Smartphone Shines at Pocket PC Summit

Wireless database and security tools highlight show dedicated to Microsoft phone and PDA platform.

PHILADELPHIA -- At the Pocket PC Summit, which opens here Tuesday, leading vendors will show off their wireless solutions for Microsoft's Pocket PC as well as the first database for a Smartphone device.

The Windows-Powered Smartphone 2002, previously known by the code name Stinger, competes with Symbian and Palm's phone software platforms.

Database in a Phone

Syware, a developer of mobile database tools, introduced on Tuesday FoneDB, the first database for the Smartphone. FoneDB lets mobile content developers quickly and easily create mobile phone databases without programming. The product, currently in beta, will ship in the third quarter. Pricing has not been set.

In other news at the show this week, Sybase subsidiary IAnywhere Solutions, a provider of mobile and wireless solutions, will introduce a beta program for its UltraLite Component Suite, which opens its SQL Anywhere Studio to developers using Visual Basic, Appforge, embedded VB, ActiveX, and Java Native Interface (JNI). The UltraLite Component Suite includes AppForge Ingot, which is used with the AppForge add-in to Visual Basic to create cross-platform applications for Palm, Pocket PC, and Symbian-based devices; ActiveX control, for use with embedded Visual Basic or Internet Explorer; and Java class libraries.

Also at the show, a handful of vendors are planning announcements.

Secure Connections for Pocket PC

Funk Software will demonstrate its AdmitOne VPN Client for the Pocket PC, which lets handheld users establish a secure connection over a wireless link to the enterprise network. It uses IPsec and Internet Key Exchange (IKE) technologies to set up a secure communications channel between a Pocket PC device and the corporate VPN server.

Additionally, Thinking Bites is redesigning ThinkDB and will show at Pocket PC Summit an early beta release of the Pocket PC version of its database.

Asynchrony Solutions is demonstrating its PDA Defense Product, which provides 512-bit Blowfish encryption, an AutoLock feature, and selective database protection.

The Pocket PC Summit continues through Friday.