Wendong’s Smart Phone Weblog

Samsung Instinct is believed to be an iPhone Killer. I have seen all kind of commercials on the Web, on TV and movie theater. Sprint will sponsor a developer contest for this upcoming device:

The Instinct Java Developer Contest will be open for registrations soon after public launch of the Samsung Instinct device. You will have the chance to enter and win a Grand Prize of $20,000 cash plus a free membership to the Sprint Professional Developer Program (PDP). The total approximate retail value (ARV) of the Grand Prize is $25,000.

The Java capability of this handset is very impressive:

MIDP 2.0 / CLDC 1.1
MVM (Multi-tasking Virtual Machine)
JSR-75 (File Connection)
JSR-75 (PIM)
JSR-82 (Bluetooth)
JSR-120 (Text Message)
JSR-135 (MultiMedia)
JSR-177 (Security-Crypto)
JSR-179 (location API)
JSR-184 (3D-graphics)
JSR-185 (JTWI)
JSR-226 (Scalable vector graphics)
JSR-234 (Advanced Mobile Media API)
JSR-248 (MSA SubSet) (except JSR 205)
Qualcomm Location API
Sprint PCS Java Class Extensions v2.1
Sprint Device Status API
Sprint Device External LCD API
Sprint Media v1.0 Extension
Sprint Muglet v1.0 Extension
Sprint System v2.1 Extension
Sprint Location Extension API

Image from CNET Crave

Vollee released a free beta version of Second Life Mobile. It supports over 40 handsets with 3G or Wifi. A demo video is available on YouTube.

Ofir Leitner wrote another good post about SMS in US
So, you want to send an SMS in the US?

It is a follow-up of a post about Java ME application distribution in US:
So, you want to deploy a J2ME app in the US?

Quoted from today’s Sprint ADP email:

Sprint recently released a developer edition of the Next Generation Mobile Java Platform, “Titan”, for PDA devices running Windows Mobile 6.0. “Titan” is based on a robust CDC Java Virtual Machine and the Open Source Gateway Initiative (OSGi) mobile stack. Fully capable of running enterprise-level applications as well as legacy CLDC/MIDP apps, it also supports rich GUI development using eRCP.

Sprint has the best developer program among all US carriers. Its customized Wireless Toolkit (with Sun) is one of the best Java ME emulators. And Sprint seems to have to good control over handset manufacturers to deliver advanced handsets with consistent user experience. This new Titan platform proves again that Sprint is very serious about its mobile platform vision. It works with many other companies like IBM, Nokia, ProSyst on this next generation Mobile Java platform.

Mobile Java’s landscape has changed. We have seen Google Android, Nokia (MIDP/eRCP) and now Sprint Titan (OSGi, CDC, eRCP). JCP is not the only force that determines Mobile Java’s future. Don’t you think MIDP3 is too little and too late?

I wish Sprint will provide Titan on more handsets soon. Windows Mobile 6 Professional Edition only is apparently not attractive enough.

More links:

Sprint Titan
A quick comparison of MIDP3 and OSGi
Sprint Nextel goes live with Mobile OSGi!
Developing Titan Applications - Tools

Boris Beaulant, the CEO of Kalmeo, kindly informed me a new project - Kuix (Kalmeo User Interface eXtensions). As the name indicates, it is basically a UI framework for Java ME applications. It has a full-featured UI package which includes widget, style (via CSS) and layout (via XML).

UI is one of the pain points for Java ME developers. MIDP lcdui is practically useless for any commercial/professional applications. Many companies have to roll out its own UI framework first, then build applications on top of it. There are some commercial offerings such as TWUIK and Paxmodept. I also collected a list of open source UI projects. Many of them are pretty old though.