.NET Compact Framework Implementation for S60 on Symbian

[Kris Kumar]

http://www.redfivelabs.com/Solution...53/Default.aspx

"Red Five Labs is about to launch a first public beta of its .NET Compact Framework runtime with class libraries for Symbian OS powered mobile devices. The beta will be compatible with Microsoft's 1.0 Compact Framework for Smartphones, and will run on S60 (previously Series 60) emulators and devices."



.NET CF version 1.0 applications will soon be able to run on Symbian based phones from Nokia and Sony Ericsson. This is great news for Windows Mobile application developers and for the enterprise mobile application developers. They will in the near future be able to write one version of their application and have it run on not only Windows Mobile devices but also Symbian devices. Some might argue that Windows Mobile will lose its unique selling proposition if the Symbian phones started supporting .NET CF; I disagree with that argument. First of all .NET CF version 1.0 is fairly limited and requires the help of the libraries from OpenNETCF.org folks to get anything done. It doesn't seem like Red Five Labs is porting anything other than .NET CF version 1.0 at this time. The second reason is that I feel that the Symbian developers might get lured on to the Windows Mobile devices once they discover the ease of development using the developer tools provided by Microsoft. Right now this announcement sounds like a step in the right direction but a lot of work needs to be done before either side can feel threatened. Share your thoughts with us and in case you are looking for more details, check out the whitepaper [PDF].

[SteveHoward999]

I am a multimedia developer. Most of my work is training applications. Occasionally I use Flash, which can, as we all know, be used to develop content for PC, Mac, PocketPC, many phones, and numerous other devices. The fact that the developer can use the same skills to develop content for so many different devices is a valuable strength for Flash.

Similarly, Java can be used to develop for numerous platforms, supposedly with no need to modify the code between platforms - although we all know that's not true

I am happy to see attempts to make .NET CF more widespread too. OK it would be great if the latest SP of CF2 were supported, but it has to start somewhere.

Phones, PDAs and other devices are becoming more powerful and more useful by the day. Developers crave the ability to build applications for all of these devices without having to learn a new tool for each, and without having to maintain completely separate code for each. This will open the door to many more developers to develop content for popular phones.

To cut a long ramble short - long term I see CF on Symbian phones as a good thing.

[Kris Kumar]

[SteveHoward999]

[Mike Temporale]