Contents - Cultural View

Comparison of the Java and .NET platforms 96
Embedded applications
Mobile applications
Java ME has a very large base within the mobile phone and PDA markets, with only the cheapest devices now
devoid of a KVM (a cut down Java Virtual Machine for use on devices with limited processing power). Java
software, including many games, is commonplace.
While almost every mobile phone includes a JVM, these features are not always heavily used by users (particularly
in North America). Initially Java applications on most phones typically consisted of menuing systems, small games,
or systems to download ringtones etc. However, more powerful phones are increasingly being sold with simple
applications pre-loaded, such as translation dictionaries, world clock displays (darkness/light, timezones, etc.) and
calculators. Some of these are written in Java, although how often phone owners actually use them is probably
unknown.
In January 2007 Steve Jobs suggested that Apple's iPhone would not support Java. [21] [22] Significantly, at that time
Java's mobile platform was perceived as nearly ubiquitous across the cell phone market, commonly being used by
software companies to write device-neutral mobile applications. Noted commentators argued against Jobs' stand, [23]
but when the iPhone finally appeared it did indeed lack both Java and Adobe's rival Flash technology, favoring
instead simple web applications using the phone's Safari browser.
In May 2007 Sun used the JavaOne conference to announce JavaFX Mobile, as a direct response to Adobe's attempt
to introduce Flash onto mobile devices.
In October 2007 Apple bowed to pressure and announced that by early 2008 the iPhone would be opened up to allow
development of software other than via the Safari browser. Neither Java nor Flash is supported under this plan, and
Apple does not allow interpreters for any language to run on the phone.
Home entertainment technologies
Java has found a market in digital television, where it can be used to provide software which sits alongside
programming, or extends the capabilities of a given Set Top Box. TiVo, for example, has a facility called "Home
Media Engine", which allows JavaTV software to be transmitted to an appropriate TiVo device to complement
programming or provide extra functionality (for example, personalized stock tickers on a business news program.)
A variant of Java has been accepted as the official software tool for use on the next generation optical disc
technology Blu-ray, via the BD-J interactive platform. This will mean that interactive content, such as menus, games,
downloadables, etc. on all Blu-ray optical discs will be created under a variant of the Java platform. Blu-ray
equipment first went on sale to the consumer in 2006, and is currently not widely owned. However, the release of the
Sony PlayStation 3 in late 2006 and early 2007 may give the platform a boost.
Rather than using Java, HD DVD (the defunct high definition successor to DVD) uses a technology jointly
developed by Microsoft and Disney called HDi that is based on XML, CSS, JavaScript, and other technologies that
are comparable to those used by standard web browsers.
The BD-J platform API is more extensive than its iHD rival, with an alleged 8,000 methods and interfaces, as
opposed to iHD's 400. [24] And while Microsoft is pushing iHD's XML presentation layer by including it with
Windows Vista, iHD is still a newcomer in a market sector where Java technologies are already commonplace. [25]
However, the fact that the HD DVD format has been abandoned in favor of Blu-ray means that HDi is no longer
supported on any Optical disc format, making the BD-J format a clear winner. [26]