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Is That IE in Your Pocket PC?

For the first time, Windows-based handheld devices will offer Microsoft's Web browser and SSL security.

By Matt Hamblen, Computerworld   

The IE browser will be new for the update of the Windows CE operating system, which will lose that name and be called Pocket PC when the new handhelds appear, says Brian Shafer, marketing manager of the mobile device division at Microsoft.

Shafer says a full announcement will be made Thursday at the CeBit computer show in Hannover, Germany.

Pocket PCs will be made by Hewlett-Packard, Casio, Compaq Computer, Symbol Technologies, and other smaller companies. As announced last fall, the Pocket PC will also feature the new ClearType reader from Microsoft and Windows Media Audio, the company's version of the popular MP3 music player software.

The SSL security layer is designed to give users confidence about making banking transactions via handheld devices when connected to a network, Shafer said.

Current Windows CE handhelds boast many features, including color displays. So far, they have operated with third-party browsers, but not IE. The browser will function in the Internet programming language HTML and will also support XML, the content-tagging language. Users will have the option of condensing a Web view or downloading it in full-size to scroll through on the handheld screen.

Shafer says enterprise customers might find the IE browser more convenient to use. The feature will give members of a corporate team that's spread worldwide access to a central server to receive daily progress reports they can read on a handheld device.

Windows CE has failed to make a big play in the handheld market, winning only 10 percent of it, compared with 80 percent for Palm handhelds, according to several analysts. But analysts at Mobile Insights in Santa Clara, California, say they see the Microsoft system gaining importance with corporate users as large companies develop applications for handhelds.

For more enterprise computing news, visit Computerworld. Story copyright © 2011 Computerworld Inc. All rights reserved.