Pocket PC 2003 becomes Windows Mobile

By Tim Danton

Posted on 23 Jun 2003 at 11:29

What's new in Microsoft's updated OS and what it means in practice

With its new snappy title of Windows Mobile 2003 software for Pocket PCs, Microsoft has four key 'visions' for Pocket PC 2003 (PPC 2003): to make it easier for manufacturers to innovate; to improve the 'wireless experience'; to bring easy instant messaging to the PDA; and to enrich and expand the 'media experience'.

As you can see from our first and exclusive meeting with a PPC 2003 device, the iPAQ H5550, in this month's PC Pro, not all of these visions will be met instantly, but things could get very interesting in the coming year.

The first thing to look forward to is new hardware designs. PPC 2003 makes it possible for screen sizes to drop down to a 2.8in diagonal, meaning that Pocket PCs will get smaller. We can also expect pendants, such as remote controls for Windows Media Player, while the addition of a USB host makes it easier for manufacturers to bring USB peripherals into the fray.

With built-in support for low-cost NAND memory, we can also hope for aggressively priced PPC 2003 devices - possibly as low as $150 in the US, which could result in devices around the £100 mark in the UK. Initially, the only PPC 2003 devices in the UK will be revisions - the likes of Dell and Toshiba will simply update the ROM on the Axim X5 and e750 respectively.

But things are much more exciting in the US. JVC and Panasonic are both producing new Pocket PC devices, Samsung will be updating its i700 (with an integrated digital camera) and Hitachi is introducing a keyboard-based PDA. This takes advantage of Microsoft's keyboard-friendly initiatives, making it possible to send an email, for example, without reaching for the stylus.

We can also expect more future devices to include WLAN and Bluetooth. In Bluetooth's case, this is because PPC 2003 now includes the same Bluetooth stack as Windows XP SP 1 - this should make Bluetooth add-ons cheaper and improve compatibility. For the moment, Microsoft is concentrating on device-to-device and dial-up networking profiles, but manufacturers can add more with their machines, as HP has done.

PPC 2003 also extends the WLAN zero-configuration idea, as introduced in Windows XP, to the Pocket PC. This means that a suitably equipped PPC 2003 device will automatically detect a new network and link up seamlessly; at least that's the theory.

Microsoft has also switched to a Wizard-based approach, which won't please everyone. Although the 'power' settings are still there, they're hidden away, so many existing guides on how to set up wireless networks will refer people to a button that's no longer there. Still, it's good to see the Message dialog buttons have been beefed up, allowing you to click directly to the appropriate settings.

Corporate users should also appreciate a new IPSec VPN client and integrated 802.1x support, plus support for multiple VPNs (already shipping with HP and Toshiba devices). And everyone will benefit from the enhanced version of Internet Explorer, with support for cascading style sheets, XHTML, HTML 4 and IPv6. If you intend to link up a GPRS mobile phone (or wait for devices with the Phone Edition, like O2's xda), you can also take advantage of always-on instant messaging. So even if your device is 'off', the message will get through.

The final part of Microsoft's 'vision' is for enhanced media, and there are two extra apps to back up the hype. First, there's Windows Media Player 9. This isn't radically different to version 8, but there's support for Photo Story, as supplied by the XP Plus! Digital pack. This allows you to take digital photos, add a track and combine them to create a photo story.