phone will be directly competing with Apple's iPhone and Google's Android. We do not expect the initial revisions of Windows Phone 7 to be enterprise-friendly; however, Microsoft will continue support for Windows Mobile 6.5 until Windows Phone 7 picks up enterprise features.
Windows Phone 7 is a totally new OS built from scratch; except for the Windows name it shares little with 6.5. The UI is minimalistic and the focus is on user-friendliness. There is tight Exchange, Office, SharePoint, Windows-Live and even Xbox integration. Users used to the desktop version of Outlook will find it easy to adapt to the mobile version. Third party applications for Windows Phone must be distributed through the Windows Marketplace. The apps will have to go through an approval process. The Marketplace will allow end-users to trial the apps before buying. The On the flip side, Windows Phone does not offer multi-tasking, presumably to save battery-life. It will not be backward compatible with 6.x, so any 6.x apps must be completely rewritten.
Windows 7 will not support native apps; developers will have to code apps in Silverlight. All apps are managed and must run in their sandbox. The XNA framework will be available for game developers.
At QBurst, we are proficient with both Windows 6.5 and Windows 7 platforms. Some of the apps we have developed include:
- App for handheld PCs used by field engineers to enter readings from machines as part of testing and certifying machines.
- App to capture data regarding customer premises for a mobile ISP (including photos).
- App for physicians to see their schedule, view patient data, and enter diagnostic (ICD) and treatment (CPT) codes on their Windows Mobiles.
So whether you are looking for developing a mobile app for your enterprise using WinMo 6.5 or a consumer app for Windows Phone 7 using Silverlight, we can help.
