back to article Java lobby lowers Android and iPhone defenses

Carriers and handset makers are rallying to make it cheaper and easier to deliver applications on phones using the "official" brand of Java on mobile. The Unified Test Initiative, an industry group that certifies Java ME applications as safe and reliable, is streamlining its verification program. From next month, qualifying …

COMMENTS

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Also

    ...I would like to have real files instead of the crappy Record Store.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Suggestion: First Clean Up Their Own Mess

    The primary problem of J2ME is the horrible quality of J2ME runtimes. For example, the Nokia 6030 requires developers to use *two* sockets if they want to send and receive UDP packets. I guess they never really tested this functionality.

    And the 6030 is one of the better devices.

    Then, Record Stores seem to be broken on all implementations. Advice on discussion boards is to never update a record, but delete and create new.

    In general, J2ME runtimes are so fscked up you need to test with each and every phone and normally hack in at least one workaround per phone.

    On the architecture side, J2ME is crippled. No way to initiate a call, use speaker and microphone properly.

    In general, the J2ME folks should fix their quality problems and provide free updates instead of chargin 20Euros for updates which fix nothing, apparently. In 2012 they can then start to look at application quality.

  3. Stuart Castle Silver badge

    This will not work.

    First. I don't think Steve Jobs will go for this. It could stop Apple having control of the iOS app market.

    Even if it didn't, it adds an extra level of both effort and expense to developers to get their products certified and available on iPhones.

    Second, the whole point of certification is security. If they are only going to test a random sample of apps, they run the risk of missing the bad one. They could test six apps from one developer, then miss the seventh which is the bad one.

    Third, while I have never coded for J2ME (desktop Java put me off), I've tried a few J2ME apps. I find that at best, using them can be a frustrating experience because they often have the same UI for different devices, which may be quite different to a UI customised for a specific device. At worst, they suffer this and a distinct lack of speed.

    I am not knocking J2ME as such. I think it's a fine idea. It's just I think UTI or Oracle need to do some work ensuring consistent support on the platforms it's running on before attempting to add more.

  4. Sam Liddicott

    No thanks

    Dalvik is working just fine for me.

  5. Andy Watt
    FAIL

    Dead in the water as usual...

    Too little, too late. The usual suspects (i.e. vodafone and the manufacturers) arguing the toss for _literally_ years. meanwhile implementing their own ideas and finally panicking when they realise the world has moved on and adopted other more unified platforms, and attempting to provide some of the same user experience quality concepts on their tired, labyrinthe, bloated, crap platforms.

    I spent years working at Panasonic (about a year of it testing a J2ME platform implemented into a Comneon platform). We didn't use the TCK because it was ludicrously expensive. I see the developers who try their best to wrangle something useful out of J2ME are likewise shafted for cash on a regular basis.

    "baking in" quality of the apps is a little pointless as well, as pointed out above the J2ME virtual machine implementations vary so damn widely thanks to operator and manufacturer whims that the inevitable endpoint is lowest common denominator cack.

    One can only hope Android doesn't go the same way with the proliferation of platforms. Meanwhile, I'll stick with iOS.

    Look upon the old guard, still standing to attention with cobwebs growing on their certification logos.... and despair.

  6. Daniel B.
    Boffin

    Better to just go down the RIM road

    The Blackberry OS is much easier for software development; while it is Java ME, the RIM framework expands and fills in all the Java ME gaps. This will probably be Oracle's main Java Mobile income source, as it is the only one where the platform isn't sucking. Android ... well, if Oracle can get them in line (instead of destroying them), that might be a cash cow as well.

  7. jabdulius
    Alert

    Stop and think about the benefits ...

    Let's take a moment to think about what something like this does for the industry. Many developers have given up on the Android ecosystem as a viable way to make money. Why? Because discoverability is so absolutely shitty in the Google Marketplace. Consumers cannot find your app and instead find a bunch of useless crap and porn. What Java Verified is doing is ensuring the quality of Java ME apps while at the same time lowering the costs for developers. Everybody wins here. The developers can more apps certified for less money and the consumers can get higher quality apps.

    As Android devices become more and more fragmented, I think you will find there's no longer any benefit to hitting Android.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      You Must Be Kidding

      "more and more fragmented"

      You are certainly talking about Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung ? Android is highly coherent if compared to the traditional phone companies. Every handset having different bugs ? That's J2ME.

      Then the telecoms providers want to run their own little appstore each. Or install some J2ME crapware with the phones they finance to the dumb f$cks who sign their phone&contract plans. You can't replace the crappy XYZcarrier version with the version that has been fixed in the meantime. Yeah, that's J2ME. I forgot you have to pay for each firmware update 20 Euros with J2ME to XYZcarrier. Which does not really fix the bugs, of course.

      J2ME is one big FFFAAAAIIIIILLLLL.

  8. c 1

    recordstore? What abouyt JSR75 FileO

    @StrongType - you do know that file access is provided by the optional (but widely implemented) JSR75 File IO API?

    In any case J2ME MIDP is dead as a doornail. No device manufacturers are doing anything with it anymore and any sane developer is targetting iPhone and Android for new intiiatives.

  9. JavaRuss
    Thumb Up

    Java Verified is about app quality...

    Russ with Java Verified here. Some of these comments stray far from the story at hand. Thousands of Java ME applications are submitted to Java Verified each year because many industry app stores and others require the Java Verified seal of approval to prove apps actually work. And this is what Java Verified is all about -- ensuring quality Java ME applications through testing. We aren’t one company or one vendor. Rather, we are an independent organization within UTI consisting of industry reps from across the Java ME ecosystem working together to meet the single common goal of delivering more quality Java ME applications to market.

    And while our focus is on ensuring application quality, we also listen to Java ME developers and the industry when it comes to how to do things better. Developers have told us they want it to be easier and cheaper to obtain the Java Verified mark of quality for simple applications. So in June, we launched Simple App Testing. Developers – big and small -- also tell us they want more options for reducing testing costs. And this is what Gavin’s Trusted Status story is about. Trusted Status is being shaped largely based on developer feedback taking place at www.javaverified.com/blog. Yes, there are Java ME challenges and fragmentation is one of them – and there are groups working to address this critical issue. But Java Verified is doing our part to ensure every Java ME developer has opportunities to more easily deliver proven quality apps to market faster and at an affordable price.

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