Oracle to webify mobile Java against Android

Oracle is throwing hardware-accelerated graphics and web integration into mobile Java to catch and contain Google's rogue Android The database giant has laid out plans for Java ME - Oracle's preferred flavor of Java on mobile - that will let the stack render HTML, CSS, and Javascript by default. Java ME is going to include …

[Anonymous Coward]

Implementations and signing

First thing to do is fix the *many* bugs in the various implementations of J2ME - you can never be sure if something will work the same on all handsets. And roll some of the extra stuff into the core - GPS/accelerometer etc.

Then fix the damn stupid signing/security requirements. Asking the user if they want to do something is fine (and probably a good thing) but have an "always allow this" option. Currently you have to allow an app internet access every time it's run and allow an app to view a web page *every* time it wants to do it.

A decent UI toolkit would be nice but I'd imagine that everyone has either rolled their own or found a 3rd party one by this point.

I guess I live in hope...

[Daniel B.]

Fix ME

Looks like Oracle is trying to bolt on stuff that should've been in Java ME from the start. They should actually fix the rest of Java ME and put in all the stuff that ME is lacking, like easy Calendar manipulation methods. BlackBerry had to extend ME as it was useless by itself, and it is probably the reason why Google used Harmony for Android in the first place! FIX ME, ORACLE!

[Anonymous Coward]

Alright!

Go Oracle! Evil maybe, but we can all admit Java has nearly died of neglect. Lets hope someone can monetize it and bring it back!

[JarekG]

Well

"The database giant has laid out plans for Java ME" - we all know what happen to Windows _ME_..

[Anonymous Coward]

Boat sailed

Sorry Oracle - that boat sailed a couple of years ago.

I'd suggest you get back in the line along with the other late-comers (Nokia, Microsoft).

Java ME on mobile is dead. Ask RIM - they can verify - because in about 3 years - they'll be dead too.

[Steve Loughran]

Java ME: over

I think Android has shown how Java ME could have been. Oracel should learn, rather than sue.

[druck]

ARM architectures not model numbers

"Java ME is going to be optimized for the ARM7 and ARM9 chipsets"

The ARM7 and ARM9 are two ancient chip model series. What was meant was the ARMv7 and ARMv9 instruction architectures, which are used by the modern Cortex series chips at the heart of modern smartphones.

[Steve McIntyre]

Wrong

The Cortex series are v7. We haven't got to v9 yet!

As to what the original text *should* say, no idea...

[Adam Azarchs]

Ironic

So now Java is going to get DirectX support, shortly after .NET lost it?

[xperroni]

The ghost of releases past!

Sure it's a noble goal to try and update Java ME – but with the majority of JME-enabled devices being non-upgrading feature handsets, does it even matter? It's kind of like Microsoft and Windows XP – no point in developing for a newer platform revision when everyone is still shackled to the old one.

On the other side, a new JME targetting new devices could find steep competition in carrier-endorsed WAC, which would certainly appeal a lot more to the current generation of web-savy developers, should an implementation ever see the light of day.

If Oracle is serious about its mobile offering, it ought to do better than simply crank away at new releases. The mobile world is ahead of JME as it is, and it could get a lot farther in the near future.

[A. Lloyd Flanagan]

Open Source My ***

They can release stuff under the GPL all they want. If they make a habit of suing anybody they don't like over patents, nobody in their right mind will touch the stuff. Licenses like GPL rely on copyright, and as long as software is patentable open source has a big hole in it. Reason #15 of Why Software Patents Are a Horrible Idea.