Today, 7 years ago on 19th April 2000, Microsoft announced the immediate availability of the Pocket PC platform (and therefore first Windows Mobile-based PDA how it was renamed later) in New York's Grand Central Station. Back in 2000, Microsoft President and CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled new Pocket PC designs from hardware partners incl. Casio Computer Company Ltd., Compaq Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Symbol Technologies Inc. while putting the devices to the test through demonstrations showcasing their wireless, enterprise and cutting-edge gaming and video capabilities. More than 60 companies showcased their Pocket PC solutions in the launch Partner Pavilion and executives from TD Waterhouse Investor Services Inc. and SAP AG joined Ballmer on stage to announce how they are using the new Pocket PCs in customer scenarios (read Steve Ballmer's speech transcript here).

"It's an amazing time in mobile computing, and we're just getting started," Ballmer said. "Technology is innovating at a rapid pace, and the Pocket PC is a great example of how, today, we are bringing the productivity, performance and power of a PC in a pocket-sized device to enable true any-time, anywhere access to information."

Now, 7 years later we have a wide range of Windows Mobile-based devices which includes PDAs, Phone Edition PDAs and Smartphones.

I've joined the Pocket PC/Windows Mobile camp in early 2000 already in preparation of Microsoft's PocketPC.com community website which was launched the same day and which I joined as a contributing author for (mostly) wireless related tips, articles and reviews.

Pretty amazing to see how the Windows Mobile platform evolved over the years! So happy birthday dear Pocket PC - you changed my life!

Cheers ~ Arne