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Feature Phones Make Java ME, Not Android, the #2 Mobile Internet OS
bonch writes "According to a report from NetApplications, which has measured browser usage data since 2004, Oracle's Java Mobile Edition has surpassed Android as the #2 mobile OS on the internet at 26.80%, with iOS at 46.57% and Android at 13.44%. And the trend appears to be growing. Java ME powers hundreds of millions of low-end 'feature phones' for budget buyers. In 2011, feature phones made up 60% of the install base in the U.S." Looking at the linked chart, it looks Java ME's been ahead of Android for all of 2011, too, except for the month of October.
You are correct. Here is a link to a chart with a slightly longer time frame.
JavaME has been rapidly losing share to Android. Thanks bonch for bringing this to everyone's attention.
have access to a great deal of actual and current mobile usage data, and this is just completely at odds with reality.
That is my experience too. Statcounter is more representative of what I'm seeing: http://gs.statcounter.com/#mobile_os-US-monthly-201012-201112
There are more Android PHONES than iOS PHONES, that is true. When you factor in the iPad and iPod Touch that swings way around in favor of Apple. Hence Mobile Devices
Yep, if you paid more than $5 for the phone it can run Java (unless Steve Jobs said NO!), but only the really desperate access the net with one and almost none knowingly install or run any Java apps beyond what the device shipped with. I tested net access on my fathers feature phone and it was painfully, unusably slow. On a sad JaveME based 'china phone' it was still far too bad to actually use, even over WiFi.
JavaME is a ubiquitous tech that no-one knowingly chooses to use. That's not a story, that's just a reminder Android did the right thing avoiding this steaming pile of mediocrity.
The "article" like points to a table where the figures mentioned in the blurb are the OLDEST values included, not the LATEST... :)
The trend is falling for Java ME, not the other way around.. Duh?
There is basically no common API, compatibility with different versions is totally unpredictable, and the development tools are across the board awful. JavaME is crap and it should be ignored and forgotten.
And the answer is "Where it says it's about measured browser usage data in the first line of the summary".
Or if you actually read the article (yeah. right - you couldn't even read the first line of the summary), click on any of the links in the table and select by browser.
StatCounter's Worldwide numbers show iOS and Android about even.