The story is not great right now for US based developers, though it should get better soon.
Nextel is clearly the leading carrier for deploying Java apps (world-leading, arguably), but they do make developers jump through hoops and their data charges are substantial (plans from $13/month for 175 kb to $55/month for unlimited). Nextel is strongly tied to Motorola, who make the only compatible handsets and own a big chunk of the company, so they've been fortunate to get early access to Mot's Java initiative.
Sprint will be launching J2ME as part of their 3G lite rollout this summer, but at this point the only Java capable handsets they sell are the Kyocera and Samsung PalmOS smartphones. (Yes, any recent PalmOS device can run J2ME midlets, but they have to first be converted to.prc files using a utility that comes with Sun's J2ME toolkit.) Several manufacturers of CDMA phones have shown Java capability and Sprint should certainly be releasing an assortment of handsets from them, but so far they're being cagey about the details.
As for GSM at 1900MHz (Voicestream and parts of AT&T and Cingular), things are also bleak now, but look good for the near future. According to PhoneScoop, a number of Java-capable GSM handsets should be released in the US in 2002 from Motorola, SonyEricsson, Nokia and Samsung. Even if the US carriers don't sell the phones themselves, many of these new phones are triband, so you can be sure industrious folks will import them from Europe for sale here.
All these manufacturers and carriers have their own developer's programs, and will usually offer Q&A forums and tool downloads for a free registration, usually at "http://developer.companyname.com".
And yes, mobile gaming is quite the coming craze. To find out more about that, I'd humbly suggest a site I'm a part of, Wireless Gaming Review. We've got reviews, interviews and discussions of what's here and what's coming to wireless games. There are a number of active developers on the boards there who should be able answer your questions with more real-world experience.
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The story is not great right now for US based developers, though it should get better soon.
.prc files using a utility that comes with Sun's J2ME toolkit.) Several manufacturers of CDMA phones have shown Java capability and Sprint should certainly be releasing an assortment of handsets from them, but so far they're being cagey about the details.
Nextel is clearly the leading carrier for deploying Java apps (world-leading, arguably), but they do make developers jump through hoops and their data charges are substantial (plans from $13/month for 175 kb to $55/month for unlimited). Nextel is strongly tied to Motorola, who make the only compatible handsets and own a big chunk of the company, so they've been fortunate to get early access to Mot's Java initiative.
Sprint will be launching J2ME as part of their 3G lite rollout this summer, but at this point the only Java capable handsets they sell are the Kyocera and Samsung PalmOS smartphones. (Yes, any recent PalmOS device can run J2ME midlets, but they have to first be converted to
As for GSM at 1900MHz (Voicestream and parts of AT&T and Cingular), things are also bleak now, but look good for the near future. According to PhoneScoop, a number of Java-capable GSM handsets should be released in the US in 2002 from Motorola, SonyEricsson, Nokia and Samsung. Even if the US carriers don't sell the phones themselves, many of these new phones are triband, so you can be sure industrious folks will import them from Europe for sale here.
All these manufacturers and carriers have their own developer's programs, and will usually offer Q&A forums and tool downloads for a free registration, usually at "http://developer.companyname.com".
And yes, mobile gaming is quite the coming craze. To find out more about that, I'd humbly suggest a site I'm a part of, Wireless Gaming Review. We've got reviews, interviews and discussions of what's here and what's coming to wireless games. There are a number of active developers on the boards there who should be able answer your questions with more real-world experience.
-cashman