Audio Capture in Java

[larrydb]

Suppose I want to write an application where the user can say something into the phone while pressing one button, and then at the press of another button the phone will play his utterance back to him.

(a) The only Nokia phone that supports the MMAPI is the 3650, and that phone doesn't support audio capture. This seems to imply that the application I describe simply cannot be written in Java on any Nokia phone whatsoever. Is this true?

(b) Is there any possibility that this situation will change in the near future? For example, does the 6600 support audio capture? Does any announced or planned phone support audio capture in Java? I don't mean to limit this question to MIDP-like phones or to Nokia; can it be done in Personal Java or any other Java API (and on what phones?), or on any non-Nokia phone?

(c) Is there any workaround that would permit me to write even a portion of this application in Java? For example, I know that a MIDlet cannot invoke another application. But can a C++ application invoke a MIDlet? Could I, say, write a C++ application that does the audio recording, stores the result into the Java RMS where a MIDlet can get at it, and then invokes a MIDlet that does the playback? (Can a C++ application write data visible to MIDlets? I guess I'm just assuming that a C++ app can do audio capture---please tell me that that's true, at least!)

(d) If the situation is really as bleak as it appears, why would anyone choose Java for a long-term application development strategy, given that such a critical and defining characteristic of a telephone---its microphone, for God's sake---is denied them? (You don't have to answer this question; it's pretty much rhetorical.)

Sorry if this message seems hopelessly naive, but I'm just learning about the Java capabilities of these phones and I need to be as explicit as possible in checking my knowledge.

[wangkui35]

Hello!

I am sorry that I couldn't answer all your questions based on my limited knowlege.

Currently Nokia 3650 and 3300 have implemented MMAPI but don't support audio recording feature. So that means it's not possible to do the application you want in MIDP Java.

Nokia 6600 is still in test process, I can't say clearly whether it will support audio capture or not when it's released to the Market.

For Nokia series 60 phones, it may be possible to have the audio capture capability in native side (C++/Symbian OS) but you'd better post a thread in Symbian discussion area and confirm it. RMS can only be created or opened by a MIDlet and due to the security reason the JVM has been seperated from the native side. So I don't think you can write the data into RMS.

Regards,

Kui

[larrydb]

Thank you for your response.

How can I find out whether the 6600 supports audio capture? This phone is planned for release next quarter, which starts in less than 6 weeks---it doesn't seem possible that the decision has not been made. Can I write or call someone who would know and who would be willing to tell me this single bit of information?

Also, you answered the question with respect to MIDP only. I still wonder if there's a phone that has Personal Java or Java Phone or something like that where it could be done, or even a flavor of Java that supports JNI so that I could interface with a native routine to do the recording. Who might know about those possibilities?

[wangkui35]

Hello!

From my opinion, PersonalJava is dying because implementing PJava requires more memory and device process power and most of the devices on market have quite limited resources to implement it. In the case of Nokia, Series 40 phones are based on Nokia's own operating system and Series 60 phones are based on the Symbian OS, both of them have only implemented MIDP Java. Well, Nokia communicator series have implemented PJava but it seems staying in the current situation for more than a year without any forthcoming products be released.

Nokia 3300 already has audio recording feature built in the phone, you could record data into the memory card to play back them. I guess you probably could read data from the memory card by MIDP Java after File API be finalized and implemented in the handsets

If you would like to do the recording application from the native side, you could refer to a book - Programming for the Series 60 Platform and Symbian OS, chapter 13 audio.

Regards,

Kui

[larrydb]

Thank you for your response to the second of my questions.

How can I find out whether the 6600 supports audio capture? This phone is planned for release next quarter, which starts in less than six weeks---it doesn't seem possible that the decision has not been made. Can I write or call someone who would know and who would be willing to tell me this single bit of information?