Mobile Channels provides a way to publish information on a Windows CE-based mobile device. A mobile channel is a small-scale Web site designed specifically for offline browsing, and with the unique form factor and capabilities of a Window CE-based device in mind. A user can subscribe to a mobile channel through Internet Explorer 4.0 on their desktop computer. Then, they can synchronize the mobile channel content to their mobile device.
Windows CE adapts Internet Explorer 4.0 standards and technologies developed by Microsoft to support Mobile Channels. Internet Explorer 4.0 defines a standard for delivering information for offline Web browsing on a desktop computer. An Internet Explorer 4.0 channel is a self-describing Web site that contains all the necessary information to download Web content to a desktop computer. The Channel Definition Format (CDF) is a standard that contains Web site metadata. The CDF also contains instructions used by Internet Explorer 4.0 when downloading the site for offline browsing. Internet Explorer 4.0 defines the following three basic types of channels that all use standard CDF technology or CDF extensions:
The Mobile Channels technology introduces a fourth type of channel with its own extensions. A mobile channel Web site conforms to the Mobile Channels CDF extensions. Mobile Channels provides the following benefits:
Mobile Channels technology embodies the following design philosophy:
You create a mobile channel by developing a Web site according to the Mobile Channels design specifications. The format and quantity of information on the site must be suitable for a Windows CE-based device. You must also author the mobile channel with the Mobile Channels subset of HTML.
You publish a mobile channel on the Web or a corporate intranet by providing HTML links to the mobile channel CDF file. A CDF file describes the mobile channel architecture, channel content style, and how often the provider updates the channel content. These links can appear on any HTML page, such as an existing Web site or desktop computer Active Desktop™ component. A mobile channel makes an excellent mobile complement to a traditional Web site. In addition, a mobile channel can be featured within the Mobile Channel Guide, which is similar in concept to the Active Channel Guide for Internet Explorer 4.0.
A channel subscription is a recurring update of information. It does not mean that a user makes payment for receiving the input. In a manner consistent with Internet Explorer 4.0, a user can subscribe to a mobile channel by clicking on a subscription link. This subscription link connects the user to a mobile channel CDF file. Once a user establishes a subscription, Internet Explorer 4.0 downloads the content to the desktop computer.
The user can instruct Mobile Channels to automatically download information once, or on a recurring basis, thus keeping the channel constantly up-to-date.
Once Internet Explorer 4.0 downloads a mobile channel into a desktop computer’s Internet channel cache, a user can use Windows CE Services to synchronize the site content with a Windows CE-based device. In general, Windows CE Services synchronizes a channel item marked for synchronization each time a user attaches their Windows CE-based device to a desktop computer.
A user can view a mobile channel on a Windows CE-based device using an offline Web browser, such as the Channel Browser on the Palm-size PC. A user can also view a mobile channel directly on a desktop computer using the Internet Explorer 4.0 browser to download and view Mobile Channels content if Windows CE Services 2.10 is installed.
A Mobile Desktop Component is a one-page channel designed to fit in a small space. You can have a Mobile Desktop Component appear in the Active Desktop on a Windows CE-based device, such as a Palm-size PC.
This section covers the following topics: