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Square Screen Compatibility

  • Artikkeli

Square-screen Pocket PC devices are coming.

Our backwards compatibility layer does a great job of adding scrollbars to dialog-based applications to make sure that they are usable on square-screen devices.  Most apps fall into this category.  That said, apps that are not dialog based and were not written with form-factor flexibility in mind, will have some problems.  Our testing found that full-screen GAPI games have most problems.  To assist game developers with designing for square-screen compatibility, we've just published a new whitepaper by Brian Cross that walks through the challenges and potential solutions that this involves.  I strongly encourage all developers to test their apps on the square-screen emulators we published last year, figure out if any changes are needed, and (if necessary) plan to make changes as soon as possible.  These devices are coming and you probably don't want to wait for your customers to start asking before understanding the situation and having a plan in place.

-Robert

Comments

  • Anonymous
    April 22, 2005
    What is the reasoning for adding even more compatibility problems?
    Who needs square screens anyway? If they're smaller than portrait screens, they're less useful.
  • Anonymous
    April 22, 2005
    I can see a use for a square screen in some environments, a mid-segment between a Windows Mobile Phone and a PocketPC, for example.

    Anyway, I would be very happy if all software vendors stopped assuming 320 x 240. It's bad enough on a 640x480 device. I would also love if it was possible to get a usable user experience with a size setting somewhere between the current default DPI setting and the faked 96 dpi "true VGA" setting...
  • Anonymous
    April 29, 2005
    To address another poster's question, the need for compatibility with square screens is for compatibility with such advanced Windows Mobile smartphones such as HP's upcoming hw6500 (look it up). Unless HP does something stupid like not allowing an upgrade to the upcoming Windows Mobile 2005 OS, the device will be very popular.



    Cody
  • Anonymous
    May 19, 2005
    I think square screens would be a waste. I like the 90 deg. turn I have on mine and it's like a widescreen. Everything is going widescreen; I think square is out.