I have extensive experience working with a developer with WINCE.
It is very easy to connect to a data source such as SOAP / WebServices, and you can do this through VISUAL STUDIO, add ServiceReferences and follow the instructions. Via SAOPA / WebServices Return data that you read from your database, you can also use local versions of the database (not recommended)
You should use VISUAL STUDIO 2008 exclusively for WINCE development; other versions no longer support this platform.
I have a lot of work on these types of devices, and only one WIN7 + VS2008 PC is used for maintenance and development.
It is a stable and efficient technology.
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