Word on the street (er, internet) is that Microsoft's oft-ignored Vista component,
SideShow, could be making its official way to your favorite Windows Mobile-flavored device before long. If you'll recall, SideShow acts as a kind of mini-OS which is distributed to devices separate from a PC, such as remotes or external displays on laptops, and can be used to access information like contacts, maps, calendar appointments, and e-mail messages in a low-power, always-on state. Apparently, in a new SDK beta which the SideShow team "showed" off recently, features like a UI designed for portrait QVGA displays, a universal driver that supports USB and Bluetooth communication, and new Bluetooth menu commands have led some folks to speculate that the system could be coming to mobile devices sometime soon. Of course, this all unconfirmed rumor at this point, so don't feel compelled to believe it.
[Via
the::unwired]
posted Nov 23rd 2007 3:50PM
So this is the "I don't want to actually run Vista-Vista?"
No, this would be the "I don't want to run Windows Mobile" Windows Mobile.
me!
This would be a big step forward for SideShow...which, let's face it, has been nothing more than a side-show for microsoft in terms of people using it. I would be interested in seeing how this would work with WinMo 5 and 6 systems.
I would love to be able to have my multiple Windows Mobile devices interact with Vista more - imagine being able to switch your widgets or video to "Pocket Mode" and move them around with you. That'd be kinda neat.
My one problem with this rumor is just how well current devices would be able to use SideShow. Would this essentially be like remote desktop for single SideShow applications?.
They've actually had this capability for going on two years now. The SideShow team has been using PocketPC devices to demonstrate SideShow for ages. It's just never been in a state to release to the public (only implementing specific features needed for this or that demo).
The Sideshow team has been talking about cleaning it up and releasing it since before Vista's RTM, it's nice to see it's actually getting closer to a reality.
My money is on this only being available for WM6.
I wish MS would make Windows Mobile useful for more than spreadsheets and stuff - everything in Windows Mobile is so half-assed, its only through the monumental bungling of Palm OS that Windows Mobile has been able to achieve any market share.
Just about everything in WM is a half-usable tech demo, so that its a good platform for third-party developers - and this is by MS's own admission.
The Sideshow team has already confirmed a release for WM5 and WM6, actually. There's no need for speculation.
http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1645102&SiteID=1
Of course, this was back in May, so who knows what's really going to happen.
Ugly....
Being able to control Windows Media Player from your Smartphone would be money.
I use Salling Clicker (google it) with my Moto MPx220 to do that. Works like a charm. Uses Bluetooth.
I can already control Windows Media Player... and Windows itself, with my K800i smartphone. All you need is the 'Bluetooth HID Profile' in your weapon of choice in order to do so.
Unsurprisingly, it doesn't work with iTunes, but then 'A2DP' doesn't work very well with iTunes either.
My W800i used to work with iTunes flawlessly... but worked better with Media Player
Better than flawlessly? Sweet.
If there is a universal BT driver, I'd be interested in creating a sideshow client for the K800i.
It'd better.
I always thought that it would be great if the Zune could act as a Vista Sideshow gadget. You could use the Zune as a remote control for your media center. You could view thumbnails of videos on the Zune and select the thumbnails of the videos you want to view thru media center. Maybe you could even choose to download the video to your Zune all without wires.
You would need to plug it in.
why would you need to plug it in? The Zune has wifi? It could download the thumbnails wirelessly (or when it syncs). It can download video previews of your Media Center content wirelessly too. It would be the perfect convergence device of 2 of Microsoft's products: Zune and Vista/Media Center.
This seems exceptionally pointless.
Man, I've been looking at SideShow development for awhile now. I've been trying to code something up for my Nintendo DS that would allow it to act as a SideShow device, but I cant find any code examples of how to do SideShow data over TCP/IP. Does anyone have a link to this new SDK?
You can certainly do a tcp/ip connection to your device. There is in fact a sample SideShow driver included in the Vista WDK that would be a good starting point. I would reccomend using PnPX for the device enumeration of your tcp/ip device, if possible. The rest of the work is just writing socket code and implementing a few UMDF and SideShow DDI callbacks.
My guess is this will be standard in WM6.1
I hope they'll support older WM devices -- don't see why you'd need new OS to support it.
SideShow for the laptops IS a NON-REMOVABLE PDA for the laptop...lol
Vista?
SideShow was supposed to be a control mechanism that bypasses turning the whole computer on. What now, can I control my cellphone while it is off too?
If it is only an interface similarity then I get it but otherwise what is the point behind this. Would only be a true SideShow if it controls the PC the same way the original SideShow did. Which means we will probably see PCs and cellphones bundled together but the truth is that this is very unlikely.
On the other hand this would be what the iPhone doesn't have, eh!
Maybe it's time I ditch my Linux phone and buy a Windows one.
Am I the only one who read the headline as "Vista's SlideShow coming to Windows Mobile"... when I first saw it in the RSS reader? So I thought it was an announcement of Vista for mobile devices, properly titled given its expected performance on such hardware.
as long as i can downgrade back to windows mobile, should it suck for example.
This will be a program that runs in windows mobile, not a new OS. Sideshow lets you run vista gadgets on a separate device, to do things like check your e-mail, browse pictures, or change tracks playing on your desktop PC.
-Taylor
Finally! I'm sure it'll only work with WM5 and not 4 :(
Sideshow is worthless on desktops.
cool contest
This is a really awesome gift! pick me!
nice!
SLIDE IT TO ME
Hrmm looks similar to the function of a PSP's media player
...except it's got that signature windowsy ugliness
Windows Mobile has fantastic features on paper, you can do everything, the trouble is you can do everything with poor user experience.
The iPhone has fantastic user experience except it's heavily limited by the lack of an 'ecosystem' comprising of the thousands of 3rd party apps. I know it has Installer.app but the applications are really buggy and the choice is limited.
This may be solved in years to come giving WinMo a solid contender though :)
will we get sideshow on a "second screen" of our "vista" powered mobile !
Nice looking jeep.
"Similar to the PSP's media player" -- how so? My PSP plays media from the "desktop" in the sense that it seems not to open other apps to display content, but there is no desktop in the traditional sense: no drag-and-drop, no hierarchical folder access. And it doesn't interact with new and legacy OS systems, either -- for the moment, Sony devices are notoriously adverse to open environments (barring homebrew). Clearly, an imbedded web browser, picture viewer, media player and music player are not the same as customizable and separately updated apps. The Vista Mobile solution is about transparency between systems; the PSP's is about enforcing restrictions, removing unnecessary steps, and enhancing the minimalist aesthetic of a single device-oriented OS.
In order to achieve the kind of convergence Microsoft is looking for, Sony would have to drop their control-freak approach to every media format they create -- a tough proposition when you're dragging record, movie and game companies alongside your product development teams.