We have just released an update to our Check In / Check Out Solution Pack. Version 2.0 is now available!

There are lots of rumors that Microsoft is planning to show off Windows Mobile 7 at the Mobile World Congress on February 15th in Barcelona. The consensus is that this version will not be backwards compatible with the previous Windows Mobile versions, and will not directly run Windows Mobile 5/6 applications. This suggests that Windows Mobile 7 might not be based on Windows CE, but something more like the Zune OS. It sounds as though Microsoft is aiming this version more squarely at Consumers to compete with the iPhone and Android, instead of Enterprise users who need Office and Exchange integration.

The impact of this to the Data Collection world would be interesting. Would device manufacturers use this new version, or will there be a compatible flavor, or will this turn out not to be true? Hopefully we will find out in a few weeks!

ITScriptNet 3.1b has been release. This is a maintenance update, which adds support for a few more devices. It also has some bug fixes and a few new features.

New clients include:

New features include:

You can find all of the details in our Knowledge Base, and download the new version right now!

With the release of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008, 64-bit is becoming more popular. However, at this time we do not have any plans to release a 64-bit verison of ITScriptNet. Why?

First of all, the 32-bit version runs fine on all 64-bit Windows operating systems. Windows has a 32-bit subsystem for running on ^4-bit machines.

Secondly, there isn't any advantage (yet) to moving to 64-bit. The primary advantage of a 64-bit OS over 32-Bit is the larger memory size. However, as of now we are not having any trouble fitting into a 4GB address space.

Third, there are actually disadvantages to moving to 64-Bit. There is actually a small performance penalty associated with the larger register size using more of the processor cache. There is also the time associated with actually performing the conversion. Right now, we feel our time is better spent adding new features and improving ITScriptNet. For a slightly technical discussion of this topic, here is a blog entry about why Microsoft has not yet ported Visual Studio to 64-bit either.

This isn't to say that there are no issues to be aware of. In fact, we have posted a Knowledge Base article about two of the 64-bit concerns, ODBC Data Sources and .Net Assemblies.

We will continue to monitor progress in this area, and in the long run a 64-Bit port will probably need to be done. However, in the short term you can continue to use ITScriptNet safely on all flavors of Windows.

It appears that Microsoft is going to release an other intermediate Windows Mobile version before version 7. Microsoft now says that following on the heels of WM 6.5.3 (just released), will be WM 6.6.

One of the interesting features discussed is adding support for Capacitive touchscreens. Up to now, almost all Windows Mobile devices have had Resistive touchscreens. Why does this matter? Resistive touchscreens are more suited to using a Stylus, which Capacitive touchscreens require a finger (in fact, they won't work with a stylus). The iPhone and iPod Touch are examples of Capacitive touchscreens. Another difference is that Capacitive touchscreens support multi-touch, while resistive screens do not.

Many users prefer the responsiveness of a capacitive touchscreen, and they are perceived to be a 'superior' technology. However, is Capacitive a good choice for a data collection device? It would certainly not be a good choice for applications requiring gloves. It will also require changes to the way applications are designed, as on-screen elements need to be larger to support less accurate finger-press as opposed to a stylus. However, it opens the door for more gesture-based elements, such as flicking lists to scroll.

We will see if any of the Data Collection device manufacturers choose to release new models with capacitive screens in the coming years.

Our offices will be closed all day on:

• Thursday Dec 24th
• Friday Dec 25th
• Thursday Dec 31st
• Friday Jan 1st.

We will be back in the office on Monday, Jan 4th.  Have a Happy Holidays!

Motorola has released a new RFID-enabled device, the MC3090-Z.  This device is built on the same platform as the MC3000 and MC3100, with a 320x320 square screen.  The RFID reader has an omnidirectional antenna, supporting EPC Gen 2 DRM  in the 902-928 MHz band (US).

Many mobile devices are now equipped with built-in GPS radios, and can be used for turn-by-turn navigation.  ITScriptNet supports collecting a breadcrumb trail while using such a navigation system on Windows Mobile devices.  However, what kind of system is best for you?

If you have a fleet with trucks and vans, consumer-grade navigation is not sufficient.  We like Electric Compass, which is designed for commercial applications and has good integration capabilities.  Electric Compass has published an excellent article detailing the differences between Consumer and Commercial navigation.

