SyncEXPERT

The image of the herald is one that pervades Western culture. The Biblical image of the archangel Gabriel announcing the forthcoming births of both John the Baptist and Jesus is one that Christians are very familiar with.

I’m not much of a herald. I’m hardly angelic, and I don’t own a horn much less own one. I think I would have made a great town crier, though. I’ve been told that my voice carries - over cube walls, through doors, down hallways, across vast expanses, etc. I’m reasonably sure that being told that I have a voice with such a unique gift for being heard above the din of an office setting is a compliment. Isn’t it?

All of this self-analysis brings me to the reason for my post today: my self-appointed role as town crier for news and announcements of interest to my loyal readers. To you, my faithful minions, I thrice toll my bell of harkening and lift my voice to loudly proclaim:

DataDirect to Support ADO.NET Entity Framework for Oracle Data Sources

Admittedly, this announcement is anti-climatic, for those of you who read this posting on the Microsoft blog last week, but it does bear repeating. There is a lot of interest right now among developers in the ease-of-use of LINQ and the productivity of the Entity Data Model. <marketing hat> Our announcement is meant to reaffirm that LINQ-based and Entity Data Model-based applications will experience the same unique benefits of using DataDirect’s Connect for ADO.NET providers for relational database access as ones built to use current technologies such as DAAB. </marketing hat> (Sorry for that segueway, but you know I’ve got to give a shout out to now and again in order to pay the bills ^_^)

While this is hardly earth-shattering news or something with the weightiness of, say, a royal proclamation, it is one that we’re proud to make because it’s a signal of where our products are headed…sort of like a graduation announcement. It’s enough to make a tough guy like me misty-eyed and emotional - it’s like I’m witnessing a precocious little tyke growing up right before my eyes! *sniffle*

That’s all for now. I’m off to hum a few bars to warm up for my daily auditory assault of my co-workers. Your comments and feedback are welcome so long as it doesn’t compete with the “11″ setting of volume knob of my strident self-important braying.

Sync Services for ADO.NET :: Synchronize your data between SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server Compact 3.5 using the new Sync Framework.  Keep all your occasionally-connected mobile workers on the same page.
 
Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) Store and Forward :: Reliably push messages to servers or other devices via Exchange Server 2007.  Programmatically notify peer devices that they have new orders waiting for them and need to sync.
 
MapPoint :: Guide delivery drivers to their customers via either the shortest or quickest route.  Integrated mapping means you’ll never get lost again.
 
LINQ :: Use the new Language Integrated Query to filter results from Generic Object Collections.  Query both your objects and XML using a familiar, SQL-like syntax to boost developer productivity.
 
Custom Controls :: Capture signatures and dazzle your end-users with 3D and Alpha-blended controls that alter their behavior depending on the platform they’re running on.
 
Managed Stored Procedures and Triggers :: The pluggable data layer allows you to say goodbye to compiling Dynamic SQL inside your code and fires events to react to INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE operations.
 
Notifications and Online Help :: Formerly only supported on Pro, say hello to Popup Notifications and Online Help on Standard.  Popup Notifications, also known as “toast,” display an HTML message and then disappear after a pre-determined amount of time.  Using Online Help on every screen reduces your applicationtraining costs.
 
Language Switching and Localization :: Change Language/Regional Settings inside your app and watch text and Online Help speak a different language.  Don’t wait until your application is finished to realize that it needs to be world-ready.
 
Time to Market :: Stop reinventing the wheel and use this Accelerator as the foundation for your next Windows Mobile development effort.  If you don’t want to use the whole thing, pick and choose the components that are the best fit for your project.

Liam Cavanagh

The Microsoft mobility team has just released a new mobile development platform to help build Line of Business (LOB) applications for the Windows Mobile platform. The Release to Web (RTW) version can be downloaded at the Microsoft Download Center.

Some of the key features include:

Adapt your App :: Create a single binary that runs unchanged on Windows Mobile Standard or Pro, Portrait or Landscape, Rectangle or Square. No more wasting time building separate executables to accommodate different screen sizes or input methods.

Sync Services for ADO.NET :: Synchronize your data between SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server Compact 3.5 using the new Sync Framework. Keep all your occasionally-connected mobile workers on the same page.

Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) Store and Forward :: Reliably push messages to servers or other devices via Exchange Server 2007. Programmatically notify peer devices that they have new orders waiting for them and need to sync.

MapPoint :: Guide delivery drivers to their customers via either the shortest or quickest route. Integrated mapping means you’ll never get lost again.

LINQ :: Use the new Language Integrated Query to filter results from Generic Object Collections. Query both your objects and XML using a familiar, SQL-like syntax to boost developer productivity.

Custom Controls :: Capture signatures and dazzle your end-users with 3D and Alpha-blended controls that alter their behavior depending on the platform they’re running on.

Managed Stored Procedures and Triggers :: The pluggable data layer allows you to say goodbye to compiling Dynamic SQL inside your code and fires events to react to INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE operations.

Notifications and Online Help :: Formerly only supported on Pro, say hello to Popup Notifications and Online Help on Standard. Popup Notifications, also known as “toast,” display an HTML message and then disappear after a pre-determined amount of time. Using Online Help on every screen reduces your applicationtraining costs.

Language Switching and Localization :: Change Language/Regional Settings inside your app and watch text and Online Help speak a different language. Don’t wait until your application is finished to realize that it needs to be world-ready.

Time to Market :: Stop reinventing the wheel and use this Accelerator as the foundation for your next Windows Mobile development effort. If you don’t want to use the whole thing, pick and choose the components that are the best fit for your project.

Liam Cavanagh