In the first years following the millennium, the future appeared bright indeed for mobile technologies. As the sun started to set on e-commerce, venture capitalists and investors turned to what they saw as the wireless wave, driven by the newly established infrastructure for the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) (which essentially extended the Internet onto mobile devices), the exponential growth of Simple Messaging Service (SMS), and the Europe-wide frenzy over the 'broadband' wireless protocols such as 3G.

If you are writing a 'WinForms' smart client application for the Windows XP platform then the chances are very high that your application will run on mobile PCs. Sales of mobile PCs (laptops, notebooks, and Tablet PCs) are starting to outnumber the sales of desktop PCs.

The Web model has made people accustomed to being able to access information from just about anywhere at anytime. The problem is that we don't always have a Web browser available. The solution is to provide a voice interface to the application because most people have access to a telephone all the time.

Visual Studio 2005 (VS2005) includes a broad spectrum of new and enhanced features targeted at managed and native development for Smart Devices including Windows CE- and Windows Mobile-based Pocket PCs and Smartphones.

When most Windows programmers think of embedded development we typically think of the .NET Compact Framework running under Windows CE. While CE and Windows XP Embedded have been the staples of Microsoft's embedded business for years, there's a new entrant known as Smart Personal Object Technology or SPOT.

Last fall I predicted that the next killer application would be built on the mobile platform, and so I bought a new PDA...My prediction was based on the fact that lots of people could now create mobile apps with .NET, and the fact that SQL Server 2005 Mobile Edition would be licensed as part of SQL Server 2000/2005.

Today, millions of Windows applications exist around the world. They are written with various development tools, with different development languages, and are based on different libraries. Let's suppose that you are responsible for one of these - and then along comes the Tablet PC. Your users say that your application would be great if it were adapted for the Tablet platform.

There has never been an operating system release more important to .NET developers than the release of Windows Mobile Version 5.0. With this release, Microsoft is poised to take your productivity in writing mobile applications higher than it has ever gone before. Rich multimedia capabilities, integrated messaging, and world-class telephony support are just a few of the benefits you will realize when you develop applications for the Windows Mobile 5.0 platform.

If you follow the mobile space, you know that one of the hot topics right now is location-based services (LBS). LBS allows you to build applications that adapt to users' locations and situations. Without requiring your users to enter ZIP codes or addresses, you can filter data and provide the information that is most relevant to them.

Product groups at Microsoft generally develop platforms or specific applications that run on these platforms. SPOT is different. Our goal is to increase the usefulness of everyday objects that we can wear, carry, or that might be scattered throughout the environment, ultimately making some activity easier and/or more enjoyable.

Location-based services (LBS) solutions involve leveraging information about a user's location and/or presence in solutions, providing relevant information and services. Mobile/wireless technologies in LBS solutions can be very compelling, combining a mobile device with information about a user's location and powerful mapping features.

Over the past few years, IT organizations have chosen between two primary application development and deployment architectures. However, with the advent of the .NET Framework, there is now a new alternative called 'smart clients'.

With Visual Studio 2005 and ASP.NET v2.0 just around the corner, we are about to embark on another exciting wave of technology. Mobile development is becoming easier with each release, and ASP.NET v2.0 will not disappoint. To start the next adventure in development for mobile browsers, let's first take a stroll down memory lane and then look at the glory that Redmond is sending our way with Visual Studio 2005 and ASP.NET v2.0.