I’ve posted the slides for my “J2ME at Five: Where We’ve Been, and Where We’ll Be at Ten” JavaOne BOF presentation. Click here to access the slides (PDF).
Abstract:
Java technology took the wireless world by storm when the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME) was first introduced for mobile devices, starting with the KVM at the JavaOne conference in June 1999.
Much has happened in the last five years. More than 120 million MIDP 1.0 devices are in consumers’ hands and MIDP 2.0 devices are now shipping in volume. Many interesting wireless Java applications are in daily use. J2ME technology-based wireless games continue to draw eyeballs and twitching thumbs the world over.
This session examines the history and technical merits of J2ME technologies that have allowed it to succeed over the past five years. This portion of the presentation is followed by a discussion and extended Q&A where we examine what needs to happen (technology, business, and otherwise) for the J2ME platform to be even more successful in its next five years.
Please use the Comments link at the bottom right of this blog entry to discuss the slides, ask questions, or make suggestions on improving the presentation.
Yesterday I was fairly busy delivering my Advanced Wireless Programming session and talking with people coming around the Nokia booth. More pictures from throughout the day when I get a chance to post them.
I was able to steal some time last night to attend an interesting BOF on the Information Module Profile (IMP) (spec) and IMP NG. Janne Levula, a Senior Technology Expert at Nokia (disclaimer: Yes, I work for Nokia), delivered the presentation, “Java Technology in M2M: Let the Machine Talk and Think“, in which he discussed the technology behind IMP (the short version: MIDP minus UI) and how to take advantage of it in a number of interesting applications from industrial automation to home security systems.
He had prepared a fun demo using the Nokia 12 GSM module (specs) to control a Mindstorms robot from his MIDP-enabled phone, but unfortunately there was a roaming issue (my guess is Janne’s home operator offers TCP sockets or another protocol he uses in his demo but the carrier he was roaming with here does not). So he demonstrated another example using the development tools from Forum Nokia’s Machine-to-Machine (M2M) development page, the Nokia 12 IMP 1.0 Concept Simulator 1.0.
This BOF really got me started thinking about the things one can do with an embedded cell phone module and the “smarts” of J2ME/Java. The business uses of this technology are virtually endless, IMO. Of course, if I can just convince my wife that we need to trick out our home and car so that I can control them from halfway around the world then the real fun can begin! 
[Update: Sun Technology Evangelist Angela Caicedo also blogged about Janne's work and the Nokia 12 GSM module. Click here for photos of his robot and the control MIDlet running on his Nokia 6600.]
