What's New in Applications and Services

Article
11/18/2015

4/12/2010

Updating Applications and Services

Application developers can improve the overall user experience by making applications more consistent with Windows Mobile 6.5. For example, they can use the new seamless theme integration and create applications that support finger touch. Additional new features and recommendations follow.

Running on the Windows Mobile Browser

The Windows Mobile 6.5 browser now handles touch interactions. The following items would add value to applications that run on the browser:

Touchable zoom
Session initiated protocol (SIP) accessible by user
Miniature document map to provide orientation when the user scrolls the page

Icons

Use Windows Mobile 6.5 icons for your applications as appropriate, and use similar measurements and style for your own icons.

Focus Status

Use focus status similar to that used in Windows Mobile to traverse hierarchical patterns in your applications. That is, when an action that is highlighted (in focus) is selected, move the focus to the next deeper level.

Graphical Elements

If your application depends on text, be aware that the treatment of this text is theme dependent, much like focus-state graphics. For example, Windows Mobile 6.5 maintains a consistency between the theme color (dark blue) and text color (light blue). Maintain a similar consistency in your applications.

User Interface Elements

In your application, provide finger-friendly access to the following elements to be similar to Windows Mobile 6.5 functionality:

Menus
Dialog boxes
Tabs
Buttons
Scroll bars
Shell notifications (bubble or toast)

Touch

Use gestures in your applications similar to those in Windows Mobile 6.5, such as double tap, hold, pan, and flick. You can use the gesture APIs to add these gestures to third-party applications and plug-ins.

Messaging

You can now customize the messaging icons.

The SMS client is improved in Windows Mobile 6.5. Because SMS and MMS are threaded together in the same screen view, third-parties can modify their MMS client to take advantage of these improvements.

Windows Media Player

In Windows Media Player (WMP), users can now flick on album cover art to go to the next or previous song.

Other enhancements and changes include:

You can now configure the time period for which WMP will buffer the encoded data so that the CPU idle time is increased and power consumption is reduced.
Video scaling support was added for full-screen mode with the new IAMVideoTransformComponent interface.
Audio playback enhancements. The audio file pauses if the user receives a call, and resumes playback automatically when the call is finished. When WMP goes to background mode, the audio file plays in the background.
Video playback enhancements. The video file pauses if the user receives a call, but remains in pause mode even after the call is finished. When WMP goes to background mode, the video file goes into pause mode.
When WMP is streaming a video file, the video file is stopped if the user receives a call and remains in that state even after the call is finished. When WMP goes to background mode, the streaming video file is stopped. **

RIA Framework

Rich Internet Application (RIA) support will be enabled in Windows Mobile 6.5 primarily to implement the Widget framework so that Microsoft and its partners can develop widgets for end users. We encourage you to be creative as you design and develop widgets. The following user scenario depicts the use of two useful widgets.

Sitting on a dark porch in Vermont, Marco turns up his collar and pulls out his Windows phone. On the Home screen he scrolls to Favorites and selects his MSN Money widget. The widget reminds him that he’s roaming, but he doesn’t care, he wants to see what’s happening on Euronext. Though it’s a widget, it occupies the full screen like any application. He checks the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, Madrid… Marco’s thoughts are elsewhere, however, so he opens the Weather widget. It’s 56 degrees and overcast in Vermont, but he checks the weather in Pensacola, Florida. Still in the 70s. That’s where he would rather be!

Applications

Customizing File Explorer Options

The File Explorer application is available to the user from the Start Menu in the home screen of Windows phones. If the File Explorer application has been used recently, it may also be started using the quick launch icon which appears on the home screen.

Users can now select multiple files in File Explorer. When entering multiple-selection mode, the user can choose Several or All from the Select menu. In Select Several mode, the user can click one or more files to select them. The user can click Cancel Selection on the menu at any time to exit.

There is now a registry value that can be used to specify the order of forms on the New menu of the Text Messages account. **

Adding a Picture to a Contact on the Contact Summary Card

It is now easier to add a picture to a contact. If there is no picture for a contact a default icon appears at the top of the contact summary card. Tapping on the icon, or selecting the top of the summary card and pressing the Edit (left) soft key, immediately invokes a dialog for selecting a picture to add.

The default icon can be overridden with a different image. The resource ID is IDB_OVERRIDE_CONTSCRD_PICTPLACEH. **

This feature is available on Windows Mobile Standard, Windows Mobile Professional, and Windows Mobile Classic.

Pocket Outlook Object Model

Contacts Groups

A contact group is a collection of addresses created by a user. There are two types of contact groups:

A messaging contact group contains SMS addresses; i.e., phone numbers.
An e-mail contact group contains e-mail addresses.

