Hey, I agree with you agreeing with me. Native compiling MIDP 3.0 source to Andorid should be the easiest thing to do since they both use Java syntax. Sun had better do something quickly before Flash takes over as the best cross-platform solution for mobile devices.

Hey Shawn, nice to hear from you again. Thanks to Verizon, the Storm 2 will probably be a moderate success, although it’s going to have an uphill battle against the iPhone because I’ve never seen a business person on the street with a Storm.

Now, to address your question specifically. Yes, the Blackberry OS has excellent support for Java CLDC and MIDP 2.1. It also has alot of support for a slew of JSRs which makes Blackberry a haven for Java ME developers. My concern is that RIM has no implementation for Java ME CDC, which is the middle-ground Java implementation between CLDC and Java SE. Java ME CDC *was* supposed to be a JVM platform for both high-end mobile phones and set-top boxes, but it never succeeded as a commercially available JVM platform for phones.

Ugh. And I had such high hopes for the Titan platform, especially since it used OSGi. It looks like Sprint is committed WebOS, Android, and Blackberry. Thanks David!

This is such an important post and should be made public to all and everybody because this is a very good point. I am watching CDC going down for years now without even really getting started. And now, with iPhone, Android und Palm on the market, which do not even support CLDC anymore the lifetime of MIDP overall seems to end, even with 3.0 not even really being there.

Nevertheless, your three points of basically cross-compilation seem OK but I do not totally agree with them. Of course, it would be nice to them being cross-compiled natively to the different phones, but that could be more complicated than trying to really get their space in their. For example, it would be nice to see 3.0 going directly into the Android SDK. But overall your are right, Sun definitely has to do something, has to get in there, the one way or another.

I’m currently working on a Storm2 deploying an app, and in the 5.0 JDE there is midlet support. Just want to make sure I’m not going to get the rug pulled out of the project. :)

But your statements on ME I couldn’t agree with you more about. Something needs to get going on JavaME with smartphones. In mobile development warfare the ME world is kinda fighting with sticks and rocks compared to B1 and Stealth fighters everyone else has now.

-Shawn

Secondly, although you make a fair point, in terms of sales those devices without J2ME are niche - the iPhone certainly is. They command very small market shares. Nokia outsells all the rest by a long, long way, and I am not aware of any Nokia handsets without J2ME/MIDP and a great set of JSRs, so I think things are still pretty good :)

http://www.phonenews.com/instinct-hd-preview-sprint-titan-loaded-opera-mobile-deal-samsung-8760/

Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that other carriers have attached to CDC like Sprint has. But, with Verizon warming up to Java… there is potential for more widespread adoption.

It was very nice to meet you and to get “immersed” into all things Java. Yeah, by the end of the year, we plan to have BlogRadio on a bunch of platforms. Stay tuned!