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Does anyone know of a Windows Mobile 7 device aimed at business use?

I’m looking for something with bar code scanning capability.

Psion, hand held, and honeywell only offer 6.5 at the moment.

Granted, Windows Mobile 7 just barely came out and these sorts of devices usually lag a bit behind consumer toys...but hopefully someone can help.

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  • I think the good people at superuser.com are more likely to help you with your query (whereas this site is intended specifically for programming questions). Your question will probably be migrated there soon.
    – Piskvor left the building
    Commented Jun 14, 2010 at 16:12
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    Pretty sure Windows Phone 7 isn't released yet...
    – Dan Puzey
    Commented Jun 14, 2010 at 16:12
  • @Piskvor - I knew about serverfault, but not the hardware specific stackoverflow. I was interested in developing software for a win 7 device in the corporate environment, so the question was somewhat programming related. Stackoverflow is the only site that has ever been of any real use for getting results, so that's why I asked here. @everyone else - If windows mobile 7 isn't available, then why are commercials for the KIN being aired right now?
    – Toymaker
    Commented Jun 14, 2010 at 16:36
  • The KIN is not a Windows 7 Phone, it has its own OS.
    – Nate Dudek
    Commented Jun 14, 2010 at 16:47
  • Looks like I messed up on the KIN and thought it was Win 7. Pretty curious marketing decision to release the KIN with Win 7 so close.
    – Toymaker
    Commented Jun 14, 2010 at 16:55

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I believe Windows Phone 7 will not be out until the end of the year. There don't seem to be any solid hardware previews available yet. I can't imagine them not having business integration support when it releases, but you may need to go with 6.5 for now.

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It is going to be a bit before Windows 7 Mobile will be out.

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Windows Phone 7 is a big shift from Windows Mobile 6.5 and below, especially from the enterprise perspective. A lot of companies in the past have custom-developed apps in C++ and other languages that run directly on the phone. With Windows Phone 7, that's no longer possible. Every application must be developed using Silverlight and/or XNA Studio, and deployed to the device through a Microsoft provisioning process. There have been hints that it may be possible in the future to deploy applications directly to the device for enterprise purposes.

That being said, if you can get by with those stipulations, you CAN read bar codes from the Windows Phone 7 by using the built-in camera. At the MIX '10 conference this year, they demoed a Silverlight eBay Quick Lister application that recognized bar codes using a web cam. You could write an application that does the same using the phone's camera.

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