"The Biggest New Feature"

[Andy Sjostrom]

http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/21860.html

The Wireless NewsFactor article "Microsoft Moves on Mobiles" (http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/21860.html) has successfully identified, if not the biggest new feature, a very important feature of Windows Mobile 2003. It is the .NET Compact Framework (.NET CF). The article states: "The biggest new feature in both Ozone and v.Next is the .NET Compact Framework in ROM". Similar to how a Java Virtual Machine works, the .NET CF is a "run-time layer that isolates applications from the operating system, managing memory and enforcing security".

Software drives sales, business and market share; a conclusion that the article arrives at by saying: "Developers can write CF applications in languages like Visual Basic and C#, which are more productive than C++. Although similar in some ways to Java, the .NET CF has better integration with the full range of device features. Applications sell devices, which is why Microsoft is wooing developers".

Personally, I believe we will eventually see .NET Compact Framework enable many more Smartphone applications both in the consumer and enterprise market. Millions of Visual Studio .NET developers can easily, while staying in a familiar environment, leverage their skills and experience and deliver applications to the mobile market. However unsexy it might seem, the .NET Compact Framework holds one of the keys to success of this platform.

[scottmag]

This is an honest question - I am not trying to stir anything up here. Is there any information about Java on these Smartphones? I know, I know, .Net CF and C# and the rest of it are great stuff. I don't want to argue that point. But there is an installed base of Java apps for mobile devices and hordes of enterprise Java programmers working on connecting employees (and devices) to backend data.

So any chance of Java? Any talk of it? Just curious.

Scott

[Robert Levy]

This is an honest question - I am not trying to stir anything up here. Is there any information about Java on these Smartphones? I know, I know, .Net CF and C# and the rest of it are great stuff. I don't want to argue that point. But there is an installed base of Java apps for mobile devices and hordes of enterprise Java programmers working on connecting employees (and devices) to backend data.

So any chance of Java? Any talk of it? Just curious.

Scott

Fair question... there are actually several Java implementations for Smartphone but they are all made by companies with a business plan that isn't exactly favorable for those of us who like to be on the cutting edge. Instead of selling straight to consumers, these companies are trying to license their JVM's directly to carriers... and so far none have bitten on the Smartphone side.

[charlie tai]

Instead of selling straight to consumers, these companies are trying to license their JVM's directly to carriers
I agree with you. There're two things Sun or other companies could do:

1.Selling to consumers.

Who's willing to pay for JVM? It's like asking consumers who uses PC to pay for Flash plug-in so they can view the Flash content. It's not going to work.

2. Licensing JVM directly to carriers.

If .net CF provides the same thing as Java, why will carriers pay for JVM license? Maybe Java has the "first-mover advantage" over .net CF since there're already lots of Java applications like games created by Java.
But if .net CF could provide much better performance than Java, I think
sooner or later, Java on mobile phones might loose its market.
Esspecially when MS smartphones gains more market share in the future.

Another thing is Sun, as a company, has huge problem now. They are losing their server or business market real fast. So what will happen to Java on mobile phones in the future when Sun was bought by other companies? :roll:

[Hooked]

The Mitac 8380 was announced last month as running Windows Smartphone 2002 and Java MIDP 2.0.

As Microsoft is trying to gain a foothold into the mobile phone market, I think Smartphones which do not include a Java runtime will be at a considerable disadvantage because the majority of mobile phone apps are currently in Java.

But, the inclusion of .NET CF in the next OS is a must for Microsoft's overall .NET strategy. It will help keep the number of developer defections down and instantly give Smartphone a large pool of development resources.

So, the best solution seems for Java and .NET CF to co-exist on the Smartphone at least for the time being and probably for the forseeable future.

But, application development is influenced by the cost and availability of a runtime environment (hardware and software) and the development tools, as well as the number of potential consumers.

Most new mobile phones seem to have a Java runtime included. And Java has several IDE's, some of which are free. Several of the phone manufacturers make the SDK and emulators available for free download as well.

.NET CF requires VS 2003 which cost me ~$1000. There are no MS Smartphone devices available in the US and its market penetration is basically nil. Even owning VS 2003, I don't see doing mobile phone development with .NET anytime soon.

The only thing I see using .NET CF for is PocketPC development. PDA vendors don't seem to have the same interest in Java as mobile phone vendors do. I haven't seen any J2ME VM's shipping with a pda or even if one is available for purchase or download.

The Java WORA strategy is somewhat successful for mobile phones. But across classes of devices, the Java community appears to have dropped the ball.

Maybe some potential with .NET CF lies in integration between pda's and mobile phones. And if CF is a true subset of the .NET framework, code developed for Windows Mobile could be usable on the Windows desktop and server environments as well.