NEW ZEALAND — Sun Microsystems’ Mobile Information Device (MID) profile is being touted as the most secure and dynamic wireless development platform to date.
The result of 3 years of co-operation between Sun, Nokia, Motorola, and a global team of Java programmers, MID is Java that has been streamlined to suit mobile applications. As a development platform it is fast emerging as a potential leader in the wireless arena.
“MID is the best possible wireless platform that anyone can be developing on,” states Francesca Mabarak, a senior analyst in the Yankee Group’s Wireless Mobile Technologies division. “I’ve been looking at a lot of different middleware models, and Java is the most robust … it provides the most manageability, scalability, and interoperability.”
According to Nicolas Lorain, senior project manager of wireless Java application programming interfaces (APIs) at Sun, Java promises mobile environments a plethora of advantages from increased security to more addictive user experiences. Unlike WAP, an unfamiliar mark-up language for most developers, Java already has an established community of developers and a rich support structure.
Enhanced graphical support is another benefit that MID has over other wireless programming languages (such as WAP’s Wireless Markup Language and i-mode’s Compact HTML). Gaming applications are fast becoming a driver in the wireless market and this makes MID’s graphical strength a bonus, opines Lorraine.
Security is another department in which WAP is lacking, he claims.
“With WAP, there’s the security hole at the Web gateway. With Java, you have the possibility – as soon as you have packet-based networks – to use standard Internet protocols, which means you can use SSL [Secure Socket Layer] end-to-end between the cell phone and the server.”