MIDP 2.0: Wireless Industry Standardizes on Java Technology for Wireless Data Services

Jan. 1, 2000 12:00 AM

(December 13, 2002) - Sun Microsystems Inc. recently announced the completion of the Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP 2.0) standard and the availability of the final MIDP 2.0 specification, reference implementation, compatibility test suite, and beta version of the J2ME Wireless Toolkit 2.0. Developed by more than 50 wireless industry leaders worldwide to extend the base collection of Java technologies for mobile devices, MIDP 2.0 supports new and enhanced gaming, graphics, video, audio, security, and many other features for mobile devices.

Providing the foundation for highly graphical and intuitive mobile applications, MIDP 2.0 includes the following new features:

Enhanced user interface: MIDP 2.0 improves the end-user experience with enhancements that make applications more interactive and easier to use. It also provides greater extensibility and a more flexible layout for increased application portability across a wide range of devices with differing screen sizes.

Media support:MIDP 2.0 allows developers to leverage the full audio capabilities of each device, adding audio such as tones, tone sequences and WAV files to MIDP applications using a standard platform.

Game support: MIDP 2.0 adds a Game API that provides a standard foundation for building rich games, taking advantage of native device graphics capabilities to simplify development and provide greater control over graphics and performance.

Expanded connectivity: MIDP 2.0 adds support for leading connectivity standards beyond HTTP, such as HTTPS, datagram, sockets, server sockets, and serial port communication, providing applications different way to exchange data with back-end services.

Push architecture: MIDP 2.0 includes a server push model whereby MIDlets can be registered to be activated when a device receives information from a server. This enables developers to leverage the event-driven capabilities of devices and carrier networks, and easily include alerts, messaging and broadcasts using a standard approach in MIDP applications.

Over-The-Air (OTA) Provisioning: To ensure a standard approach to MIDP application deployment that works across a range of mobile devices, OTA provisioning is now required as part of the MIDP specification. It defines how MIDlet suites are discovered, installed, updated and removed on mobile devices and enables a service provider to identify which MIDlet suites will work on a given device, and obtain status reports from the device following installation, updates, or removal.

End-to-end security: MIDP 2.0 adds a robust end-to-end security model, built on open standards, that protects the network, applications and mobile device. It supports HTTPS and leverages existing standards such as SSL and WTLS to enable the transmission of encrypted data.

More than 50 million Java-technology enabled handsets have already been shipped worldwide by major carriers, representing all the main wireless network systems, including GSM/GPRS, CDMA, PDC, iDEN, and W-CDMA. Twenty of the world's leading carriers currently offer 29 deployments of Java-technology based mobile services in Asia, Europe, and the United States. More than 30 additional deployments are planned or in trial.

Published Jan. 1, 2000— Reads 4,913
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