Research In Motion announced a new bunch of J2ME development tools for its BlackBerry wireless devices.

Cool stuff if you have a CrackBerry (they are so addictive!). :-)

See:

Blackberry Java Development Tool

Drilling through your corporate firewall with a CrackBerry using J2ME technology couldn't be any easier. You wouldn't want your CrackBerry injecting viruses to your corporate server, would you?

Amazon in Japan has enabled cell phones to scan barcodes of products using the camera part of a NTT DoCoMo J2ME enabled cell phone and a special downloaded app. Reading a barcode of an item allows you to bring up info about it in your cell phone app or buy the product directly from Amazon Japan.

See:

Using barcodes in Japan cell phones

J2ME technology could easily be used to do the same thing here in the U.S. Wonder why no one has done it yet...

Well, I thought I've seen every kind of news story about J2ME cell phones. But, this is the first time I've seen a woman report on how her new Sony Ericsson K500i is like a new boyfriend.

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Saleema gushes about her new J2ME cell phone

Hopefully, she won't report that she's having a J2ME-enabled baby. ;-)

In mid-2005, SITA and Siemens will offer air travelers using J2ME-enabled cell phones to choose seats, get their boarding pass, and check into their flights without having to be physically being inside the airport.

See:

News release

Lots of J2ME convenience apps like this will be coming in the next year or two for cell phones, mainly because J2ME cell phones are now so abundant.

This Motorola A630 cellphone is now available from T-Mobile. At first it looks like a "candybar" phone (long and skinny shape, with chocolate, peanuts, and creamy nougat... no wait, no chocolate, peanuts, and nougat [that's a Snickers bar]).

But, flip it open and it becomes a clamshell phone with a full QWERTY keyboard, 5-way cursor key, and a landscape oriented screen. Plus, of course, it has J2ME technology for the latest games

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New Moto A630

Cool phone. Good for people who do lots of IM or e-mail.

I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening?

J2ME Advanced Games for Cell Phones.

But, that's 6 words... :-)

Okay, okay... How about: Games?

See:

Article on how J2ME games for cell phones are advancing.

It's true: J2ME Game Programming will get more advanced with more complex features and functionality like on-line playing and better/faster graphics. It's a fast shift onto J2ME cell phones, but a very lucrative shift in the next 2-3 years.

Fortune magazine really gets it in this new magazine article about gaming on J2ME cell phones. It's the next big platform to program to with J2ME cell phones now outnumbering PCs.

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Fortune magazine article

Why would you program games to a PC, Playstation 2, or Xbox, when you get much more exposure programming to a J2ME cell phone?

Digital Bridges and SI Wireless are creating Sports Illustrated mobile games for cell phones. Ah, so nice to see... Entertainment content moving to the J2ME wireless world, opening up specific target markets to advertising. Better than TV.

See:

New Sports Illustrated J2ME Games

The first game will be a football trivia quiz. Okay, so name the Seattle Seahawk retired wide receiver who is letting Jerry Rice wear his #80 this year. Anyone know out there? You'll get a Blog Star if you do.

Boulder Dash - M.E. from First Star Software has been out for a while. But I recently came across their favorable J2ME game review. It looks like fun game which is described as a cross between DigDug and Sokoban (if that means anything to today's gamers out there ;-) ).

See:

Cool J2ME Game

It looks pretty addictive. Just remember that Hammer beats Rock. (I thought it was Hammer beats Scissors) :-)

WaveMarket just released a buzzword-filled J2ME app called Crunkie that does wireless, social networking and blogging, incorporating location-based info from a cell phone. Phew! Talk about stringing together the most number of today's buzzwords in one presss release!

See:

WaveMarket Press Release for Crunkie

When I read their press release all I see is blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda, J2ME, blah, blah, blah. :-) Good blah, blah, blah, but a bit heavy on squeezing every buzzword in! ;-)

Hey, it's the battle of the blogs! E. Schwartz responds to a blog posting by Jonathan Schwartz, our COO here at Sun Microsystems, about how giving away Java and J2ME for free with enable Sun to sell Sun-related products and services.

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Schwartz vs. Schwartz: Battle Blogs

I'm not sure who is right, but it makes for entertaining reading. I wonder if E. Schwartz has a cell phone and if the little coffee cup comes up on it when he uses the IM client or plays a game. If so, he put his money in our coffers here at Sun and he just doesn't know it. :-)

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New Qtopia 2.1

In the article above they talk about Linux and Java being a great match for cell phones for the system platform and downloading abilities. Heck, using J2ME CDC (advanced configuration of J2ME) can give you all three: a system platform, an application manager, and a way to safely download apps. Why have 3 different layers when you can go all Java on a cell phone?

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New Nokia Virtual Store Story

Hey, I'll take a couple of Prince of Persias, a Tetris, and a Jumbleword. Ah, heck, throw in that Tom Clancy Splinter Cell, too, why doncha? :-)

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New Unified Java for Cell Phones

J2ME CDC will be the technology of choice of next generation cell phones. Good stuff to get on board early to meet the market of tomorrow.

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New Levi's Mobile Audio Mixer (MAX)

Cool stuff to annoy the heck out of people around you who have to listen to your ringtones when your cell phone rings. :-) Make sure to crank up the volume... ;-)