The chatter

I gave a Windows Mobile 5.0 presentation at the Southern California Code Camp last Saturday, and some people were asking if the presentation would be available online.

It wasn’t at the time, but I decided to goferit.

This isn’t exactly the same material, however. I used a PocketPC for the Code Camp talk, but I’m using a SmartPhone here. I’ve also changed some material, and I added a new section.

The talk is now in two parts, of which this is the first.

What you can expect to learn from this episode

• How to get yourself set up for WM 5.0 development (where to download SDKs, etc…)
• How to use the notification API (to get all sorts of information about the device)
• How to use the camera API
• How to use the message interception bits (so you can grab SMS and emails as they arrive and fiddle with them programatically)

Episode links

People expressed some concern about the last video being an exe, but I still don’t see a good way around the problem. I tried downloading and installing the codec for the AVI, but the video still doesn’t properly render. The only thing I’ve found that works is to use Camtasia’s custom player.

If you’re uncomfortable, then just scan the sucker up and down. You won’t hurt my feelings.

• The screencast – 64MB .exe (just run it to watch)
• The source code

What’s next

I’m going to be doing part two of this talk, which will consist of the Pocket Outlook Object Model (POOM) and the telephony API.

I’ll also be taking some of the concepts from this session a little further.

When you’re done listening

Head over to the forum to post any questions or comments.

The chatter

I’m excited about this one. The first two screencasts were meant to introduce device development to n0obs. Now that we’re past that, I wanted to start introducing, you know, like, actual concepts and stuff.

In addition to the content improvements, I’ve also switched to a different video format. The result is a small, but extremely high quality screencast. The downside to this is that I’ve had to package a player, a codec, and the video using some special Camtasia voodoo. However, I think it’ll be worth it. The new files are .exe’s, and they’ll start playing automatically after you run them.

The other downside is that the audio kind of sucks. I'm going to work on getting that fixed, but for this episode, it's just going to be a little stinky.

What you can expect to learn from this episode

• How to connect the emulator to a network (so that you can write networked apps with it (duh))
• How to use some cool controls (WebBrowser, TabControl)
• How to handle the inevitable arrival of a System.NotImplemented exception (even though v2.0 of the .NET CF is snazzier than ever, we still have to work around some shortcomings)
• How to use generics to save your butt
• How to programatically access web resources without the WebBrowser control (when you need to)

Episode links

• The screencast – 36MB .exe (just run it to watch)
• The source code

What’s next

I’m going to be building on this example in future screencasts to illustrate difficulties with UI design on devices, as well as furthering the networked goodness. My assumption is that we’re all net nerds, and we want our devices to hook up to the intarwebs and do neat-o things. We’ll get there :)

When you’re done listening

Head over to the forum to post any questions or comments.

You can post ‘em here, too, of course.

Have fun, people.

I don't know why it didn't occur to me until about five minutes ago to have a general forum for Q/A not related to an episode of the show.

I put one up just now. If you want to make some general chatter, this is the place to do it.

Good evening, peoples.

I got your comments, and I read your emails, and in response, I've created another VideoPoleon screencast. This time, it's basically the same demo as the first, but done for the SmartPhone instead.

I'm pretty happy with these so far. I have another few planned as well, so if you haven't ever done any smart device development, then you might as well watch these suckers. If you do, then you ought to be able to follow along pretty well when I release future episodes in which I create actual applications (rather than just simple Hello World style demos).

You can grab the most recent episode here.

And, if you're curious, here's an idea of what I plan on releasing in the near future (now that the holidays are behind us):

- Building connected applications for the PocketPC and SmartPhone platforms

- Using some of the nifty Windows Mobile 5.0 bits to work with special phone features

- Using some more of said nift to work with the Camera API as well as the State Notification mumbo-jumbo (neat stuff)

I've put together a simple demo app for the next screencast, and I think it'll do a good job of getting across some important principles.

Anyway, leave your feedback - positive and negative - I read it all :)

And enjoy...

The chatter

The "holidays" just came and went, and Rob Miles is a couple gadgets richer. We have a quick (~25 minutes) chat about a few different technical thingy-doodies.

What you can expect from this episode

• Rob reviews the i-mate JasJar - The JasJar (which is probably one of the strangest names for a product I've ever seen) was the first Windows Mobile 5.0 device to hit the market
• Rob reviews the Fujifilm FinePix F10 - A nice little camera with some nifty features
• Just for kicks, we talk about the Xbox 360 - Although it's not a gadget, the 360 can interact with your gadgets (plus, it's just so damned cool...)

Show downloads:

• The show - HiFi - 11MB MP3 - Get it
• The show - LoFi - 6MB MP3 - Get it

Blogs:

• Rob's blog
• My blog

When you're done listening

Check out the forums. Questions, comments, complaints, praise, and ads for private part enlargement procedures should all be placed here.

Well… Looks like the response to the video tutorial was pretty strong. I’ll definitely be making this a semi-regular feature here. I’d make it plain old “regular,” but my job makes it difficult for me to put things out on a regular basis, and I’m finding that a when-it’s-ready approach is best.

