BSQUARE Introduces XML-based Remote Update Software for Windows CE-based Devices

<%=company1%> (Bellevue, WA) announced what it is calling the world's first remote update software for intelligent computing devices based on Windows CE. BSQUARE's new CE Remote Updater is an off-the-shelf software development kit for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) creating devices that will need to update data, software applications, device configuration or even the operating system itself from a remote location.

"With the growth in deployed Windows CE-based devices, there is an increasing need for these devices to be updated in the field," says Denise Slocombe, business unit director of BSQUARE's Mobile and Wireless group. "Now with CE Remote Updater, software developers can get new applications out to market faster and update them later with new revisions. Mobile enterprise users can get time-critical information like price lists so they're always up to date. CE Remote Updater increases the productivity of virtually all developers and mobile users of Windows CE-based intelligent computing devices."

"One of the most powerful features of Windows CE is its ability to share data with other Windows operating systems, such as a Windows NT Server," says Don Chouinard, marketing manager for Windows CE OS and Tools at Microsoft Corp. "BSQUARE is working to provide a connectivity solution for remote devices to access the server for updating at individual times, from individual locations."

The new development kit enables OEM and application developers to give Windows CE-based devices complete control over the update process. "A mobile worker, for example, can update his or her database remotely at a convenient time, rather than have to be connected at a certain time each day to receive information pushed down from the server," Slocombe says.

Using the development kit, developers can create Windows CE-based software applications that call in to a remote server from a remote location and update:

• data such as inventory, price lists, contact names,
• applications to update, for example, to the latest version of an inventory tracking program,
• Windows CE registry for updating device configuration,
• Windows CE OS image for updating to a new OS configuration.

Update files can be stored on Unix or NT servers for access from the Windows CE-based devices. Results from the update process are stored in a log file.

CE Remote Updater uses an XML command file to control the update process and standard HTTP, FTP and CIFS (Common Internet File System) protocols for accessing update files.

Although the CE device can operate completely independent of a server, sample code is included with CE Remote Updater to demonstrate how the CE device update process can be triggered by a remote server thereby passing control of the update process to the server.

CE Remote Updater will be available from BSQUARE and authorized distributors worldwide in the second quarter for an unlimited use site license for $10,000. Run-time royalties depend upon quantity of licensed devices.

In related news, BSQUARE also introduced a new application testing tool and unveiled its current startup package for developers of intelligent computing devices.

The newest member of its CEValidator QA Automation Product family, the CEValidator Application Tester, will be available in the second quarter with single user licenses priced at $4,950 with multi-user licenses starting at $19,750. It will enable device developers to save time and development cost by automatically recording automated tests for ensuring the quality of software applications on an intelligent computing device. The Application Tester automates the functional testing of GUI based applications running on top of the platform.

"The rapid growth of intelligent computing devices is creating incredible demand for new embedded Windows applications performing various tasks such as data collection, auto navigation, video on demand, even medical charting. Time to market pressures and the complexity of the underlying technology has created an unprecedented need for automated testing," says Jim Walters, business unit director of BSQUARE's Quality Assurance Products Group.

Available until April 30, the current CE Go! Quick Start Prototype Kit enables developers to begin prototype development immediately on a new intelligent computing device. The CE Go! Prototype Kit includes Microsoft Windows CE Platform Builder version 2.12 Prototype Kit, 10 Windows CE licenses, a free BSQUARE CE Xpress86 Kit, and a $500 discount on BSQUARE's offering of the Microsoft Official Curriculum Windows CE 5-day training for $3,495, a saving of $995.

Edited by Jim Lardear