Session list and speakers haven't been completely finalized yet, but current
plan (read: unless I'm hit by a truck) has Jamie Wakeam and I co-presenting a
session on what Longhorn Vista has in store for Tablet PC
developers.
From http://commnet.microsoftpdc.com/content/sessions.aspx
Windows Vista ("Longhorn") Tablet PC: Advances in Creating Ink Enabled Applications
Come see how ink integrates into the Windows Presentation Foundation (formerly codename "Avalon") and what the new and improved recognition APIs can do. When using the Windows Presentation Foundation, the stylus is a premier input device adjacent to the keyboard and mouse, ink is a core data type, and several ink controls are built in. The ink analysis API unifies layout analysis (e.g., distinction of drawing, words, paragraphs, etc.) and ink to text recognition under a single API, in addition to improvements in accuracy and supported structures (e.g., bulleted lists and call outs). The combination of these advances and the expansion into touch digitizers enables new scenarios.
For me, that means Ink collection and rendering in Avalon. For Jamie (fellow PM on Tablet platform team) that means other features, which will be forthcoming in a new Tablet SDK... mainly, the new and improved Ink Analysis API, which unifies this with this, plus a whole lot more.
A big part of my story is that ink data types are first-class citizens in WinFX -- no separate SDKs to download or extra runtimes to redist, apart from WinFX. The elephant in the room during my talk will be... well, Jamie -- who is, of course, going to be pushing a new Tablet SDK for handwriting reco. :-) Oh well, we can't squeeze everything into WinFX redist... (The handwriting recognizers for English alone would double or triple the download size of WinFX!) Nevertheless, I promise Jamie and I will find some common ground to talk about, and provide some compelling demos along the way!
Are there any other Tablet- or Mobile-related topics you'd like to see covered at PDC? Why not suggest something for the Birds of a Feather Sessions? I'm an MS employee now, so I'm not allowed to suggest anything... but if I were? Hmm... how about
- The Mobile PC Hardware Ecosystem of Tomorrow
Tablet PC hardware is getting very interesting... Models like Toshiba Tecra M4 are getting much bigger, while models like Motion LS800 are getting much, much smaller... with Vista, some Tablet-related systems currently outside the bounds of "Tablet PC officialdom" may come into the fold -- I'm talking about microscopic systems the size of OQO and maybe even desktop systems outfitted with the (outrageously expensive) Wacom Cintiq. How will you design UI to scale between these extremes in form factor? And what about interesting new hardware outside the box -- GPS receivers, audio and video capturing, wide-area wireless networking, thumbprint scanners? What do you want to see, as developers, coming from MS (or from 3rd parties) to support these hardware technologies?
or
- Data Synchronization in a Mobile Computing World
Discuss pros, cons, and best-practice applications of all the various and sundry data-sync technologies out there -- ADO.NET Disconnected DataSets vs. SQL Server / MSDE merge replication vs. Windows Synchronization Manager, vs. carrier pigeon, vs...? There are a lot of interesting developments along these lines... is MS doing enough? What are we missing? What other tools are helping you solve these problems?
IMHO this would make a great BOF session -- its scope spans all the different tracks (presentation, data, communication, tools). Even the Office track is somewhat related -- Outlook 2003 is (arguably) a great example of a rich client app which works well in a disconnected environment. How do they do it?
If you propose this session and it's accepted, I'll... well, I probably shouldn't offer any sort of bribes or kickbacks, but I'll definitely be in attendance!
