One of the great things about WindowsMobile is the fact the the OS is signed and sealed by MS before it goes onto an OEM device which means that an app which runs on the emulator sholuld run on any physical device (of same version at least). I applauded Android’s entry into the market because I feel it will open up devices in a way netither WindowsMobile or Symbian can, becuase of their limited market penetration, price and technology. I believe Android drives a simliar standard down to devices that would never be able to run WindowsMobile or Symbian due to cost or power. However, I’m slightly worried that implementations by manufacturers may lead to a uneven ISV playing field because of what and how is delivered to be an ‘Android’ device. This leads me to think that the compatibiltiy and capability problems that have plagued Symbian may turn up in Android. To a certain degree its inevitable because certain ‘Android’ phones will be below the ideal feature quality bar, but I would have liked to have seen more plans for certification of the OS platform so ISV’s can actually write once and run everywhere. If only Microsoft could have generated the critical mass to have WindowsMobile on bog standard (featureless) phones as well as high end devices. Trouble is, I think that particular train has left the station now, and after 5 years of pushing water uphill as an ISV, I see that most of the water got away. If half of Samsung, Motorola and LG phones ran WindowsMobile it would be a wildly different story.
So, I now watch with interest to see some real implementations ie not on the emulator. Of course I’m referring to deep device system stuff as opposed to fluffy graphics for a game. Anyway, we’ll see….
