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Future Borland C++ Mobile Products

The C++ Mobile Edition is just the beginning for Borland. Current plans include an IDE project code named Kittyhawk that will include a Borland ARM C++ compiler and Mobile CLX components .

Borland ARM C++ Compiler

The initial release of C++ Mobile Edition uses the GNU C++ Compiler to generate ARM-executable instruction code. This compiler is currently used to target Symbian OS-based devices that use the ARM-based chipset. Borland, however, has bigger plans than strictly supporting application development for Symbian OS-based devices. Their goal is to support a variety of ARM-based chipset devices including WinCE devices such as a PocketPC, Embedded Linux devices, and next -generation Palm Pilots. To achieve this objective, Borland is creating a brand-new C++ compiler that produces applications with ARM executable instruction code that can be targeted and run on various devices.

Borland's recent efforts with the compact .NET framework, and the current development of this ARM C++ compiler satisfies one of the long-time desires of C++Builder developers. The common wish that has been echoed within the newsgroups for the past few years is the capability to develop applications for the PocketPC and Palm using C++Builder. It appeared for a while that this capability would remain only a wish by developers; however, Borland's emphasis over the last several years has been focused on cross-platform development, which now includes the wireless and handheld market. Borland's ARM C++ Complier will enable applications to be developed and deployed for handheld devices that use the ARM-based processor such as the PocketPC. This is only one of the exciting things to expect from Borland.

Mobile CLX Framework

In the near future, Borland plans to develop and release the Mobile RAD environment, which consists of brand-new Mobile RAD IDE and Mobile CLX components. The Mobile CLX components are expected to be a subset of the CLX (and VCL) components provided with C++Builder 6 and Kylix 3. However, in addition to embracing a set of the common CLX components, there will be new components that are exclusive to supporting mobile development, which will consist of wrappers around existing Symbian OS API classes and frequently used Symbian third party libraries. Anticipated examples include components for managing phone calls, text messages, multimedia, calendar, and location-based services. These Mobile CLX components will be designed for portability to other Symbian OS-based platforms. Mobile CLX components for other ARM-based devices are anticipated as well.

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