A bit more details about WM 5.0, the fact sheet:


Enhanced Business Productivity

Windows Mobile 5.0 offers updates that make device users even more productive when working away from the desktop:
• Microsoft Office software for Windows Mobile. For Windows Mobile 5.0-based Pocket PCs, Word Mobile now supports tables, lists and embedded images, giving workers greater flexibility to create, edit or review documents. Excel Mobile allows users to view and create charts and graphs, and PowerPoint® Mobile allows users to view and rehearse presentations while on the go. The back seat of a taxi or an airplane now can be a mobile office.
• Persistent storage. Persistent storage has been added to Windows Mobile 5.0-based Pocket PCs, which will help ensure that users don’t lose important data when devices run out of battery power. In addition, overall device efficiency has been improved, yielding as much as 30 percent more battery life.
• Faster access to e-mail. Windows Mobile 5.0 users will have faster access to e-mail and information and an improved experience with MSN® Messenger. MSN Messenger now offers seamless instant messaging (IM) access for friends and colleagues; and faster, one-key access to Hotmail® and MSN inboxes within Outlook®.
• ActiveSync® 4.0 support. Windows Mobile 5.0 offers users new features such as the ability to sync pictures in contacts and wirelessly sync over Bluetooth®, as well as an improved partnership wizard and an improved overall synchronization experience.
• Security. Windows Mobile 5.0 is compliant with the FIPS 140-2 standard.

Superior Multimedia Experience

Windows Mobile 5.0 now includes Windows Media® Player 10 Mobile, adds support for technologies such as hard drives and Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0, and enables improved media content organization, making it an amazing platform for multimedia devices:
• Easy synchronization. Users can easily sync media files, playlists and song ratings right from Windows Media Player 10 Mobile on their desktop PC, and listen to them on their mobile device.
• New formats and content. Windows Media Player 10 Mobile supports a variety of file formats including Windows Media Audio, Windows Media Video and MP3; Customers can now access more than 1 million protected digital songs and videos from online services such as Napster, CinemaNow, MusicNow, Movielink and MSN Music.
• Hard drive and USB 2.0 support. Windows Mobile 5.0 adds support for integrated hard drives, allowing users to carry several gigabytes of music or information right on their phone or PDA, and provides added support for USB 2.0, which will greatly increase file transfer speeds and synchronization of information between PCs and Windows Mobile-based devices.

Ability to Customize

Windows Mobile 5.0 includes numerous enhancements that allow device manufacturers, developers and end users to customize the Windows Mobile user experience, add new functionalities to specific devices, and develop new applications:
• For end users. End users now can take a picture from their phone and easily assign it to a contact for display not only in the Contacts application, but also in the caller ID window and e-mail message header when that contact calls or sends e-mail. Pictures also can be assigned on a PC in Outlook and synchronized to a user’s device.
• For operators and device-makers. With Windows Mobile 5.0, device-makers can take advantage of wireless technologies including 3G and Wi-Fi. Windows Mobile 5.0 enables partners to build devices for Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) networks and supports simultaneous voice and data transfer. Windows Mobile 5.0 also adds support for Wi-Fi in Smartphones, which will allow for a new generation of small, connected devices. In addition, device-makers and mobile operators now have greater flexibility to customize branded device experiences and can take advantage of extensible menus and new soft keys to build new features, such as push-to-talk (PTT), right into the phone dialer.
• For developers. Developers can take advantage of a host of new managed code and APIs in addition to a new ARM-based emulator, which enables them to build applications more quickly and add new functionality to applications. The new APIs include Camera Capture, which can integrate camera functionality with third-party applications; State and Notification Broker; Contact Picker; enhanced messaging and Pocket Outlook Object Model (POOM); as well as powerful new graphics APIs for Direct3D®, DirectDraw® and DirectShow®.

Steve

Hm the Direct X stuff has me all excited. If its similar enouth to the PC version of thoes Direct api's i would bet some old PC games could be ported over a bit easier than before. also that usb 2.0 might help it work better as a card reader or at least open up to some new devices later on down the road.

Still im happy that it is a for sure we are getting it as an upgrade. Now if only it would be released lol.

I was born to be wild, but the cage was too small.


X50v WM5 Unofficial A03 (WM5 AUK 3.5.2)
PPC6700 WM5 AUK 3.5.2

This fact sheet doesn't actually include anything that I would care about in WM 5. Things I'm looking forward to are:
.NET Compact Framework 2.0. Based on the tests done with CF 2.0 beta, it was at least twice faster then 1.0/1.1. More then that it includes a lot of new features, like auto docking and anchoring of controls (you can make an application look the same in qVGA and VGA, not just a quarter of the screen in VGA like it is now).
Native support for VGA resolution. No more seVGA/ozVGA, and hopefully no more reboots to switch from one to another.
Direct X: Much better games and much easier to port computer games to PDA.
And finally direct updates from Microsoft. In one of the interviews Microsoft mentioned that with WM5 they will be able to supplier updates directly to customers, bypassing vendors. So all new updates for WM5 should come from Microsoft and we don't have to wait for Dell to make new update.
I also read somewhere that WM5 should include driver for PDA to become a Removable Storage, which wouldn't be bad either.

It also doesn't list any improvements for the built-in PIE !!
hopefully they just missed it out in the sheet but will be there.

Steve

i want Pocket Maxthon

I was born to be wild, but the cage was too small.


X50v WM5 Unofficial A03 (WM5 AUK 3.5.2)
PPC6700 WM5 AUK 3.5.2

Usb?
Does it mean it ca read from a usb port(If the pocket pc, for one weird reason or another, has one)?
That'd be....odd...

ARRRGHH!!! <=Im a ninjapirate

Hardware accelerated GUI please.

Bodom Beach Terror!

It means you can plug your PPC into any computer with a USB port and the computer will recognize the PPC as a storage card (provided it has appropriate drivers).
Whether this will allow direct access to the files on the PPC (like playing music files without first copying them to the desktop's harddrive) is yet to be seen.

I remember reading somewhere, there are adding more stuff to PIE. They said they are just simply making it a better brower and adding a full screen option...

   

thats a ninja, not a pirate.
/edit: on topic, as someone said, its so you can plug USB

devices into the PDA. USB harddrives, usb network adapters, usb keyboards, usb mice, etc. too bad the axim doesnt have a controller, ive been waiting for this for a long time. also too bad that CF->USB adapter cards are horrifically expensive.

Bodom Beach Terror!

I kno its not a pirate...

ARRRGHH!!! <=Im a ninjapirate

WM2003 already supports this.
Some of the Toshibas have USB controllers and it works fine.

not USB2.0

also in the same sentence they mention "integrated harddrives". I dont know WHY, theyre different technologies, but the idea is, yes you can hook in keyboards and such already (my post was just justifying USB as it is) but look now you can use harddrives at very fast speeds, either internally or externally.

I for one cant wait for cheap hi-capacity in my PDA And no microdrives dont count

Bodom Beach Terror!

I am wondering how the vga support would work. I bought the 50v to work on spreadsheets, ect. If with the new vga support you get the same size top and bottom bars and zoom options I will stick with SE_VGA to get the real estate I need.

Probably the exact same way it works now, but with options so you can make things readable. Thats what I hope at least...

Bodom Beach Terror!