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The Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) expands the market for PC games that run on Microsoft Windows XP, as long as developers consider certain design requirements to ensure a good user experience. In most cases, a single version of games can span both the UMPC and traditional PC platforms.

The Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) presents a new opportunity for existing applications to extend their potential audience. Microsoft Windows desktop applications can mobilize onto the UMPC platform, providing users with desktop functionality while on the move. Windows Mobile? device applications can take advantage of the larger screen size and storage space of the UMPC to extend the application capabilities.

When Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition appeared in 2002, developers were sometimes confused about whether to write code on a Tablet PC or if it were possible to develop Tablet PC applications on existing desktop computers.The solution turned out to be fairly straightforward, if less than intuitive. However, with the addition of Ultra-Mobile PCs (UMPCs), multiple releases of the Tablet and Touch Technology API, and now the Windows Vista operating system, this question arises again: What do you need to do to set up your developer environment and create applications for these form factors?

Growing up in the 80s, two of the concepts that drew me in to computer science were computers that were small enough to take with you (called "Luggables" then) and displays that were thin enough to hang on a wall. Technology has come a long way in that time-and the Ultra-Mobile class of personal computers that run the Windows Vista operating system is a great example of that progress. So what is a UMPC and why would I be interested in writing an application that is optimized for it?

You'd be surprised how much you already know about mobile app development. If you use Visual Studio 2005 to code Windows desktop or Web apps, then you have everything you need to get started in this fast-growing market. Find out just what you already know and how to bridge the gap between desktop and mobile. Also learn some tips for coding both mobile client and mobile Web apps.

You can do a lot of fun applications using an SMS gateway but unless you work for a major television network, good luck getting a return on your investment. In this article, we'll show you a great alternative to an expensive SMS gateway using a Pocket PC and a Bluetooth connection.

A simple application that is optimized for varying screen sizes and includes power/network status.

You don't have to work for Federal Express to outfit your delivery or salesforce with a remote signature capture and transmission feature. With just a Pocket PC and the simple instructions herein, you'll soon be sending John Hancocks to and from your server with accuracy and grace.

John Papa builds a Windows Mobile 5.0 application that reads RSS feeds and loads them into an ADO.NET DataSet.

This article focuses on developing for Pocket PCs, a skill which can then be transferred to Smartphone application development.