J2ME and .Net CFF Mobile Games

Java World is featuring the first part of a series comparing J2ME and the .Net CF vaporware (ok, it will exist at some point). It does tout the normal Java "features" such as being cross-platform in comparison to the mono-platform reality of .NET CFF. It has a bizarre critique of .Net CLR for being object oriented, and mentions the fact that most of the Linux PDAs coming out now run Java as an advantage for Java. (I love my Zaurus but I can't imagine it being useful for most people.)

Comments

Re:Sorry to ignore most of the article but..

[|deity|]

I will agree that the Zaurus is not for everyone, but I don't think that anyone who could use one running microsoft's pocket PC, would really have any trouble with the zaurus.

I've never had to reset my for anything but I haven't had it that long so I already have the newest ROM.

Syncing with windows was easy, I will admit syncing with Linux was a bitch. But try to get an IPAQ to sync to linux without switching from Pocket pc to linux.

I don't use the zaurus for the same things you do. I mainly use it to read books, listen to music, keep track of contacts, and take short notes.

I agree great toy, but I would recommend it to most of the people I know. :)

.NET CF

[IanBevan]

and the .Net CF vaporware...

Actually, it's included in Microsoft Visual Studio.NET 2003 due for release in April IIRC.

Vapo[u]rware????

[Burb]

Sheesh, I'm glad no one was telling me it was vapo[u]rware when I was contributing to this book ... Hey guys, say what you like about .NET CF but it does exist and will ship within weeks. Really.

50 million Java handsets now in circulation

[Anonymous Coward]

Lurker's Guide to J2ME
http://www.blueboard.com/j2me/

Handset manufacturers, mobile services, and
developers of content and applications face a
critical decision: Which handheld software platforms
will they support? Some of the choices include
recognizable brands -- Microsoft and Palm -- as well
as influential names like Blackberry, Java,
Qualcomm, and Symbian. Stakes of the decision can
be high. So-called network effects of technology
and economics tend to support the idea of only a
few winners or even a winner-take-all outcome. So
making a bad decision can resemble betting on the
wrong horse.

"The center of gravity for software developers who
want to reach users of handheld devices has
shifted," says Michael Gold, senior engineer in the
Digital Futures Program at SRI Consulting Business
Intelligence. "In the past, software developers were
asking, 'should we target Microsoft, Palm, or
Symbian?' Now they are increasingly focusing on
Java rather than the other three platforms. With 50
million Java handsets now in circulation worldwide,
2002 Java handset shipments exceeded PDA
shipments of the past several years. By end 2003,
the size of the market that one can address with
Java will still be larger than that of all PDAs and
smartphones (such as Nokia Communicator and the
Ericsson or Samsung equivalents) together -- even
if PDAs and smartphones grow by 100% in units this
year (probably an unrealistically high assumption).
Java has definitely surpassed the PDA operating
systems as the platform to target for the largest
mobile audience."

more on http://www.blueboard.com/j2me/

Re:lots of reasons .NET CF will fail and fail badl

[GiorgioG]

.NET CF is already monolithic and bloated at version 0.9. J2ME is tiny and modular.

Care to back that up with some numbers Mr. Anonymous? The .NET CF runtime will be around 1mb for its final release. And will support most of the functionality of the .NET framework on the desktop.

OSS users are becoming as ignorant as the people they hate for not using OSS.