ByteSnap ports and manages LTK testing for Hoeft & Wessel skeye.dart Windows Mobile platform

Porting a device to Windows Mobile requires a highly specialised skill set and very few companies worldwide are able to undertake this work. Hoeft & Wessel selected ByteSnap Design for the porting work for two reasons: its ability to respond flexibly to requirements and its long track record in Windows Mobile and Windows CE product and software development. ByteSnap Design built the Windows Mobile 6.5 version of skeye.dart from scratch, based on a Marvell Windows Mobile reference kit, without access to the original Windows CE source code.

The move to Windows Mobile gave Hoeft & Wessel’s skeye.dart platform access to Windows Mobile applications and mobile phone functions – increasing the flexibility and reach of the platform. In selecting a specialist mobile design and development consultancy to carry out the port, Hoeft & Wessel recognised that although the necessary work had similarities to a ‘standard’ Windows CE development at the OS level, Windows Mobile is much more demanding from a product development and deployment perspective.

Unlike Windows CE, where companies may release any product they deem fit to market, Windows Mobile products are required to undergo a rigorous series of software and hardware tests (LTK testing) before being approved by Microsoft. The actual LTK testing itself is owned, managed and carried out by Microsoft (or one of its approved testing partners) and the development tools required to prepare a product for LTK testing are typically only provided to larger companies.

“ByteSnap Design’s experience with the Windows Mobile and LTK tools establishes the company as one of a very small community of Windows Mobile developers who have successfully taken a product through LTK testing,” said Graeme Wintle, Director, ByteSnap Design.

Wintle continued: “Our team has been developing with Windows Mobile for years. There is very little information generally available on passing LTK testing. In contrast to Windows CE, access to the development tools is limited to a small community and the constraints of NDAs mean that the there is little public discussion about design and development issues. The experience we’ve built up at ByteSnap Design means we are well placed to help clients put their products through LTK testing”.