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Cell Phones and Services for Java Developers?
Xi asks: "My cell phone recently died, forcing me to start looking for another cell/provider. I want one which will allow me to do some simple client/server Java programming but I'm perplexed by the array of choices. Some providers let you pay to download Java apps but do they let you create your own? Several providers can utilize phones on which Java runs but do they have to host some sort of software on their side? For instance can I use a Java enabled phone with T-mobile? Nokia, Nextel, Motorola (who shipped a Developer's CD with my October copy of Java Developers Journal) and its recent acquisition, AT&T, Sprint (new pricing), and others are all claiming Java this and Java that but what am I really 'getting' and what are fellow Slashdot-reading Java developers really using?"
Java applications he means, not on the whole basis of webpages...jeeze. Some phones (Nokia i think) come with Java Games on there, fine they take ages to load but its giving the open development side to mobile phones that some people have wanted for ages
I know that a small company i used to have contact with used a java app on a mobile to sync up information over WAP.
Its interesting, for the normal user yes its out of place (bar for games) but business use, hell it could be interesting to see whats turned out
"What do you mean you have no ice? Do you expect me to drink this coffee hot?" - Random Customer, Clerks
AFAIK, the network operator has little (if any) to do with the usage of Java (J2ME) on your phone.
You can always write you own programs, and copy them to your phone. You can (with some trickery, I'm sure) post them on the Web (WAP?) and let other people download them to their phones.
The client/server part of J2ME is more-or-less URL-based HTTP/TCP transfers. I assume you're talking about GPRS (G2.5) phones: in that case, to use the networking from J2ME you just need that your phone provider allows you to connect to the Internet (as opposed to just their local network) via GPRS.
The above is based on Nokia informations, Sun's J2ME API reference, and European networks.
dakkar - mobilis in mobile
There are more, and if you look at the recently released phones - J2ME seems to be there in most devices (excluding the cheapest model-range). Get the J2ME toolkit (this one for windows), the page will tell what else (java related) you also need.
Some operators might have for some odd reason disabled downloading some J2ME content although I don't know any such operators. Anyway, the operator choice should not affect your ability to start developing your own J2ME applications.
A friend of mine just got the new top of the line Sprint Vision phone and in the debug menu is a Java app launcher. I've been commissioned to see if I can write a SSH client for it. It can do SHTTP so I dont see a problem. Check www.a500hacking.com for more.
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I suggest you check out Sun's Wireless Site. There are a ton of articles, documentation, and code examples from which to learn.
Sprint's implementation is open and accessible. You can write plain MIDP1.0 apps and download them to the phone from any webserver. It also supports extension API's for sound and connectors for https, ssl & sockets to do virtually any type of network based stuff.
"I have been around the world and found that only stupid people are breeding" -- Harvey Danger
I was in a similar situation, I really wanted to program java apps on my cellphone (Dont ask me Y, im just a geek). Nextel was the only company in my area offering java-enabled phones, so I picked up one of their i85s models. Its a really nice phone, and the Java stuff works sweet on it.
.jad file on the web and download the app, not Motorola.
The only problem is getting the apps onto the phone. Motorola is being a nazi about controling the ability to distribute apps, if you arent in their developers program you can only download offical apps through their propritary download program. As far as getting into the development program, I have no idea, Ive applied for it through my work and as a student to no avial. Im even one of the few people running some J2ME projects on sourceforge.
Im told other phones have the ability to simply point themselves at a
I've got a Nokia 3410, which is MIDP1.0 compliant, and this book from O'Reilly which i found helpful. I'm using the J2ME toolkit to help package and test the apps I write (it has an emulator).
To get them onto my phone is a moderate pain. I have apache running on my machine, and added the following into mime.types:
text/vnd.sun.j2me.app-descriptor jad
application/java-archive jar