Hi! I am planning to buy a new mobile phone, since my current phone is old and limited (from gaming point of view). Can u guys give me adivice on what mobile phone/smartphone to buy? I want this phone for tests, so I need it to be compatible with as many models from as many companies as it can. Take into account that my games are standard (standard midlet), so no particular API's are used (like NOKIA API, Motorola API, etc...). Ooops, I forgot: I develop on J2ME, no C++ for now, but if there is a mobile device that has compatibility with both J2ME and C++ (though I doubt it) that would be my first choice. Thanks a lot!

hi!

thanx for the link. i found Nokia N-Gage QD. it has Symbian OS v6.1, Series 60 v1.0 UI, Java MIDP 1.0

Also it has a very convenient price. of course, there is Nokia N90, with cutting edge Symbian OS 8.1a , Series 60 UI, Java MIDP 2.0. Also it is not for sale yet in my country, and when it will be, it will have a very high price.

I think N-Gage is a good testing platform, but still I wait for your opinions: should I buy a cutting edge technology phone, or stick with an 1-year old phone for tests? I think everything is backward compatible, so 80% chances I'll take N-Gage QD.

Maybe u ppl know a better phone for tests than this one (my doubts rely in the gaming orientation of N-Gage, thus making it a particular type of phone).

Again, thanx a lot Alchemist for the link.

LATER EDIT: I searched the net and I found that there are to types of phones: some have Java, some have Java MIDP. MIDP apps is compatible with normal Java apps? thanks

Personal Java and MIDP are the most common Java platforms on phones. In most cases when it says "Java" or "J2ME" it means MIDP (usually in consumer sites and not developer sites). I haven't seen any phones that have the regular Java (J2SE) on them.

shmoove

i looked on some detailed sites, and on some phone is "Java" and on others "Java MIDP 1.0" or "Java MIDP 2.0".

As found on Sun's site, MIDP is under CLDC Technologies, that is under J2ME.

"Configurations comprise a virtual machine and a minimal set of class libraries. They provide the base functionality for a particular range of devices that share similar characteristics, such as network connectivity and memory footprint. Currently, there are two J2ME configurations: the Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) and the Connected Device Configuration (CDC)."

Link: http://java.sun.com/j2me/index.jsp

So the question is: all phones that specifiy Java, have J2ME CLDC config, or J2ME CDC config?

Most are CLDC/MIDP. But not all of them. There are a few that even have more than one profile (the P800/P900 series have both MIDP and PersonalJava).

But CLDC/MIDP is almost the standard when it comes to mobile phones and almost all the talk about Java games on phones you here refers to MIDP games.

shmoove

Thanx a lot :)
In the meantime I found out that on non-MIDP mobiles, MIDP classes can be included in game (making it bigger though), but the games are still functional.