Case in point, I’m in Vegas right now for a team meeting, and I don’t have the equipment here to do one of the video tutorials. I have, however, put together a fun little demo app that I’m going to feature in the next one.

So, thanks for all the great comments. I seriously appreciate them, and it’s nice to hear some of you saying that it was what helped motivate you to take a look at developing for devices. Having been there, I can understand and relate. It’s the first push that’s the most difficult, but after that, when you realize what can be done even without a device (just using the emulator), it’s just fun.

There were some suggestions for topics, and I’ve been getting email as well with recommendations. I’m paying attention to everything I’m getting, and it’s helping me to form a little plan of action – a way to get from point A to point B, building incrementally on previous videos so that it will be easy for people to follow through the sequence and actually learn something.

Also, I have another MP3 I’ll be putting up over the next couple days, so that’s good stuff, too.

Until then, thanks again, people :)

Hello, hello.

I’m trying something new today. When I first put this site up, one of my intentions was to do video tutorials along with the audio show, and I finally got around to putting one of the tutorials together this afternoon.

It’s aimed at people who are new to developing for devices. I figure that some familiarity with the tools might make it easier for people to get into the audio show.

The focus of this twenty minute demo is developing a simple PocketPC application using VS 2005 and one of the built-in emulators. Note, however, that if you have VS 2003, you’ll still be able to follow along. Your emulator will be different, and you won’t have as many whiz-bang features, but the basic concepts are the same.

It’s just about twenty minutes in length, and comes in at a little under twenty megs, which is nice.

The one problem, which won’t happen again in the future (still learning how to do this), was a portion of audio that went totally nuts. The CPU got hit really hard while I was starting up the PocketPC emulator, and it basically put the audio through a sort of washing machine. It came out the other end garbled. So, I had to snip a small portion of the tutorial (nothing big – just waiting for the emulator to load).

There are also a couple very small audio glitches outside that, but nothing that should ruin your day. I’ve since figured out how to avoid this problem in the future, so it won’t happen again.

You can download the show here [wmv].

Enjoy, and let me know what you think :)

If you'd like to say anything about the Rob Miles episode, or if you'd like to write about your recent trip to the beach, this is the place to do it.

The chatter

This is a special episode of TinyThings.

That isn’t to say that other TinyThings episodes aren’t special. All TinyThings episodes (all two of ‘em) are special in their own ways. Each one is like a child, and I love each one as much as the others, and if one of them came to me and said, “Mommy, which of us is the prettiest?” I’d say, “You’re all the prettiest, my dear. You’re all the prettiest…”

I spoke with Rob Miles a couple months ago about interviewing him for one of the show’s episodes. He’s a software engineering instructor at a university out in the UK, and he has a passion for little, tiny devices that beep and bloop.

As you may have learned from the first episode, Rob is also the Gadget Guy who’s doing the reviews on the show.

I figured that, if he was going to be doing the reviews, that you all really ought to get to know him. For this reason, this episode is the “Getting To Know Rob Miles” episode.

We conducted the interview using skype, and were both very impressed. Carl and I used skype for some .NET Rocks shows nearly two years ago (two years! I can’t believe it’s been that long…), and it’s come a long way since then. Where Carl and I found it nearly unusable for cross country calling, Rob and I managed a transatlantic conversation with no lag and only a few hiccups.

On a side note, if you happen to have a Windows Mobile 5.0 device, it’s entirely possible that you have skype installed on it. They’re doing pretty well, them skype people.

What you can expect from this episode

• Rob talks about game development on Windows Mobile devices
• Rob talks about considerations for developing apps that will run on desktops, tablets, and mobile devices – from the same codebase
• Rob sugar coats his opinions of native over managed development for devices
• Rob wraps things up at the end with a review of one of his favorite new gadgets

Notable Quote

I still don’t know what Rob meant by this, but I’m enjoying it all the same:

I agonized over the bonus ham for a long time - I thought it might offend people.

Episode Links

This show clocked in at about 57 minutes, so I didn’t split the file. I think that’s small enough to fit on a CD. However, not having burned an audio CD in about twenty years, I’m not as confident as I could be about this. If I’m wrong, then please notify me and I’ll split the sucker.

Show downloads:

• The show - HiFi - 26MB MP3 - Get it
• The show - LoFi - 13MB MP3 - Get it

Blogs:

• Rob's blog
• Just for kicks, my blog

Rob’s MSDN articles:

• Pocket Blackjack
• Starlight Space Shooter Thingy
• Pocket Bots Battle Game
• Programming With Cheese #1
• Programming With Cheese #2
• Programming With Cheese #3
• Programming With Cheese #4

Places of interest:

• Windows Mobile site
• MSDN Mobile Developer Center

When you're done listening

Check out the forums. Questions, comments, complaints, praise, and ads for private part enlargement procedures should all be placed here.

Hi, I'm Rob Miles. Rory has very kindly given me a set of keys to the TinyThings castle, so that I can post my words here as well. I'm going to be writing about gadgets and games that I think you should be aware of, starting with Grand Theft Auto for the PSP.