REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 27, 1997 — In response to strong worldwide interest in the Handheld PC (H/PC), Microsoft Corp. today announced release of the Microsoft® Windows® CE operating system 2.0 for the H/PC in five new languages: French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. Localized versions have been released to Microsoft’s 10 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs): Casio Computer Company, Ltd., Compaq Computer Corp., Ericsson Mobile Communications, Hewlett-Packard Co., Hitachi Ltd., LG Electronics Inc., NEC Corp., Novatel Wireless Inc., Philips Electronics and Sharp Corp.
“We’ve received tremendous interest from organizations worldwide for Windows CE-based devices such as the Handheld PC,” said Harel Kodesh, general manager, consumer appliance group at Microsoft. “Now that the Windows CE 2.0 platform is internationalized, it is possible to localize applications quickly, giving our OEMs a significant time-to-market advantage and offering customers new levels of functionality and ease of use.”
Pocket Applications Localized
In addition to the Windows CE operating system, the Handheld PC user interface and the suite of “Pocket” applications, including Pocket Outlook
™, Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, Pocket PowerPoint® , and Pocket Internet Explorer, have been localized for international use. In addition, Windows CE 2.0 supports Unicode characters, making it possible to create international applications with full font support. The Handheld PC based on Windows CE 2.0 supports new APIs, along with the standard method of encapsulating resources in a separate shared code file (dynamic-link library), that simplify multilanguage application development. This method is now supported in the Windows CE Toolkits for the Visual Basic® programming system, the Visual C++® development system and Visual J++
™
development software, enabling developers to create software that targets these international business application platforms. Details about Windows CE 2.0 for the Handheld PC enhancements were announced on Oct. 13, 1997.
These international-version Windows CE-based H/PCs can connect to a desktop PC using a different language. For example, if a French-based H/PC is connected to a Windows NT® operating system-based or Windows 95 operating system-based PC using a different language, it can still synchronize and transfer files.
Pricing and Availability
Each OEM will set its own pricing and will ship its specific Windows CE 2.0 Handheld PCs according to its own timetable. Casio, Hewlett-Packard, NEC and Philips also have announced Windows CE 2.0 ROM upgrade programs for their current H/PC 1.0 customers.
For more information about Handheld PCs, Windows CE and available third-party applications, visit http://www.microsoft.com/windowsce/products/hpc/features.asp .
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Microsoft, Windows, Outlook, PowerPoint, Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual J++ and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
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