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Iris Browser Beta 2 for Windows Mobile

Jack Cook — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:13:38 -0600

IBM releases new, 6.1.1 version of great Midlet runner J9; now, it’s fully compatible with Google Maps!

Werner Ruotsalainen — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:36:37 -0600

UPDATE (04/04/2007): Handango also hosts IBM J9 6.1.1; the links are: hi-res VGA; low-res QVGA. Note that there is no trial version offered in there.
(End of update.)

Ever wanted to run the same midlets (small Java applications) on your Pocket PC as on your mobile phone? Ever wanted to use the great alternative Web browser Opera Mini or the great mapping software Google Maps on your Pocket PC? Read on!

It was over half a year ago that IBM released the last, 6.1.0 version of their well-known Personal Java / Midlet environment J9 (read the tutorial here).

As with the previous version, the distribution isn’t available on major Pocket PC software resellers like Handango; only on IBM’s official download page. You will need to register yourself in there in order to be able to download the environment – Personal Profile (PP) if you need to run smaller, PP-compliant (!) stand-alone Java applications (NOT Java applets inside Pocket Internet Explorer / Internet Explorer Mobile – IBM J9 has never supported them!) and the MIDP 2.0 version if you want to run midlets like the above-mentioned two "killer" midlets, Opera Mini or Google Maps. Note that the Midlet version, as with the previous 6.1.0 version, comes in two flawors: a VGA and a QVGA one. If you have a VGA device, get the former.

After downloading (make sure you also get the installation instructions PDF file and don’t mistake Windows CE 5 for Window Mobile 5 – you’ll need the latter only), execute the file (it’s been downloaded to c:\DownloadDirector\) and extract c:\Program Files\IBM\WEME\runtimes\61\wm50-arm-vga-midp20\weme-wm50-arm-hires-midp20_6.1.1.20061110-161633.zip (VGA MIDP), c:\Program Files\IBM\WEME\runtimes\61\wm50-arm-midp20\weme-wm50-arm-midp20_6.1.1.20061110-161633.zip (QVGA MIDP) or c:\Program Files\IBM\WEME\runtimes\61\wm50-arm-ppro11\weme-wm50-arm-ppro11_6.1.1.20061110-161633.zip (Personal Profile). Transfer the contents of the (unpacked) bin and lib subdirectories anywhere on your Pocket PC (note that the installation instructions instruct you to copy these two directories under \J9\MIDP in the main storage. This isn’t needed: a storage card will do too) and, then, do what “Installing and running a demo MIDlet” (the MIDP version) or “Running a demo application” (the PP version) states. Note that you can (and, if you plan to install many midlets, should!) still use the registry import script I’ve provided (see the “My registry script” section in my previous tutorial) for 6.1.0 to greatly ease midlet deployment; as with the previous version, make sure you change all occurrences of “\\SD Card\\J9-MIDP” to the current path of your J9 home in it before importing.

Screenshots of the new version running Opera Mini 3.0.6540 Advanced (also see this article; the JAR file is available for download here; simply download it and click on it after transferring it onto your PDA and importing my above-mentioned registry import file if you don't want to deploy it by hand, in the very awkward way the official IBM documentation recommends) on my WM2003SE VGA Pocket Loox 720: 1 2; on my WM5 VGA Dell Axim x51v.

How do I run the well-known Oanda.com Stocks Applet on my Pocket PC? (Incl. TONS of brand new, never-published Java tips & c

Werner Ruotsalainen — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 12:43:00 -0500

I’ve just received a question over at the Pocket PC Thoughts forums (read it in its entirety if interested) concerning how the well-known Oanda.com Stocks Applet should be run on the Pocket PC.

When you click this link on your desktop, the stocks applet will run just OK. When you click it on your Pocket PC, on the other hand, it won’t – just a strange, small “beta.jnlp” file will be downloaded to the Pocket PC.

Running Motorola-specific Midlet games on the Pocket PC? YES!!

Werner Ruotsalainen — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 05:25:54 -0500

In this XDA-Dev thread, forum member therealholg stated the Intent Midlet Manager (which is shipped with all Pocket PC Phone Edition devices as is pointed out in, say, Java Midlets on the Pocket PC - the Complete Tutorial) is able to run Motorola midlets (that is mini Java mostly leisure applications - read: games).

I’ve given this a try to find out whether it’s true as the Midlet manager can’t execute most other, device-specific Midlet programs (Nokia or Sony-Ericsson ones). I was delighted to see that this is indeed true: the Intent Midlet Manager was indeed able to run the majority of the (well, not very new, but still, some of them is pretty playable and enjoyable on the Pocket PC) Midlets I’ve thrown it at.

