Gizmodo 
Enter your username and password.
Tip your editors:
tips@gizmodo.com
Editorial Director:
Brian Lam | Email | Twitter
Editor:
Jason Chen
Email | AIM | Twitter
Features Editor:
Wilson Rothman
Email | Twitter
Senior Contributing Editors:
Jesus Diaz
Email | AIM | Twitter
Mark Wilson, Reviews
Email | AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editors:
Matt Buchanan
Email | AIM | Twitter
Adam Frucci
Email | Twitter
Sean Fallon
Email | Twitter
Jack Loftus
Email | Twitter
John Herrman
Email | Twitter
Dan Nosowitz
Email
Chris Mascari
Email
Danny Allen
Email | Twitter
Rosa Golijan
Email | Twitter
Chris Jacob
Email
Columnist:
Brendan I. Koerner
Interns:
Don Nguyen
Email
Kyle VanHemert
Email
Comment Intern:
Nick Ellenoff | Email
Comment Account Questions:
Comments@gizmodo.com
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
10/09/09
10/09/09
1) They actually outright state that the "basic" protection is simply requiring that someone sign in with a Live ID before they can download, then deleting the CAB file. It's phrased to imply that there's more going on, but that's it.
2) Apparently only a few hypothetical "super-hackers" could possibly work around the protection provided by (1)
3) The expensive, premium protection is seemingly the same old tie-the-app-to-the-IMEI patching of the binary that everyone and their dog uses, which is probably trivial to hack too.
10/09/09
If they use Pocket IE, then it's very likely in that standard directory. A quick "Chandler" should find the full path. You could probably even write a small app that automatically mirrored any CAB file out of there.
10/09/09
[blogs.msdn.com]
"\Windows\Profiles\guest\Temporary Internet Files".
Anyone with the WinMo app store that can verify this for 6.5?
10/09/09
I'm still undecided on whether to submit my software to the Marketplace. I'm not worried about piracy much, as they're only $1.99 apps anyway. But the expense and trouble that seems to be involved in getting things approved is an impediment to individual developers like me.
I have two apps now in the Samsung App Store. That was very cheap and easy, and it has a pretty good copy protection scheme, tied to the phone's ID.
10/09/09
As for piracy, I'm really writing it for me but wouldn't mind a few buck from others who find it just as useful.
10/09/09
No, I don't really have a set of controls or anything yet. I have a C# image button class I did for one app. For other things, I just space them so they can be hit easily with a finger. Oh, I also have a form base class with "flick" gesture support and the ability to slide up, down, left, or right between forms. I've pretty much found the limits of what can be done graphics-wise with the .NET 2 CF.
For my apps I have demo versions that have limited features and nag screens, but no time limit. They can be activated with an RPN key (Handango-style) to full version status. I haven't decided yet whether to put them on Handango, etc. 50% is a lot compared to Samsung's and Microsoft's 30%.
08/10/09
There are thousands and thousands of WiMo apps out there.
08/09/09
08/09/09
It only got popular due to Apple blocking it, and the official release by Google for BB/Android.
08/05/09
This is a frustrating issue. I'll be the first to admit that iPhone OS is a richer environment for a simple reason: it's almost 10x larger than WiMo.
Windows Mobile was designed to fit - with all the core apps - into 32MB of ROM. The fact that it can do all the things it can do is actually pretty amazing - especially for the company that's the alleged posterboy for 'bloat'. iPhone OS, on the other hand, clocks in at 220MB+.
The WiMo ecosystem hasn't reacted to the much cheaper cost of flash memory and low power memory, and keeps building WiMo devices that are at least four years behind the curve... and Microsoft hasn't done much to convince them to knock it off.
WiMo 6.5 does a bit to fix this (and ONLY a bit) - but the big hope is 7.0 which sets new minimal hardware requirements. Thing is, unless Microsoft is ready to fill in a lot of missing parts and get rid of .Net CF - and just deliver .Net ARM, they're doomed to be left behind - and the window is closing (so to speak).
That being said, I read the article in question and have to bring up a few issues. First, it's entirely possible, if a little tricky, to make controls that look and behave just like iPhone controls in .Net CF (it's trivially easy in full .Net). Second, the ease of porting is very dependent on what you do and how you do it. I felt the author went about it in a somewhat difficult way. Still, the fact that Microsoft chose to publish that as a case study is unfortunate - and underlines the chief problem at MSFT with respect to WiMo - a kind of wilfull blindness.
