Mobile Connections is a conference within DevConnections conference on November 5 – 8 in Las Vegas, NV. The mobile PC session list is posted as:
MPC304: Adding Location-Awareness to Mobile PC Applications with MapPoint and Virtual Earth
Frank LaVigne
Mobile PCs are, by definition, on the move and with the addition of Location Awareness you can add significant value to your application. Whether leveraging GPS or IP-based location tracking, find out how you can quickly pinpoint your location and offer location-specific services, directions, and more using MapPoint and Virtual Earth.
MPC305: Adding Power and Network Awareness to your Windows Vista Mobile PC Applications
Markus Egger
Mobile applications operate in volatile environments. Network connections may not be available, or only be available intermittently, yet applications still need to function. Similarly, computers may run on an external power source or be operated on a battery. Depending on the available power or the level of battery charge, applications should act smartly and preserve power as much as appropriate. This session explains how to make your applications both network aware and power aware.
MPC303: Annotation and Drawing with Ink in Silverlight
Julia Lerman
TabletPC development for Web sites just got a whole lot easier and more flexible with Silverlight. This session will show how to use Silverlight’s InkPresenter control to let users annotate photos, videos, and blogs to create highly interactive and fun Web sites. The session will also explore methods of saving annotations, replaying them on demand, and synchronizing them with video. Javascript and .NET functionality will both be covered in this session. Unlike the ActiveX control solutions of the past, Silverlight’s flexibility also means that non-Tablet users (even Macs) can interact with these solutions although they will not get the high resolution and other advantages that only a digitizer and stylus allow.
MPC307: Developing for the Tablet PC as a Smart Client Platform
Frank LaVigne
Learn all about the basics for building Smart Client applications that leverage the portability and power of the Tablet PC platform. In this session, Frank La Vigne introduces developers to the hardware, software, and development options available to building out Smart Client solutions on the Tablet PC. Adding Ink functionality can dramatically add value to existing applications without adding significant amounts of code; see just how easy it can be to take an existing application and add support for Digital Ink, handwriting recognition, and document recognition.
MPC306: Ink-enabling Windows Presentation Foundation Applications
Billy Hollis
Ink is a first class citizen in Windows Presentation Foundation, allowing even Ink over moving video with very little effort. This session will cover the essentials of Ink in WPF, including the InkCanvas and InkPresenter controls and how to use them to place Ink over images and video. Standard Ink operations, such as storage and retrieval of Ink, and basic recognition, will also be shown and contrasted with their counterparts in Windows Forms. New capabilities for Ink in WPF will also be demonstrated, including new events for the stylus and using WPF animation to make Ink interfaces easier to use.
MPC302: Practical Ink Analysis in Mobile PC Applications
Frank LaVigne
The new InkAnalysis API not only provides for the conversion of Digital Ink to text, but also the conversion of entire document structures and shape recogntion. The science behind this is hard, but the API has been designed to be easy to use. In this presentation, Frank La Vigne will run through three sample applications built on top of the InkAnalyzer API that will demonstrate real world usefulness.
MPC308: Programming Windows SideShow
Markus Egger
Windows SideShow enables users to access information on their PCs without having to boot them up. This is done by means of a separate small screen with its own CPU and memory. Such a device could be built right into the lid of a notebook, or it could be a device that is separate from the main computer, such as a remote control, credit card sized screen, or a display on a rack mounted server. This session explains how to take advantage of this technology in your own applications.
MPC310: XNA Game Development for the UMPC
Nickolas Landry
Have you ever had an idea for a cool mobile game of your own? Or maybe you’ve played a few yourself and you think you can do better, but the idea of advanced low-level C++ development does not enchant you? Game development can be quite daunting and demands some of the sharpest programming skills in the industry. But thanks to Microsoft XNA, you can finally apply your .NET skills to the production of great games, casual or professional level. XNA Game Studio Express is a new offering from Microsoft, targeted at students and hobbyists for game development. XNA Game Studio Express is based on Visual C# Express and lets developers target both Windows and Xbox 360. This session covers the basics and takes you through the steps required to build your first mobile game for the Ultra Mobile PC and Windows Vista. Using live demos we’ll explore the managed code libraries that form the XNA Framework, the XNA Framework Content Pipeline that allow developers to more easily incorporate 3D content into their games, the relationship with Managed DirectX, the XNA “Creator’s Club” subscription on the Xbox 360, Xbox Live Marketplace, and more. We’ll tie-in the game content with the specifics of the UMPC form factor, the hardware features you can leverage, what specs are available to you, and how to design a good control scheme. Thanks to XNA and UMPCs, mobile game development has never been more accessible and exciting.