The Bluetooth sources

When I wrote my first article on the Widcomm Bluetooth stack, I promised to publish a .NET CF 2.0 library that would abstract the enumeration features of the Widcomm and Microsoft stacks under a unique API. My life became very busy since then, especially when I got a contract for integrating the new version of a mobile GPS application on the Windows Mobile environment. This has been a very interesting challenge that has put all my knowledge through its paces and made me learn a lot: powering off the device, integrating DirectDraw with screen rotations, popping up the phone when a call comes through and the screen is in DirectDraw mode, handling bizzare GPS behaviors, exotic device keys (think HTC 3300)... The works!

Requests for the Bluetooth code and article have not stopped, though so I decided to post links to the unedited versions of the C++ and C# sources. Before I get to fully comment the code and write a proper article, what you see is what you get. The sources are divided into 3 ZIP files:

Bluetooth.zip - Contains a sample C# WM5 application that enumerates devices and services. Also contains the Primeworks.Bluetooth class library.
msbts.zip - The low-level Microsoft Bluetooth stack wrapper.
wcbts.zip - The low-level Widcomm Bluetooth stack wrapper.

Now, I can take my time and write the full length article. All your comments and suggestions are welcome.

Handling the Power Button

After three months without writing, I posted today a new article named Handling the Power Off Button. This reflects my recent experiences on managing the Pocket PC resources when the power status changes.

I finally got the eToken from Verisign. From now on I will be able to digitally sign my device DLL and CAB files in order to make life so much easier for my customers. I hope to have the first CAB for Windows Mobile 5 (Pocket PC) out next week.

An unexpectedly good experience

I always hated the idea that Windows Mobile code needs to be signed to properly run on our beloved devices. And I also admit that I have resisted to signing my own code, maybe in a stubborn or lazy way. Signing your code is an expensive thing and I was fearing that it would also be a burdensome and expensive bureaucratic process, so I was delaying the decision to bite the bullet as much as I could.

Well, I have to admit that I wasted a lot of my time procrastinating... After contacting Verisign for the first time on January the 31st, I got the full approval today. Instead of a heavy bureaucratic process, I was only asked for a telephone bill copy. After emailing it last Friday, I got the approval early this morning.

This is still not an inexpensive service, but it certainly is easy to purchase!