One of the issues that users run into with ITScriptNet deployments is how to handle ITB version updates.  If you make a change to the program, how can you ensure that the device get updated to the new version?

In ITScriptNet 3.1, a few new functions were added to assist in this process.  The RemoteGetITBVersion function queries the Omni Server for the version of an ITB, and the progITBVersion constant evaluates to the current ITB version on the device.  You can compare these, and if there is a mismatch you can load an updated program using OmniLoadProgram.

We have posted a Knowledge Base article about this, including some sample code.

Recently PC Magazine published an article about the different processors used by smartphones, and how difficult it is to compare the performance of one device to another.  Although the focus of this article is consumer-grade phones, it got me wondering about data collection devices.  After all, Windows CE and Windows Mobile devices use ARM processors too.

What I've discovered is that it is just as difficult to compare data collections devices against each other as it is to compare phones.  For example, the Motorola PC9500 runs a Marvell PXA320 at 806 MHz.  Is that faster than the Intermec CN50 (the Spec Sheet simply says 'Main Processor ARM11 at 528 MHz)?  Not necessarily - what instruction set does the PXA320 have?  It's difficult to tell.  How about the new Honeywell Dolphin 6100, which has a Marvell XScale PXA300 at 624 MHz?

For further confusion, check out this chart on Wikipedia which attempts to group the various processor families.  Most Xscale processors are listed as ARMV5TE, but the PXA3xx series are not listed.

Another performance bottleneck to keep in mind is the speed of the Flash Memory store.  Not all memory architectures perform the same, and there can be a significant difference in the speed (particularly the Write speed) from one device family to another.  You won't find this information in a spec sheet.

What is the conclusion?  Like the author of the original article, we find that you can not use the manufacturers specifications to compare the performance of one device to another very easily.  For now you will have to rely on more subjective measurements.

One of the new features in ITScriptNet 3.1a is the ability to automatically format grid cells. You can specify the color to use for a cell based on a comparison to a value or another cell.  You can also specify the number of decimal points to use for numeric data, and the format to use for negative numbers.

Here is an example of a program using grid auto-formatting. 

This Physical Inventory program shows the count of items.  Any items with a zero quantity are displayed in yellow, and negative quantities are red.  In adition, the Value field is set to use 2 decimal places and a $ currency prefix.  The source data looks like this:

Here is the Grid Cell definition screen in the ITScriptNet program designer.  You can see that the Automatic Formatting for the cell, and the Automatic Coloring.  Two coloring criteria can be specified for the cell.

These automatic cell formatting options allow you to make your data collection programs more effective through the use of color and formatting, without needing any complicated programming.

Motorola has introduced the MC3100 series of devices.  These devices are the successor to the MC3000 series, with the same 320x320 square display.   These units feature Windows Mobile 6 or Windows CE 6.  Since they are EMDK compatible, our ITScriptNet client for Motorola will work on them.

One of the new features in ITScriptNet 3.1 is what we call Override INI files.  This is a mechanism that you can use to help ease deployment of your ITScriptNet solutions.  Actually, these files have been around for awhile, but were never documented before now.

Here is a simple example of the kind of problem that you could run into.  Let's say you are developing an ITScriptNet program that collects data to SQL Server.  You are developing against your corporate server, and you setup a connection string on the Configure Receive screen, and configure Validation Files are are autogenerated from your database.  Everything works great in your testing, but when you want to deploy the program to your customer you run into the problem.  You customer has a different SQL Server, or maybe SQL Express, or maybe they are using some other database entirely.  How can you deploy your program without having to change all of the connection strings?

The answer is an Override INI file.  When ITScriptNet is going to make a connection to the database (either to generate a Validation File or for Collected Data), it looks for this file first.  If there is an INI file with the same name as the ITB program, ITScriptNet reads the file to see if there is a different connection string specified.  If there is, it uses that one instead of the one that was set in the Program Designer.

This allows you to easily change the database at every customer without having to rework your programs.  You can simply use Notepad or any text editor to change the connection string parameters and put the INI file in the same directory as the ITB program.

There are a handful of other parameters that you can change with an Override INI file besides just the connection string.  For example, you can change the data base type (from ODBC to SQL Server to SQL Compact Edition), you can override the field names of collected data, change the auto-generation mode of a validation file, and more.  For all of the details, check the User Guide where all of the parameters are documented.