Finnish mobile phone giant, Nokia has announced that it is to launch a Java developers toolkit for Linux in the hope of attracting further developers to the mobile platform.
The Nokia Developer’s Suite for J2ME, Version 1.1 for Linux, will provide developers with tools to create, test and deploy downloadable applications that are designed for the Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), a version of Java technology specifically designed for small consumer electronics products.
At present, its prime application is in mobile handsets.
The Nokia Developer’s Suite for J2ME 1.1 will support the development of mobile information device profile (MIDP) applications.
The suite enables MIDP development in a stand-alone environment and can be integrated with existing integrated development enterprises (IDEs) from industry stalwarts Borland and Sun.
It provides an automated code generation tool, archive builders, and is compatible with all Nokia MIDP software developer kits (SDKs).
Concurrent with the launch of the Linux version, Nokia also announced enhancements to the Suite.
The new version provides an audio converter that translates MIDI files into Nokia ringing tone files or directly generates a piece of source code, as well as a tool that automates the uploading of Java applications to web servers for testing and deployment.
These enhancements are available in both the Linux and Windows versions of the Suite.
According to IT development market researcher, Evans Data Corp., 14pc of North American developers plan to use Linux as their primary development host in 2003, up from 8pc in 2002. Globally, 12pc of all wireless developers work primarily in the Linux environment, according to Evans.
By Dick O’Brien
