Samsung, Sun teaming up for Java phone?

Considering that we've already seen Sun parade its iPhone-like Java Mobile FX platform around, it's not too surprising to hear that Samsung and Sun Microsystems could be teaming up to "jointly develop a mobile phone to challenge Apple's iPhone." Furthermore, the two firms already have a history together, and according to Sun Chairman Scott McNealy, the duo could be working on "a Java phone that would surpass Apple's iPhone in functionality and cost less." Of course, Sun's spokespeople couldn't be reached for comment and Samsung's folks simply stated that "no decision had been made regarding co-development of the Java phone," so it looks like we'll be filing this away in the somewhat believable rumor cabinet for the time being.

[Via CNET]

[David Shen @ Oct 11th 2007 9:38PM]

iphone versus gphone versus nokia-iphone versus jphone... sounds like fun

[Zach @ Oct 11th 2007 9:55PM]

Why are phones all the rage? Heck, even clothes designers and watchmaker can make phones. What we need is an emerging market. Like chilled pocket protectors for stressful days at work.

[Johnathon Zirkle @ Oct 11th 2007 10:17PM]

Why is it all about stupid phones these days? I tire of phones. How many people are buying the newest one every week??? Its getting old.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Oct 11th 2007 10:46PM]

Awesome, now I can will be able to run Open Office on my tiny 2" cell phone screen! Java for the win.

[kev @ Oct 11th 2007 11:12PM]

SLOWEST PHONE EVAR.

Just create one a with a freaking well-documented C++ API. Why Java? It's gonna make shit run slow as hell...

[phrozunsun @ Oct 11th 2007 11:32PM]

my thoughts exactly. by the time you're able to actually dial all 7 numbers, it will be obsolete.

[uagent @ Oct 12th 2007 1:58AM]

Because that would be rather useless after the carriers get their slimy hands all over it. Ever hear about a little device called the iPhone? It supposedly runs Mac OS/X at its core, but you'd never know it since Apple/AT&T locked it down so hard (yes, I know about the hacks, but they've been causing bricked phones as of late...). What about the RAZR/RAZR2? So many possibilities, so little progress by the time the phones hit the market. I know personally and am extremely frustrated by my RAZR having the ability to run free Java apps, but disallowed from doing so because my provider (alltel) is addicted to BREW, a very bad, terrible, horrible, no-good locked down platform.

A java-based platform (and honestly people, since when has there been a *FAST* phone?) would allow the user to have control over the phone, instead of the carrier. I'd go for one, but I'm afraid I only get a refresh every 2 years w/o shelling out mad cash :(

[kev @ Oct 11th 2007 11:22PM]

Rather, support both. Java for crappy web applets and C++ for serious developers.

[Arthur @ Oct 11th 2007 11:40PM]

awesome, "J-Phone" after the "iphone" and "h-phone"

[Logboy @ Oct 12th 2007 12:44AM]

Wow a Java phone....will the screen turn into a glog of grey and show the hourglass? I want one!

[Arno @ Oct 12th 2007 12:45AM]

Will it come pre-loaded with a ugly dark grey background and by design run slower than my dead dog? We shall see.

[Air4ce @ Oct 12th 2007 2:42AM]

I really hate Suns bloatware applications. Java softwares feel like 10x slower and needs 10x hardware resources compared to native applications. Take a look at Suns NetBeans that needs 1gig of RAM for trouble free operation. It's just a text editor with some windows that needs more RAM than state of the art 3D games! I rather prefer native WindowsMobile or Symbian.

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Oct 12th 2007 4:15AM]

That's silly.

I would have understood if they had launched initiative to deliver new functionality to mobile market - and Java its enabler.

But right now Java has little or rather no innovative cutting edge features left. Launching "Java phone" is pretty silly.

Any product made after technology - not after market demand - are pretty much destined to fail.

[ilh @ Oct 12th 2007 8:04AM]

Java is going to go through a lot of changes in the coming year or so which will make it a lot less bloated and crappy. I've used JavaFX and i'm loving it so if this is true then I can't wait for a nice personally customised phone.

[kev @ Oct 12th 2007 9:09AM]

@uagent:

You wouldn't understand how much of a difference there is between Java and purely compiled languages unless you are a developer, so I'll sum it up for you:

Java makes you a bubble boy. You assume you are COMPLETELY unaware of the environment you run in, you assume you have as MUCH MEMORY AS YOU NEED, and memory management is AUTOMATED. There is ridiculous amounts of overhead because of that and the bloated system libraries. With C/C++, you'd spend a fraction of the time with very little overhead, you taking care of memory management so you don't freeze the damn phone during garbage collection, and you're fully aware of any resources you do or don't have.

[skhawaja @ Oct 13th 2007 12:15AM]

what the hell - haven't we learned anything yet? it's not the mfg's stupid - it's the carrier that makes the mfg's bend to it's will - yay - PLEASE NO MORE JUDAS PHONES!