It's weird that the simple UI is clunky when the hard one - the real time sound display - is almost identical. Most people over estimate the complexity of iPhone/Mac OS controls. Most of them are simply graphical elements (pngs, bmps and tifs) that are composited. I know this because I wrote a complete MacOS X Aqua UI kit for .Net 1.1 several years ago and actually OVER designed it - I actually generated the shading and elements algorithmically - then later found out how Apple did it.
The screen shot attached shows a sample - every control there works correctly.
But, the development tools in Visual Studio are often clumsy when you get to WiMo as soon as you start to cut your own controls because of the mechanism they use to insulate the developer from the complexities of things like P/Invoking into the OS.
Several people here dismiss the value of C# and .Net, but here's a good example of why it's easier - Apple posted a 'your first iPhone app' and I did the exact same thing in .Net:
apple: http: // www.vargr.com / files / iphone101.pdf
WiMo: http: // www.vargr.com / files / wimo101.pdf
(sheesh - embedding links is a real pain now)
It speaks for itself. If Microsoft fixed WiMo and gave us a full .Net, this discussion would be moot.
08/04/09
For the most part, direct porting of applications leads to sub par applications for all the systems you work on. For example, take a look at Safari 3 for the PC, it was a direct port, and worked terribly, Safari 4 then changed that strategy, and now it integrates much better with windows.
08/05/09
.Net allows you to use managed C++ mixes with native C++ and that's the trick that lets you make a portable application.
If you write an application with intention of it being crossplatform, the pain is paid once - but in this case, the app was written for the least compatible case, then ported.
You will end up writing a lot of custom UI code - once - but then you'll have a library of code you can use from then on.
08/04/09
Sure, if you have experience with multiplatform development you can make this process much less painful, but it's still far from a simple task.
All points mentioned in the article are moot:
* Language independence: while it's nice to be able to work with any language, it's not such a big deal. Any developer worth their salt should be able to pick up Objective C in a few weeks, and it is a sweet language to work with. I'd love to have garbage collection as on option, thou.
* Working on a single program: while it's true that you use a number or programs to develop for the iPhone, all those programs are very well integrated.
* Licensed libraries: Microsoft licenses additional libraries, Apple has most of these functionality built-in, for free. Some developers are also starting to distribute/sell libraries for iPhone.
* Development tools: iPhone development tools are also built into Apple's tools. For free, BTW. Visual Studio isn't exactly cheap.
* Community: iPhone developer community is huge already, and growing at a scaring pace.
All that said: WinMo (or more importantly, BB) is still an important target for corporate applications, and it's probably worth the effort to port your apps. Just don't expect anything to happen magically.
08/04/09
One thing I don't think the average consumer will ever realize about the iPhone is that it's super easy to develop for in comparison to any other mobile device. Even thought Apple is trying to make a big deal out of features like MMS, Video, Voice commands and things that I had back on my Treo 650 in 2004--The fact of the matter is that the ease of development is going to allow it to push so far beyond other devices in upcoming years unless mobile OS makers get serious.
With that being said, every phone is a target. Nobody likes every phone and as a business person, you have to keep the customers interest ahead of yours. If you're serious about a mobile application, you need to serve as many devices as you possibly can no matter how crappy the development environment is.
08/05/09
Draw a button, set up the features in properties and double-click and bang, you're in the actual routine that gets called when someone clicks on the button.
You can DO it the way Cocoa does it - but you don't have to.
You have a point about having to pay to get access to a version of Visual studio that can handle WiMo, and yes, if Microsoft wants WiMo to catch on, they'll have to give it up and add it to the Express editions.
You're muddying up the issue with extra libraries. Even in .Net CF, which is stunningly minimal compared to full .Net, a LOT of stuff comes built in. Again, as I note in another comment, given that WiMo is only 32-64MB in size, including the system and core apps, it's actually surprising how well it works - but the truth is, they need to get over it and make WiMo complete.
08/05/09
08/04/09
Ahhhwhatnow?
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/05/09
07/12/09
07/12/09
I'm digging all the cool stuff i can do with my WinMo phone.
-far more than I expected as a former PalmOS enthusiast.
07/12/09
07/12/09
07/12/09
07/12/09
07/12/09
Works great on my i910 Omnia.
-and YES I'll be flashing it real soon.
07/12/09
As a programmer, I really like my Omnia. Windows Mobile is very hackable. What are you going to flash? 6.1 or 6.5 beta? Cooked?
Edit...Why are my comments still not showing up without "show all"?!? Edit again...At least it let me promote my own comment! Ha!
07/12/09
I have no idea. I'm a bit out of my depth because i haven't hunkered down and read everything yet.