Developing Mobile Applications Using the Microsoft Mobile Internet Toolkit

Abstract

Mobile Internet applications will be an important part of enterprise and consumer mobile solutions in the coming years. The Gartner Group predicts that by 2004, 65 percent of Global 2000 companies will have wireless e-mail and other enterprise mobile solutions. With these trends and the broad interest in mobile solutions, as a developer one needs to start learning these technologies, and as a company, it is even more important in getting started leveraging mobile solutions. The mobile Internet industry is new and fragmented, and a number of challenges and considerations exist, such as multiple carriers, wireless protocol, and device types. With these considerations, implementing broad-reaching mobile solutions that function as desired across multiple devices is often very difficult. The Mobile Internet Toolkit is a solid platform for the delivery of mobile Internet solutions. The rapid delivery of mobile Internet applications targeted to multiple device types is a significant advantage over other mobile solutions. By using Mobile Web Forms and Mobile Controls, you can rapidly implement applications. The integration of the Mobile Internet Toolkit, the Mobile Designer, and Visual Studio.NET provides a solid platform for the development, testing, and deployment of mobile Internet applications. Extensibility is a significant consideration while implementing mobile Internet solutions. The Mobile Internet Toolkit has the ability to be extended with new device adaptors and custom controls enabling the support of current specialized devices and future device support, and will grow with the mobile Internet industry. The combination of the Mobile Internet Toolkit and the Mobile Information Server provides a complete solution for developing and delivering mobile solutions.