Why Windows Mobile?

Computing is becoming more mobile with laptops and other handheld devices now outselling traditional desktop computers. The leading growth area in the handheld market is for so-called ‘smartphones’, which have all the familiar features of mobile phones together with extended features like WiFi connectivity, satellite positioning and support for professional office applications like email, word processing, and spreadsheets.

These mobile devices are becoming the must-have device for most business people, allowing them to communicate while out of the office, to have access to critical data, and to organise their work and family life more flexibly.

With the latest release of Omnis Studio, Version 5, you can take advantage of this mobile revolution, by extending your new and existing applications to support these new mobile platforms and devices. Combined with all the other great features in Studio 5, such as support for multiple languages (Studio 5 fully supports Unicode text and data), you can now reach new customers, in new markets, giving you greater success for your Omnis applications

Microsoft Windows Mobile commands around 13% of the market for smartphones, with a far higher percentage of the business and professional software sector for mobiles. The Windows Mobile platform shows real potential for growth given the overwhelming support from handset manufacturers, the network service providers around the world, and the continuing leverage of Microsoft in the corporate and development software market.

Symbian (Nokia) currently dominates the market for mobile handsets and content, but this is largely for consumers who typically buy games, images and ringtones, rather than business and professional applications. There are also many developments in the open source market, not least the new mobile platform from Google, codenamed Android and expected to ship in 2008/09. However, in the corporate environment, it seems likely that the Windows Mobile platform will be widely used.

The Mobile Market: The Latest Information

According to Canalys, smartphone shipments hit 118 million in 2007, up 53% on 2006. Shipments of such devices look set to increase dramatically as users replace old phones and new markets are opened up in China and India.

According to the Handango annual ‘Yardstick’ year-end survey for 2007 of applications sold, 19% of the total applications sold on Windows Mobile (Pocket PC) were Business & Professional applications, while only 4% on Symbian (Nokia) were business oriented. Source: http://corp.pocketgear.com

Windows Mobile ® is licensed to 4 out of the top 5 phone manufacturers.

The following companies all make Windows Mobile enabled devices:

  • Samsung (Ace, BlackJack, Omnia)
  • HTC (Touch series)
  • Sony Ericsson (the new Xperia X1)
  • Palm Inc (the new Treo)
  • HP (iPAQ)