Michael Juntao Yuan

As I have whined many times before, J2ME has been treated like a second class citizen on Symbian smartphones. Most importantly, the Java runtime does not integrate well with the underlying platform. For example, on my Nokia 6600, I cannot access the local PIM database or the photo gallery or the MMC card from Java applications. That severely limits Java's usefulness on those devices since "integration" is key to any successful mobile UI application. Symbian C++ was the only "real" way to develop compelling applications on Series 60 phones.

On Nokia 9500, the J2ME File I/O and PIM optional package (JSR 75) was implemented but is only accessible from the CDC/Personal Profile runtime. That is obviously is not good enough. Well, now things finally change! The Nokia 6630 phone is the first consumer phone from Nokia that supports JSR 75. The only caveat is that according to the MIDP spec, in order to access PIM data from JSR 75 APIs, you have to digitally sign your MIDlet (you can use your own certificate as long as it has a Verisign or Thwate root).

In addition, the Nokia 6630 also supports JSR 184 (Mobile 3D) API together with the standard developer platform APIs (MIDP 2, WMA, MMAPI, Bluetooth). The mobile 3D API is extremely interesting and may finally make the Java runtime more programmable than the native Symbian C++ platform in this important application area. Now, if only I can access the SIM card from the Java runtime!