Microsoft Webcast for Windows Mobile Application Development

Computer professionals must be aware that Microsoft has come out with the first five webcasts, each of with a one hours duration, in its series of "24 Hours of Windows Mobile Application Development."

Earlier there was quite a bit of confusion in the market when Microsoft titled its webcast series as "24 Hours of Windows Mobile Application Development" as the title appeared to be devoid of meaning. Now the company has clarified that there will actually be twenty-four one-hour webcasts in the series.

While four of these webcasts have already found their way into the market and are viewable online and ready for downloading, the fifth webcast was launched live at the TechEd developer conference scheduled for early June in Orlando.

Microsoft is also slated to bring out the sixth and seventh episodes in this series of twenty-four webcasts dedicated to Windows Mobile 6.1 software development soon. A list of the webcasts complete with links for registration is available on Constanze Roman’s blog called Constanze’s Mobile Musings. Constanze Roman is the Community Program Manager for the Microsoft Corporation and a well-known speaker at various Microsoft Conferences (International).

Registration is simple. You can get registered for the first four presentations easily. The list of all the webcasts is available on Constanze’s blog. But remember one thing—you must have a Windows Live ID to get registered. Once you register yourself, you will have the option to view the webcast either online or in PowerPoint format.

According to Microsoft, the first webcast entitled "Developing Applications for Windows Mobile Devices (Level 200)" provides the viewer a macro view of Windows Mobile development applications and tools, covers Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, and trains viewers on how to use an emulator to test applications.

The second webcast known as "Developing Your First Real Windows Mobile 6 Application (Level 200)" pertains to interface design for small displays and will deal with interface issues that relates to different device form factors.

The third webcast described as "Using Device Capabilities and Device Functionality (Level 300)" is all about learning Pocket Outlook accessibility from an incorporated application management system. It also acquaints users with the incorporation of location awareness in a managed application and tells about making phone calls from within the same application.

The fourth webcast called "Mobile Data Strategies and Synchronization Using SQL Server Compact, XML, and LINQ (Level 200)" elaborates on the factors developers must bear in mind when utilizing a compatible device for data storage. It includes the Microsoft dot NET Compact Framework coverage of Language Integrated Query (LINQ).

The fifth webcast in the series christened "Windows Mobile Development (Level 100)" had been unveiled from Orlando on June 4. Apart from providing a synopsis of the previous webcasts, this episode will carry interesting demos and presumably interviews with TechEd attendees.

Microsoft has announced its intention to bring out the sixth and seventh webcasts in the "24 Hours of Windows Mobile Application Development" series especially for Windows Mobile 6.1 software development. These two installments, available now for online viewing, will be using PIM data integration techniques and distinguished code enhancements for application interoperability.

The sixth installment titled "Using Pocket Outlook Data inside a Managed Application" educates developers on using the functionalities of the Windows Pocket Outlook application from the developer’s very own Windows Mobile management functional application system.

The seventh webcast in the 24 hours series is also viewable online now and goes by the title "Interoperability between Managed and Native Code." As the name suggests, it deals with the code management system related to the Microsoft .Net Compact Framework. For instance, the interoperability of P/Invoke and native Win 32 are well explained in this particular webcast.

The fact that mobile devices are moved among different locations could mean that at times the user has a choice of available networks and at other times the user may be denied use any of them. Microsoft claims these one-hour webcasts will teach Windows Mobile developers how to create network connections in code and how to discover if the applications have network connectivity