The user populates a contact group by selecting from contacts. Though SIM contacts cannot be selected directly, they can be copied to the phone and then selected.

A user may specify messaging contact groups as recipients of text messages, and e-mail contact groups as recipients of e-mails (and in some cases text messages; see below).

The registry value LimitSMSRecipients, if it is greater than zero, limits the number of recipients of an SMS message. When a contact group is a recipient, each member of the group individually counts against this limit. **

If the mobile operator supports sending SMS messages to e-mail addresses, and this capability is enabled, then text messages may be sent to e-mail contact groups as well as to messaging contact groups. **

Online Address Book Search Functions API

The Online Address Book Search Functions API provides applications with the ability to search the Exchange Server online address book (also known as the Global Address List, or GAL).

The API is available for Windows Mobile Standard and Windows Mobile Professional.

The API is asynchronous. It provides functions to initialize, de-initialize, start, and cancel searches. In addition, a notification is generated when search results are ready.

Services

Windows Mobile 6.5 includes support for several new services. As a partner, these services offer revenue growth opportunities or cost savings:

Windows Marketplace for Mobile lets customers expand their phone's capabilities through powerful software.
Windows Live services let users stay up to date with a rich messaging experience, including the familiar Windows Live Messenger and push e-mail for their Windows Live Hotmail account.
MyPhone is a new service that lets customers easily back up and manage phone information and allows them to access information from any personal computer as well as their phone.

The following scenario depicts how a user might take advantage of these services.

Before leaving on his trip, Marco aggregates his e-mail accounts and backs up his data with Microsoft MyPhone. Then, in London, he accidentally leaves his phone in a cab as he dashes to the airport. Upon landing in New York, Marco stops at a kiosk and replaces his Windows® phone. Within minutes of configuring it, he has all his phone settings, photos, videos, and music automatically downloaded to his new phone—and his calendar and e-mail are syncing again. Even his SMS messages have been saved. Total recovery, without going back to his computer! Finally, he initiates a remote wipe of his old phone to ensure that none of his e-mail and messages falls into the wrong hands. Marco finds the game solitaire right where had moved it to on his old phone, at the top of the Start menu. He decides he wants to try a new game, so he downloads one from Windows Marketplace for Mobile, a secure source he can trust for both business and personal applications.

Windows Marketplace for Mobile

In Windows Mobile 6.5, Marketplace is an integral part of the mobile experience.

Marketplace lets customers expand their phone's capabilities through powerful software. Customers can manage their Marketplace account and application purchases directly from their Windows phones.

Note

Microsoft anticipates that Marketplace services and other services will be available in targeted geographies in 2009.

Microsoft MyPhone

Windows Mobile 6.5 includes support for Microsoft MyPhone, a service that allows users to back up their phone data to a server online. MyPhone lets users access information from their phone through the Web browser on any Windows-based PC that is connected to the Internet.

MyPhone automatically backs up contacts, photos, calendar, and SMS messages to a security-enhanced Web account. This makes it easier for the user to replace, upgrade, or change mobile phones.

MyPhone also provides remote wipe capabilities in case a phone is lost or stolen, and lets users show a message on the phone with instructions of how to return it when misplaced.

Windows Live Services

Windows Mobile 6.5 has new support for Windows Live services, such as Live Search and Instant Messaging.

Windows Live services lets users stay up to date with a rich messaging experience, including the familiar Windows Live Messenger and push e-mail for Windows Live Hotmail accounts. Users can stay in touch with social networks and upload pictures easily to Windows Live Spaces. Windows Mobile 6.5 lets OEMs place an advertisement thumbnail on the right tab. When selected, the user will see a full ad image that is integrated with ad campaigns in the OEM's infrastructure. **

Windows Live Messenger is an optional feature which OEMs can remove from the build.

Live Search, which OEMs can add to the build, lets users quickly find information that they seek, such as movies, traffic, and gas prices nearby. Using LocateMe, they can determine their approximate location without having to enter an address or use GPS. Live Search supports English, French, and Italian, automatically installing the appropriate language based on the build configuration of the Windows phone.

Users can even use voice input and predictive text entry to conveniently search from their phone.

By providing Windows Live, you can strengthen device value, and potentially expand your customer base, by adding a rich client experience and device integration.

Windows Mobile 6.5 further enhances the Windows Live experience as follows:

To help users save time, Windows Mobile 6.5 fills credentials in the Live Services sign-in boxes, which allows Live ID sharing. Users can overwrite the information, and can change the credentials on one service but not another.
Through touch, users can scroll through text and choose emoticons to enhance their messages.