Java in your phone: Tempest in a coffeepot

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Yet, till now, the promise has not translated into a proven commodity, despite attempts to drive its uptake in Asia. Perhaps MIDP 2.0, due for final release by year-end, will be the necessary catalyst to move the industry forward.

Write once, run anywhere
MIDP has its roots in Java, a programming environment for developing and running applications. Invented by systems provider Sun Microsystems in 1995, Java has since drawn loyal hordes, revolutionized the software business, and established Sun as an innovator.

There are several reasons for the success of Java. For one, it resembles the popular C++ language but is simpler to use. Java's progress was also aided by the success of the Internet, where the program is used to write Web applets. Another important appeal of Java is its promise of "write once, run anywhere", which theoretically lets one program run on different software and hardware platforms.

While other programming languages produce native executables, Java programs are compiled into bytecode, which requires further translation into machine code. The Java virtual machine (JVM), which sits on top of the hardware and operating system, takes care of this extra step. It translates Java bytecode into a language that the underlying system can understand, thus ensuring cross-platform compatibility.

In other words, the same Java gaming client can be downloaded from the Web and executed on both Mac and Windows desktop systems.

Lighter flavors
In December 1998, Sun broadened its offerings with Java 2 which comes in three different versions, including Java 2, Standard Edition for desktop-based applications and Java 2, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) for server-based applications.

The third flavor, Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), is targeted at machines with less power than typical desktop and server machines, such as cell phones, PDAs and consumer electronic devices. J2ME is, in turn, subdivided into different profiles, with the one for cell phones called MIDP.

A mixed pot
MIDP enables the Java programming language to be ported to mobile devices that are restricted by screen and keypad limitations, as well as constraints of battery life, computational power and memory. This allows video games and applications to be developed for mobile platforms.

MIDP has had mixed beginnings. In Japan, telco giant NTT DoCoMo currently boasts almost 15 million subscribers to its Java-based i-appli service. However, i-appli isn't MIDP-compatible because, according to Sun, DoCoMo opted for Java before MIDP specifications were final. Still, Rich Green, general manager for Sun's Java Software Group, believes DoCoMo "is on a path to converge onto MIDP".

Outside Japan, reception to J2ME has been indifferent. There are several reasons for this, ranging from a lack of handsets to the lackluster adoption of mobile data technologies such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). In Singapore, July numbers from the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) indicated there were just 15,700 mobile data subscribers--a tiny fraction of the three million phone users islandwide.

Stirrings
The signs are there, though, that MIDP acceptance is picking up.

In markets that use the popular Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network, Java capabilities have traditionally been limited to high-end PDA-phones such as the Motorola Accompli and Nokia Communicator series. But in recent months, more Java-enabled handsets have been announced for the mass market. Global handset market leader Nokia, for one, recently unveiled its Java-capable 7650 and has announced two more on the way.

MIDP fortunes will also be boosted by the release of version 2.0.

The first MIDP, created two years ago, "left some areas open that handset manufacturers were exploiting with proprietary... programming interfaces", Onno Kluyt, manager of Sun's Java Community Process (JCP) Program Office, told CNET News.com.

MIDP 2.0 will incorporate more functions, reducing the need for mobile phone makers to create platform-specific extensions. Defined by a group led by Motorola, MIDP 2.0 proposes to add end-to-end transactional security with HTTPS, support 2D games and sound, and feature more powerful user interface (UI) and layout controls. The group comprises over 50 members, including device makers Nokia and Samsung, operators NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone, as well as software providers PalmSource, Symbian and In-Fusio.

Wake up and smell the Java
So will Java in phones take off? Industry players, from operators to handset makers and software vendors, have gotten together to pitch the mobile Java story, but the real challenge still lies ahead--getting customers to bite.

"Consumers are very cautious in spending these days," admitted Clark Lam Wing Keung, Singapore Telecommunications' deputy director of Consumer Products-Mobile. But he remains hopeful that J2ME will be one of the new offerings that will spur usage of mobile data services.

That said, Java is based on a simple premise. With the convergence of mobile communications and computing technologies, customizable applications is a natural step in the evolution of mobile phones. Just as users today scour the Web for applications and games for their desktop computers, mobile phone users may soon do the same.