I remember reading Beowulf in junior high school. Some say the story is the inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. I liked it because there were warriors, monsters, and dragons. Cool. :-) I'm still thinking the book will be better than the movie though. At least there's a Java ME game for your cell phone!

See:

Hasped and hooped and hirpling Java ME game

Here's a quote:

 In off the moors, down through 
 the mist bands.  God-cursed 
 Grendel came greedily loping.   
 The bane of the race of men 
 roamed forth, hunting for prey 
 in the high hall.

Hinkmond

Java ME is reported to be still growing in the Mobile Gaming space. People keep playing more Java ME games on their cell phones.

See:

Lots of money in Java ME

Here's a quote:

 1. Loadsamoney
 Despite a wobble in 2006 when 
 a market dip was predicted, 
 "analysts are predicting strong 
 market growth," said Dredge, 
 pointing out that Gartner was 
 predicting a $9.6bn value of 
 the mobile market by 2011.

Hinkmond

Sprint and Google will team up to deliver Java ME programs for your cell phone on the new Sprint WiMAX wireless network.

See:

Sprint and Google to utilize Java ME

Here's a quote:

 ...you can get a Gmail Java 
 program on most cellphones), 
 this deal would let people 
 use the chat application 
 Google Talk and other data 
 services Google is creating 
 on Sprint's WiMAX service, 
 which provides long-range, 
 fast wireless Internet 
 connections.

That's fresh!

Hinkmond

Download a free Java ME app for your cell phone to "see graphs or solve equations on your phone while on a train or a bus ride". Why in the world you'd want to do that is beyond me, but whatever floats your boat...

See:

Math is hard!, but easy with Java ME

Here's a quote:

 You’ll need a Java enabled 
 (J2ME) phone with a 
 recommended screen resolution 
 of 176 x 208 pixels to use 
 these applications — also 
 called ‘midlets’ — which are 
 available for free. Just visit 
 http://www.math4mobile.com/downloads.html
 and put a math lab in your pocket.

Hinkmond

Mobile Worx has announced their new ZestADZ product which uses Java ME to inject ads into mobile games for your cell phone.

See:

Shoot up games with ads using Java ME

Here's a quote:

 ZestADZ enables Java mobile 
 game and application developers 
 to insert mobile advertisements 
 without the need for modifying 
 the underlying source code.

Hinkmond

Wow! What a big letdown that Apple could only get 146,000 iPhones activated on June 29 and 30, when the initial launch occurred. Jeez, Louise! There are that many Java ME phones activated around the world on the average about every 90 minutes. Steve Jobs better get out of the cell phone business now while he still can save face.

Or, he can put Java ME technology on the iPhone to boost his sales. Either way...

See:

iPhlop: iPhone stumbles without Java ME

Here's a quote:

 [AT&T Wireless'] announcement 
 Tuesday morning that it had 
 activated a total of 146,000 
 iPhones on June 29 and 30 was 
 met with something less than 
 enthusiasm.  Apple fans and 
 industry analysts had been 
 looking for about double that 
 number.

Hinkmond

It didn't take very long. Someone found a security hole in the iPhone. Stevie-boy should've used Java ME technology. There's nothing like making sure an app is properly signed by an authorized certificate before allowing it to run on your cell phone. Java ME has had that right for about 6 years now. Too bad. IPhone users will learn. It might take them 6 years, possibly shorter if Stevie-boy gets wise and puts Java ME on the next generation of iPhones.

See:

Already, the first iPhone Security Hole

Here's a quote:

 The iPhone is becoming a victim 
 of its own success, he said. “The 
 irony is that the more popular 
 something is, the more insecure 
 it becomes, because popularity 
 paints a large target on its 
 back.”

Hinkmond

Here's the Rich UI called TWUIK running on a Java ME cell phone. Thanks, Mika, for the pointer!

