Windows Mobile on Nintendo DS

© 2008 Aaron L. Richards – All Rights Reserved.

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Richards Media Net LLC – Great Opportunities for Media Technology

Windows Mobile rocks. I carry a Dell Axim X50V with me frequently, and am writing this blog entry on it while waiting for my son's swim competition to spin up.

The Axim's claim to fame is that it has a 480X640 pixel display. This is 4 times the resolution of most Windows Mobile machines, provides for a clear, sharp image, and allows me to run PC remote control software so that I can work with my office PC remotely and have an acceptable display. All around I would have to say it is a great every-day PDA.

However, lately I have been thinking of the issues that Windows Mobile devices have, and how to solve them.

One of these issues is cost. Windows Mobile devices do not achieve the economies of scale that other consumer devices achieve, and as a result end up costing more and gaining less industry support in terms of add-ons and software.

In addition, with their small display sizes, they are constrained in terms of what can be realistically and adequately displayed on their small screens.

I think I've found a solution to the issues of cost, availability of software and add-ons and constrained screen sizes. If you want to take advantage of these thoughts, read on!

Think of it this way - Windows Mobile is software. PC software runs on PCs from different vendors such as HP & Dell, as well as different configurations such as desktops, laptops and tablet PCs. Windows Mobile is tightly tied to the hardware it runs on, which is a double-edged sword. It is good because it gives a very consistent user experience from device to device. It is bad for a couple of reasons. Usually you can not upgrade a Windows Mobile operating system. A second downer is that because you do not have a decoupling between the OS and the hardware you can not shop around for the best hardware (i.e. the device) separately from the software.

How about this for an idea. Create a version of Windows Mobile especially for the Nintendo DS! Put it on a cartridge for insertion into the DS just like any of its other software. If necessary, put it on two of the cartridges that fit into the DS. The DS takes old format (Advance) and new format cards simultaneously. Perhaps if you need the extra cartridge, you could put Windows Mobile and Flash memory on two cartridges for insertion into a DS simultaneously.

This solves a number of problems that had been posed earlier. The Nintendo DS has a very low price point for some very capable hardware. It has great sound, a touch screen, fantastic graphics, good buttons, two (Yes TWO) screens, stylus input and control, 3D capability and wi-fi.

It also has a large and competitive market for add-ons, meaning that they are reasonably priced. You can get headsets, microphones, other software – all sorts of great stuff for it!

One thing it does NOT have is cellular phone capability. However this is where you could tie the Nintendo’s wi-fi into Microsoft’s other product lines to solve this problem. Put a software based phone into the Windows Mobile for Nintendo software. Something compatible with Microsoft’s Communication Server. Then sell a server software add-on for Communications Server that ties it into your small business or corporate phone system. The wi-fi from the Nintendo running Windows Mobile could communicate with your companies Communication Server over the Internet, and give you wi-fi based phone service by going through the local hotspot over the Internet to your companies Communications Server, then to the local phone network. In that manner you would not need to have a separate phone service provider for your Nintendo. Just piggy-back onto your small business or corporate phone system service through the Internet. Bingo! A Nintendo running Windows Mobile with phone service where ever you have wi-fi! (With the separate purchase of a microphone or microphone headset of course!)

Windows Mobile would need a bit of a rewrite to take full advantage of the Nintendo’s dual screens and other capabilities. On the other hand, it would open a huge potential market in terms of installed base (all the DS devices already out there, several million) to Microsoft, provide hardware at an excellent price point, and would give DS users both their huge installed base of existing software and hardware as well as the benefits of Windows Mobile, including as I’ve described Internet phone capability, and a tie-in point for Communications Server.

A win-win for everyone!

Talking about win-wins, my son won 3 out of 4 of the swimming events he was in. Awesome!

A vision from a man who grew up in the Internet Age, writes computer software and develops Internet systems for a living, and has visions of the future that keep him up at insane hours of the night.