A breakdown of the midlets I’ve tested the Midlet manager with (along with their filedates, -sizes; “invalid JAR” stands for the Midlet manager’s inability to deploy the midlet) some midlets:

Great, Free Java/Midlet Environment IBM J9 New, 6.1 Version is Out – a Full Compliance & Bug Report & Never Before Publi

Werner Ruotsalainen — Tue, 09 May 2006 02:52:35 -0500

IBM WebSphere(R) Everyplace Micro Environment (IBM J9 for short) is one of the best Java and Midlet environments for the Pocket PC (please see this tutorial on what Midlets are and how they can be used). If you make a generic search in my Pocket PC Magazine Expert Blog for "IBM J9" or look around in my full-blown Java-related articles (for example, Using Java on the Pocket PC - the complete tutorial (alternatives: FirstLoox, PPCMag); also, the "Java" sections in my Pocket PC Magazine Expert Blog are worth checking out), you’ll get numerous hits. The former Midlet article and the latter generic Java article are both worth checking out to see what midlets are capable of/usable for. Opera Mini, Google Maps, Toonel - just to name the three most important "killer apps".

The last version of J9 was released over a year ago – it took IBM a year to move to a new version. It was indeed worth the waiting - the midlet support is indeed definitely better than the previous version.

What’s new – in a nutshell

Improved Midlet compliance – now, it’s fully compliant with all versions of Opera Mini Advanced (including the latest, 2.0 version). I didn't have problems with Google Maps either.
VGA (high) resolution support, at least as far as text rendering is concerned, without having to use the native VGA mode on VGA devices. (Unfortunately, this only applies to text rendering. Rendering of graphics in standard SE VGA is still pixel-doubled, which will be a real pain with graphics-based midlets like the ingenious Google Maps. Then, you'll need to reboot the device into native VGA mode.) There're two separate versions for QVGA and VGA devices; I'll elaborate on the differences of the two in a separate section, with a lot of practical tips and tricks never published before.

Ever wanted to play the great, free multiplayer game Wyvern on your Pocket PC? I have great news for you!

Werner Ruotsalainen — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 02:26:27 -0600

It was only some days ago that I reported about the new version of free Java Virtual Machine (JVM), Mysaifu, being able to run Wyvern, the great multiplayer game. Now, I have even better news for people that have pre-Windows Mobile 5 (WM5) devices – CrEme, another JVM, also runs the game. What is more, as one would expect, it runs the game as if it were a native Pocket PC application; that is, much faster than Mysaifu.

Alternative Java environment Mysaifu updated

Werner Ruotsalainen — Sat, 18 Mar 2006 07:49:23 -0600

http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~dat/java/project/jvm/index_en.html

A new, 0.2.3 version of Mysaifu, the new, alternative, free Java environment meant for running stand-alone Java language applications has just been released with some really nice bugfixes (and, unfortunately, with some new bugs). The author of Mysaifu is really active: it was just a few days ago that the previous, 0.2.2 version of this excellent environment was released. Wyvern Probably the most important bugfix makes it possible to play the well-known Java-based multiplayer game "Wyvern" without any problems. Now, also context menus work flawlessly (the only problem with the previous, 0.2.2 version). I really recommend the game – it's free and if you like online multiplayer Role Playing games, you will definitely like this title too. Please read The Definitive Multiplayer PPC Game Roundup for more information on the game.

Java Midlets on the Pocket PC - the Complete Tutorial

Werner Ruotsalainen — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 05:36:45 -0600

UPDATE (late 2007): the article is outdated. Read THIS instead.
(end of update, original article follows)

Midlets are widely known for mobile phone users because a wide variety of games, chatter applications (for example, Internet Relay Chat clients), Web browsers (for example, the excellent Opera Mini), Google Maps cients (for example, Mobile GMaps) etc. are available in a cross-platform midlet form.

I always receive a lot of midlet-related questions (see for example this and this threads; note that they're a bit old and, therefore, do not have the most up-to-date information); this is also why I've decided to write an all-in-one article on all the midlet-related questions. (Needless to say, this article is the first generic, practical overview ever written on this question.)

Opera Mini, the best, free Midlet-based Web browser itself is certainly a reason for learning to run midlets on PPC's. While a bit simple and incapable at the first blick (for example, there's absolutely no support for selecting text and copying it to the clipboard – in this respect, it's like the Thunderhawk browser, which doesn't allow for any kind of such functionality either), you'll soon learn to love to use Opera Mini on your Pocket PC because:

New Versions of Fastest, WM5-compliant, Pocket Internet Explorer applet plugin-enabled Java Virtual Machine, CrEme, out!

Werner Ruotsalainen — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 13:54:41 -0600

http://www.nsicom.com

I've reported today of the new Mysaifu version. After having published the article, I've noticed that NSICom has released two, brand new versions of their CrEme JVM – now, with WM5 compliance. CrEme is the fastest Java Virtual Machine (JVM) out with moderate system requirements and is, therefore, really worth checking out, particularly if you want to use the great bandwidth reduction tool Toonel or Java applets in Internet Explorer Mobile. The previous versions of CrEme didn't work at all under WM5; they complained about not being able to load gfw/gfwconf and immediately exit. Fortunately, that's no longer the case – the new versions are WM5-compliant and work just great! No article from me without thorough compliance testing. Let's see right away how the new version behaves in the most important usage areas of Pocket PC JVM's!

Great, free Java Virtual Machine Mysaifu Version 0.2.2 is out!

Werner Ruotsalainen — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 05:46:20 -0600

http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~dat/java/project/jvm/index_en.html