smartphones and internet connectivity

[news.austin.rr.com]

Hi,

I'am looking at developing .NET software for smartphone devices. Im looking
at Sprint phones (Samsung i-600) which will include a service plan. With
sprint the plans and phones are very expensive. 650.00 for the phone but
i have seen better phones by Cingular for less than half the price (Motorola
MP-200) but their data rate sucks at less than 56k bps wher sprint data
rates are 230k bps.

I have 3 questions on this...

1. Are there any special incentive programs offered by companies like
Microsoft to get developers phones with working radios and service plans?

2. If my laptop is not connected to a network can I connect a smartphone to
my pc through activesync and connect to the internet via my phone web
service? I know activesync has a passthrough feature that allows my poketpc
to connect to the internet through my laptop network connection but can the
passthrough work in the other direction and use my phone network connection
to connect my laptop to the internet?

Also, is there a big enough difference between Windows Mobile 2003 and 2003
SE to justify getting an 2003 SE device.

My focus is on C# .NET CF development for the smartphone

Thanks.

 

[Robert Levy [MS]]

1) We used to have a developer kit but now that great phones are available
around the world at incredible prices, there's no real need. For example,
you can get the Audiovox 5600 from Amazon for $25.

2) Technically, yes but you'll have to check your mobile operator's
policies.

3) For a Smartphone *developer*, the only difference you'll see is that
there is a newer version of .NET CF in ROM (SP2 instead of SP1).

--
Robert Levy
Program Manager
Mobile Devices Product Group
http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.