Opinionated comments on mobile phone industry news
|
All entries are written by Anders Borg, CEO and Consultant of Abiro, that has a long experience in strategic planning, developing embedded and Java software, usability aspects, and the mobile phone industry in general. You can also read the latest Mobile News entries on your phone via wap.abiro.com, and we provide many News Feeds from popular news services. For advertising and contribution queries, please use the feedback form. News feed (local) FeedBurner Feed
|
|
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Treo, a smartphone or PDA?
The note rightly concludes that nobody really cares, as only the features matter. The difference between featurephones and smartphones has always been blurry, and increasingly so.
I tend to use the following definitions, but they can also be debated:
* PDA: information device based on an "open" OS and without mobile radio, with touch screen and/or alphanumeric keypad
* Smartphone: PDA with integrated mobile radio
* Featurephone: voice-centric mainstream phone, with some level of multimedia and PIM features, and that only supports Java for user-installed applications
But then, why is Java not considered an open OS, when Windows Mobile is?
It's probably best to simply call the Treo a mobile/cell phone.
Cingular Denies Treo Is a Smartphone - Yahoo! News
I tend to use the following definitions, but they can also be debated:
* PDA: information device based on an "open" OS and without mobile radio, with touch screen and/or alphanumeric keypad
* Smartphone: PDA with integrated mobile radio
* Featurephone: voice-centric mainstream phone, with some level of multimedia and PIM features, and that only supports Java for user-installed applications
But then, why is Java not considered an open OS, when Windows Mobile is?
It's probably best to simply call the Treo a mobile/cell phone.
Cingular Denies Treo Is a Smartphone - Yahoo! News
Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
<< Home
You wrote: But then, why is Java not considered an open OS, when Windows Mobile is?
That is because JAVAOS is not a OS written completely in JAVA, the native microkernel is essential and the kvm is built upon it. The microkernel is propietary and it is kept by the industries as a completely closed implementation. This is done by not releasing a native sdk for the devices and therefore allowing third parties only to program in J2ME, however this is not the case with Palm as it provides a native c sdk.
The second annoying related thing is that J2ME does not provide much low level functionality therefore kvm implementations which want to provide some extra functionalities often include propietary J2ME APIs, which more often than not you have to ask permission (and pay...) to use them, while at the same time you are breaking your J2ME portability (e.g. if you use Motorola propietary APIs your program is no longer going to work on a Nokia device).
Thank god for JSR like JSR75 which will add much needed extra functionality to J2ME.
That is because JAVAOS is not a OS written completely in JAVA, the native microkernel is essential and the kvm is built upon it. The microkernel is propietary and it is kept by the industries as a completely closed implementation. This is done by not releasing a native sdk for the devices and therefore allowing third parties only to program in J2ME, however this is not the case with Palm as it provides a native c sdk.
The second annoying related thing is that J2ME does not provide much low level functionality therefore kvm implementations which want to provide some extra functionalities often include propietary J2ME APIs, which more often than not you have to ask permission (and pay...) to use them, while at the same time you are breaking your J2ME portability (e.g. if you use Motorola propietary APIs your program is no longer going to work on a Nokia device).
Thank god for JSR like JSR75 which will add much needed extra functionality to J2ME.
You are right. I'm well aware of the added capabilities native applications can bring. It's a tough balance between the security Java offers by its sandbox approach and the functionality you can get. It's also a matter of portability: Palm OS is Palm OS, Symbian OS is Symbian OS, while J2ME runs on almost anything (including Palm OS and Symbian OS) forcing it to narrow its functionality to what most platforms can provide. I'm still in favour of Java for the sheer volume and business potential, which is partly why I added J2ME info to the site.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
<< Home
