BANGALORE: 65 million handsets all over the Java-enabled. Qualcomm’s BREW and Windows CE are lurking in the sidelines but Sun does not see them as big threats. A 100 million handsets will be Java enabled within a year, believes Sun.

However, wireless Java has not been without its share of problems. A limiting user interface, an unfulfilled WORA promise have been the road blocks in Sun’s juggernaut in the wireless world. J2ME’s new MIDP 2.0 addresses the earlier problems that developers face but introduces newer ones. One of the new problems with MIDP 2.0 is the increase in memory footprint. The new MIDP 2.0 uses an extra 100 K of memory.

“J2ME and the wireless are made for each other”, said Srikanth Raju, Java guru and Sun Technology evangelist. MIDP 2.0 offers a number of enhancements over the older version of Java cell phone software. For games, for instance, it comes with sound features and a standard way to handle graphics layers such as foreground characters and background scenery. An exciting new feature is the push functionality for automatically triggering applications depending on some event such as an incoming SMS.

"The user interface in MIDP 2.0 allows developers more control over the look and feel of their applications. I expect a whole lot of new, sophisticated games being developed. Java games are very popular and it is a big market." Raju said.

Data is handled more gracefully. MIDP in general lets data be stored on the cell phone where some competing technologies rely on fetching it from the network.

Nokia along with other bigwigs in the industry, are very vocal in their support for Sun’s J2ME. “That’s because, unlike Microsoft, Sun does not try to dictate terms to handset industry. Our job is to provide technology and we stick to that. We do not meddle with hardware design”, said Raju.

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