See:

http://www.youtube.com/mobiko

Hinkmond

Tom Yager's blog post makes the wrong assumption that applications should run exactly the same on a Java ME cell phone as they do on a desktop PC. Bzzzt! Wrong answer. Developers and content developers should be able to program and develop the same way on a cell phone and PC (like use the same NetBeans IDE) and use the same programming language, like Java technology. But, the same bits should not necessarily need to run on the two different types of devices.

Although in theory the Grand Unified Theory of apps running the same way on a phone as a PC as a TV, etc. has been around for years and sounds good on paper, in practice the reality is that the form factors (input devices, keyboards/keypads, screen res, etc.) are too different. For example, you do not run a Nintendo GameBoy DS game the same way as on the Nintendo Wii game console--two different paradigms, two different user experiences, therefore two different apps. The same bits should not run on the two different types of devices. A lot of people don't get that.

See:

Tom Yager's doesn't get the difference

Here's a quote:

 It's thrilling to imagine rich, 
 responsive, attractive client 
 applications that run identically 
 on desktops, notebooks, and 
 mobile devices, as well as over 
 remote connections. Java promised 
 us that. 

Hinkmond

Here's a game called TibiaME, which is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) that has been around since 2004.

See:

Play TibiaME game on Java ME

Here's a quote:

 To get started, you'll need 
 the TibiaME application 
 installed on your phone. It's 
 available as... a Java app for 
 J2ME phones.  You can get the 
 Free Version which lets you 
 play the game but with no 
 automatic mapping facility

Hinkmond

Here's a new Java ME 3D (JSR 184) game that has Lara Croft once again shaking her tushy, kicking butt against the bad guys.

See:

Tomb Raider Legend on Java ME 3D

Here's a quote:

 Eidos has released a spanking 
 new collection of pint-sized 
 screenshots showcasing Lara 
 Croft in action on Java-enabled 
 mobile phones.

Hinkmond

Diane Wolff, an associate professor of information systems technology, recommends that more colleges should have courses on programming Java ME technology for cell phones.

See:

Java ME programming for college students

Here's a quote:

 "The difficulty is finding 
 people who are trained in WAP 
 and Java ME," he said, referring
 Java Micro Edition, the version 
 of the language used in many 
 such devices.

 "What I see is there's a lot of 
 demand for this [knowledge] in 
 town," Wolff said. 

Hinkmond

The Nokia E65 is starting to debut in many parts of the GSM-enabled world. It's a slider phone from Nokia with Java ME MIDP 2.0, and more importantly WiFi support and JSR 184 (Mobile 3D Graphics).

See:

Nokia E6 Smart Java ME phone

Here's a quote:

 The Nokia E65 is the 
 smallest slide-down smart 
 phone to date from Nokia. 
 With WiFi 802.11b/g and 
 support for VOiP calls, 
 you can make calls over 
 the internet.

Hinkmond

You'd hope that Java ME technology can be used to promote the goodness in mankind and enhance our lives with kindness and love. Nah. Java ME is used for shoot 'em up games. Oh, well.

See:

Kill, maim, destroy with Java ME STALKER game

Here's a quote:

 Dynamic lighting and special 
 effects within a 3D engine 
 based on Java2ME developed 
 especially for S.T.A.L.K.E.R 
 Mobile.

Hinkmond

This InfoWorld blogger, Tom Yager, talks about how the iPhone is a wake-up call for Java ME technology developers, spurring existing Java ME phone programmers to do things better.

See:

Get going Java ME developers

Here's a quote:

 The iPhone craze should get a 
 lot of mobile professionals 
 exploring their devices...  
 Don't forget to include MIDP 
 (mobile information device 
 profile) Java apps when you go 
 looking for software for your 
 phone...

 iPhone's great, but if you 
 paid more than about $200 for 
 a mobile device, chances are 
 high that your handset can do 
 what iPhone does or can be 
 taught... And it can do a 
 whole lot more.

Hinkmond