Hello and welcome

Hello there, my name is James Woodall and I am the co-founder of Ikanos Consulting.

Our company's primary focus is Windows SideShow; a technology built into Windows Vista which allows external devices to communicate with the Vista PC.

The purpose of this blog over the forthcoming months is to help spread the SideShow word. We're firm believers in this technology and have found uses for it all over.

Essentially a Windows SideShow solution utilises a device and a collection of gadgets.

What is a gadget?

I won't go into too much detail (need to make some room for another post!) but essentially Windows SideShow gadgets provide the information to the Windows SideShow devices. Gadgets expose services and functionality to the external devices and allow for basic interaction. For example, with the Windows Media Player gadget (built into Vista) I can control the music on my PC from any Windows SideShow device. You can search for existing gadgets by visiting the Windows Live Gallery and downloading any of the existing gadgets. I'd thoroughly recommend the PowerPoint remote control and the Outlook gadgets.

Future posts will focus on how to write Windows SideShow gadgets to leverage the most out of the device.

How can I use them?

If you don't have a Windows SideShow device then you can download the Windows SideShow Simulator. The simulator 'fakes' a real device and allows you to test out gadgets. In fact the Simulator is running the same renderer (.NET Micro Framework) that can be found on existing devices today (such the Dell XPS 420 or Asus W5Fe). Also, the Ricavision VAVE100 is available for pre-order on Amazon and is highly anticipated. However, the .NET Micro Framework isn't required to create Windows SideShow devices and many other devices exist or are coming soon.

Anyway, in the next few posts over the coming weeks I'll start to explain a bit more about Windows SideShow and how you can utilise the technology to its full potential.

If there is anything you'd like me to discuss or any questions about Windows SideShow that you'd like answering, please feel free to comment or send me a mail.

 

Cheers,

-james