Microsoft's Smartphone 2002 platform doesn't offer J2ME support natively - but courtesy of Insignia Solutions, manufacturers can now J2ME-enable their products nevertheless.
J2ME, or Java 2 Micro Edition to use its full name, has switched into high gear over the course of the last quarter. Applications are increasingly showing up for the platform, and the Nokia 7650 has on its own generated a flurry of J2ME based games - in glorious technicolor - compared with the limited number available prior to its launch.
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Despite the obvious interest in J2ME, Microsoft did not include native support for the language in its Smartphone 2002 platform since the company's Compact .NET framework competes directly with J2ME - but now, manufacturers of smartphones based on the SMP 2002 platform can still J2ME-enable their devices courtesy of Insignia Solutions' Mobile Foundation.
Mobile Foundation is the first Insignia product for a Microsoft mobile devices platform since the announcement of an Insignia and Microsoft strategic alliance in March 2002, and while Insignia did not comment on whether any specific manufacturers had licensed the Mobile Foundation software for their devices, Mark McMillan, president of Insignia, said the company has been working closely with Smartphone licensees to incorporate its technology into devices.
Insignia Mobile Foundation software is an integral native software stack that includes J2ME CLDC/MIDP, AMS, and rich media technologies that will allow operators to combine existing investments in J2ME content with the Microsoft .NET services, such as the mapping and driving information service MapPoint .NET.
Last year in Japan alone, over 10 million users switched to Java-enabled phones to access a variety of services, from location-based travel assistance to interactive entertainment, while a recent ARC Group market research study highlights that almost all mobile handsets will be Java-enabled within five years. By 2006, the study estimates that over 800 million will be capable of running Java applications.
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