Richer Mobile Application Platforms
It was interesting to hear iPhone not sporting any direct 3rd party application support. Maybe they will.. May be not. The reasons stated by Apple for this is that - the third party applications may interfere with your regular telephony functions. They are also worried about the security aspects.
But still there is a lot of room to have custom applications to be running on future Mobile Platforms. The Idea fundamentally boils down to having a controlled runtime environment on these devices. Java ME is a proven model and is available in over a Billion phones around the world. So Java ME support seems imminent for iPhone.
Issues with Java ME are:-
- Porting issues are too difficult to handle with short time-to-market
- UI aesthetics and usability features are way behind native widgets
- No one wants to be taken to a different input screen on every data field entry!
- Issues with access permissions and native resource access
- Signing of ME applications is cumbersome
- No one really likes to be asked everytime a network connection opens or an SMS is sent.
- Slow
- With faster processors appearing on Mobile devices this could be a non issue in near future
FlashLite is a an alternative platform, but they fails miserably when compared feature to feature with ME.
It is very important to have a rich internet experience in the future Mobile applications. XHTML browsers based on Safari available on iPhone and Series 60 3rd edition phones will have a lot to attain before they become finally usable on ultimate internet access devices. Yet , these advancements does not make Controlled execution environments like ME less significant in the future map of mobile devices. MIDP 3.0 draft specifications are not less promising!
Another interesting project to note in this context is OpenLazslo-Orbit. The promises of this project are really exciting.
- Under the current scope of this effort, OpenLaszlo is being extended to enable third parties to develop any application(s) they choose. That means whether developers want to deploy to a computer desktop or to a mobile phone, they’ll be able to build one application, from a single code base, that will run anywhere they choose (just by selecting the “Java ME” or “Flash” or “DHTML” runtime button at the end of development). The functionality, interface richness and information access will remain the same across the various runtimes. Of course, given the size of most mobile devices, the obvious interface factors need to be taken into consideration to maximize the end user experience, but those limitations are design-oriented versus developer-focused.
- Developers will benefit from the efficiency of having a unified, standards-based language to build applications that can be deployed across computers and devices.
- Service or content providers will benefit from distribution virtually anywhere, at any time.
- Users will enjoy clear and consistent interfaces that relay information and services in a rich, fluid and interactive manner across their various devices and venues.
The very major step towards creation of Richer Mobile Applications.
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January 18th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
Hi Vinod,
This is an interesting post.
Let me just inform you that Mobile Distillery (www.mobile-distillery.com)a french company is focused on solving the porting issues of Java ME applications on the various handsets.
At present, mobile games and applications development depends on the fact that one game or application needs to be duplicate hundreds of times for different handsets. These devices all implement Java differently and have a large variety of screen sizes, keyboard lay-outs and user interfaces…
The cost and time implications are enormous.
The basic principle “Write Once Run Anywhere” should apply here. This is the philosophy of the new Celsius V4 Porting Suite from Mobile Distillery which should ease to solve this fragmentation issues.
Mobile Distillery‘s Celsius is a software solution which allows Java ME developers to port mobile games and applications across 500 of Java enabled mobile devices.
Mobile Distillery features advanced optimisation and porting solutions and testing services for J2ME, DOJA & Brew application developers, allowing to develop content for hundreds of mobile phones with unprecedented speed and quality control, in a cost effective way.
2007 will show an exciting Celsius V4 : announcement end of January and worldwide Premiere at 3GSM2007 in Barcelona !
Do not hesitate to come back to me if you need more information, or want to set up a meeting or demo at 3GSM Barcelona: bertrand(dot)louveau(at)mobile(dash)distillery(dot)com
February 11th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
I am drafting an updated new post featuring a few more mobility platforms and application porting . Celcius is definitely featured!
February 13th, 2007 at 3:54 am
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April 8th, 2007 at 1:09 am
Neomades is a software publisher for mobile phone applications developers, editors and distributors. We developed a technology (its name is NeoMAD) which guarantee to a Java applications developer, independence and portability of its application on all phones of the European and US market; we currently support about 600 telephones MIDP1, MIDP2 or Doja.
The NeoMAD Technology has been created in order to solve our own game developer’s needs (we are no more a studio now); this is a framework and a methodology created to address portability on mobile phones:
- to get “code uniqueness†and mobile phones portability on the whole of the market mobile phones maximizing the capacities of each one of them (MIDP1, MIDP2, DOJA currently – see joined supported phones list),
- to provide tools for development teams organization,
- to merge all simulation tools from target mobile platforms providers,
- to improve development productivity,
- to provide automatic production process tools for runtimes,
- to offer solutions for real tests on the mobiles for Europe and the US.
We are acting at the source code level where our competitor is acting at the byte code level. This difference has 2 major impacts for projects:
- the development guidelines and constraints are easier to reach,
- the development/production/maintenance cycle is speeded up and easier to control as “end of projects†bugs fixes or modifications are possible to introduce very late in the process.
Our offer is available in a very flexible way either on a licence mode or on a service mode (modification, porting, generation, tests) or any mix of these solutions.
Our solution and services have been chosen by companies like InFusio, Lagardere, ATARI, Vivendi, MIG… to address games portability and the tests needs for several titles (Asterix, Age Of Empires, Arthur & Minimoys, Midtown Madness, StarAc, It’ S Mister Pants, Tour of France…).
More information on http://www.neomades.com
June 14th, 2007 at 3:43 am
[...] Give me Java/Python/Ruby, Steve. They are harmless. Sphere: Related Content stumble | digg | tag this | permalink | trackback url [...]
July 3rd, 2007 at 2:51 pm
[...] in January I voiced my thoughts about creating richer mobile application platforms, highlighting possible Java ME(Micro Edition) support on iPhone along with [...]
July 9th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
good story