Adding media playback capabilities to Windows CE and Windows Mobile applications written in Visual Basic or C# is challenging when you only have the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework at your disposal.  OpenNETCF's Media Player controls provide managed-code developers robust controls that allow custom applications to include playback of MPEG, AVI, and WMA files along with the ability to control playback without having to shell out to Media Player.  This gives your product much finer control over playback and provides a much nicer interface for your customers and users.

We have separate controls for generic Windows CE and Windows Mobile because they have different underlying playback architectures, but both controls provide the same object model, allowing code written for one control to compile and run against the other with little effort.

For more information on pricing and licensing for Media Player for Windows CE please contact us.

The OpenNETCF.WindowsCE.Media control leverages Direct Draw to allow you to position your playback window anywhere on an application Form and control start, stop, pause, forward and reverse.

The control requires that the target device has Direct Draw support in the CE image and the media types supported are dictated by the codecs installed (the media player control contains no codecs).  We encourage you to download the evaluation version or the Video Kiosk sample application to determine if the control is capable of playing your specific content.

Download the Evaluation Edition of the library here

We have a full-featured sample application that uses the control.  Below is a screen shot.

Download the Video Kiosk sample application here

PLEASE NOTE: Media Player Control for Windows CE and the Video Kiosk Sample is for generic WIndows CE 5.0 and 6.0 devices only. It will not work on Windows Mobile, Pocket PC or Smartphone devices.  For those devices, see the Windows Mobile-specific control below.

The Media Player Control for Windows Mobile allows developers targeting Windows Mobile 5 devices to easily add video media within a .NET Compact Framework application.

It allows the developer to

• Start, stop or pause the media
• Start the media at a specific location
• Change the location of the media playing
• Go full screen
• Play video or audio only media

The following is a sample movie trailer playing within a custom application

NOTE: This control is not supported on Pocket PC 2003 or earlier devices.

Download the Evaluation version of the Media Player Control for Windows Mobile here.

Visit our online store to purchase a developer license for the Media Player Control for Windows Mobile.

The following are required to use the Media Player Control for Windows Mobile:

• Visual Studio 2005 Standard Edition (with Smart Device option selected)
• .NET Compact Framework 2.0 installed on target device

Note:  Media Player Control for Windows Mobile do not support .NET Compact Framework 1.0

Known Issue:
When playing back a media file recorded with a Windows Mobile device,  the Media Player Control for Windows Mobile will only display a black screen. This has only been experienced on certain HTC devices and is not reproducible on all Windows Mobile devices. At this point the only work around is to playback the media in full screen mode.  The following devices are known to exhibit this behaviour:

• HTC Universal - i-Mate JasJar (Windows Mobile 5)
• HTC Apache - UTCStarcom PPC-6700 (Windows Mobile 5).

If you experience this behaviour on a device not listed here please let us know.