If you're a J2ME developer, you've probably seen the hype about MIDP 2.0, and perhaps even written some applications that run on a PC emulator. But chances are, unless you work for someone who's licensed the API for hardware devices, you haven't had a chance to play with a real MIDP 2.0 device.
While the API landscape may be changing for developers, the mobile Java marketplace is jam-packed with MIDP 1.0 devices - which means that if you want to target today's devices, you're going to have to develop with the older APIs. For games in particular, this means avoiding the long-awaited MIDP 2.0 Game API, and continuing to write OEM-specific versions of your applications. At least that's the way it's been, until now.
The Synclast Compatibility Toolkit: 2 for 1
With Synclast's breakthrough compatibility technology, you can run MIDP 2.0 Game API applications on today's mass-market MIDP 1.0 devices without changing a single line of code. And it works — emulation software that hooks directly into your MIDlet lets you take MIDP 2.0 JARs, run them through the Synclast Compatibility Toolkit, and deliver them straight to the customer's waiting handset over the air.
What part of "Run Anywhere" did you not understand?
The MIDP marketplace is alive today. The best investment you can make as a developer is to build with an eye to the future, but with a focus on the present. As the marketplace progresses, more and more standard programming interfaces will dominate the industry. Synclast's compatibility toolkit lets you take advantage of the benefits of a standardized gaming platform today so you can more fully realize the promise of Java's "Write Once, Run Anywhere" motto.
How It Works
The Synclast toolkit works as a thin layer between your MIDP 2.0 programs and the underlying MIDP 1.0 virtual machine. Given a MIDP binary JAR file, our tools identify usage of the MIDP 2.0 Game API libraries and optimize your applications for the APIs available on the target handset, whether it's a Nokia, Motorola, Siemens or any other MIDP 1.0 device. Because each MIDP application exists in its own sandbox in the 1.0 world, your application is packaged with the minimum amount of compatibility code needed. Depending on the extent of your Game API usage, the resulting JAR is typically between 10 and 25 KB larger.
Availability
While the Compatibility Toolkit is still in prerelease form, we are actively looking for partners and developers to provide feedback on our technology. If you are interested in helping to define the toolkit and use it with your applications, please contact us at info@synclast.com.
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