j2ME, java enabled, and the 3410

[davidkangaroo]

does the nokia 3410 support j2ME, what about the Nokia 3330?

what OS does the nokia 3410 have, what about the Nokia 3330?

Does support of j2ME require a specific OS, or specific OSs?
If so, then which?

If you can run java games on a phone, then does that mean it supports j2me? How about if it's 'java enabled', does that mean it supports j2me?

Is there a specification specific enough to state what OS a phone has, and whether it supports j2me?

[abstractworlds]

Yes this whole buzzword area is confusing.

The simplest way to break it down is:
1. Marketing speak
2. Techie speak

1. Marketing speak
To keep things simple for the customer, it generally looks like the only buzzwords that are being used in phone sales literature, packaging, user manuals is the word 'Java' - so the person in the street only knows that s/he has a Java phone, and that s/he can download Java games designed for Java phones. Most of the public will not know what J2ME, MIDP, Midlet, etc means.

Whilst this keeps things simple, it is not completely accurate, and it might confuse the curious customer:
e.g. A. Fred has just bought a Java phone, he does a desktop web search on Google for 'Java games', and finds hundreds of Java applets that have nothing to do with the Java games for his phone.
e.g. B. Jane has just bought a Java phone, she's feeling lucky on the web so tries URLs like www.javagames.com, which aren't too helpful. She wouldn't try the more appropriate www.midlet.com, midlet.org or midletcentral.com because she's never heard of the word midlet.

2. Techie speak
For us developers most Java phones can more accurately be described as supporting J2ME, MIDP, and Midlets (this might not be the case in Asia which were early adopters of some Java technology but I don't know whether that technology is the same as J2ME, MIDP).

I personally think that the marketing people should be more accurate in how they describe this Java technology to the customer.

To answer some of your questions:

<<does the nokia 3410 support j2ME>>
Yes

<<Does support of j2ME require a specific OS, or specific OSs?>>
J2ME is not tied to any particular OS.

<<If you can run java games on a phone, then does that mean it supports j2me? How about if it's 'java enabled', does that mean it supports j2me?>>
Generally speaking yes.

[pbergius]

Hello,

Further comments to the excellent answer by abstractworld.

In marketing you tell customers that their phone includes different features, like MIDI ringtones, a wallet, animated screen savers and Java. For many people those features don't say anything until they are explained and see what it means. For many Java means coffee or if they know a bit more, it's an island.

When you tell them that Java enables them to extend the capabilities of their phone by loading new programs, like games, they might get intrested.

Then you have to tell them where to get such games and programs. That's where Nokia steps in. We have created Nokia Software Market and Club Nokia for consumers to be able to find and buy Java programs. The operators are creating similar marketplaces for their customers. For that, we have Nokia Tradepoint, where software companies can present and sell their products to the operators for redistribution.

At the aforementioned sites we try to always be specific which programs work with specific phones. Currently there are lots of programs available for Nokia 9200 Communicator series and some midlets are starting to appear as well.

On the technical side, we have two different Java implementations, PersonalJava for 9200 Communicator series and MIDP for all the other phones.

I think it's always good to tell your prospective customers on which phones your software works rather than just saying it's a Java application/midlet for mobile phones. Many suppliers including Nokia has their own extensions, which means that if you are using them, then your midlet works only on a specific phone(s).

Techno-speak section:
The OSs on the phones other than Symbian-based phones are proprietary. Java is implemented on them the same way it's implemented in any other hardware/software combination. Porting it means quite a lot of work.

Nokia 3330 doesn't have Java.

Regards,

Petteri / Forum Nokia