April/May 2003

Pendulum, a rapid application development system for handheld terminals running under Microsoft Pocket PC, was launched into the mobile logistics market by i2 Mobile Solutions at this spring's Softworld Supply Chain exhibition. It is said to support most mainstream handhelds from makers such as Symbol and Psion Teklogix.

Pendulum aims to allow developers to create complete mobile applications quickly without programming knowledge, and is said to be particularly suitable for logistics and field service uses. There are two main versions of the system - Pendulum Data Collector, which focuses on providing data collection capabilities (and includes CompactFlash memory card support); and Pendulum Application Builder, which uses IBM's DB2 Everyplace portable database system on the handheld to provide database support.

Program development is done on PCs in a WYSIWYG environment called Pendulum Page Editor, which allows users to "draw" fields, buttons and other controls as they might in a graphical package or in something like Visual Basic. Controls can include features such as graphics, pick lists, check boxes and signature-capture panels. Functionality is simply added to these objects from drop-down boxes of options.

In the initial version there is no access to the underlying program code, but i2 Mobile says future versions will offer this feature, making the system even more powerful.

 

In both versions, local program and data transfer to handheld devices is handled via a Microsoft ActiveSync link. On the handhelds, a "runtime" is installed to execute the programs and handle communications. There is also support for GPRS, GSM or an internal RF network card for use on a wireless LAN.

Currently Pendulum supports Pocket PC 2000 or 2002, and soon it will also work under Windows CE.Net, although this has required further development work, since it requires the screen type to be defined for all potential mobile devices. The price for a "starter" package is put at under £500.

i2 Mobile is the new name for Paradigm Technologies, a long-established data capture specialist, and has no connection with i2, the US-based supply-chain software developer. It is a subsidiary of Mobile Data Technology, the developer of the Pendulum system.