Quoting Trei, Peter (ptrei@rsasecurity.com):
The phone SW world is nowhere near as closed as you think.
* Thousands of developers are writing Java applets for Japanese iMode phones. * Hundreds are developing applets for the Blackberry 5810 and 5820 phones (free Java-based IDS from RIM). * Similarly, the high end Pocket PC and Palm phones both have free or inexpensive development environments (C/C++) * Finally, Qualcomm phones support BREW (free SDK, expensive training).
I stand corrected. I'm even reading a short bit about Nokia's new 3g phone: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/27310.html "The device, known as the Nokia 6650, is also notable for allowing users to record up to 20 seconds of video (128x96 pixels) with sound using a built in VGA camera employing 4096 colours, the first Nokia phone to offer the facility...." "Other features include a multimedia messaging service (MMS) client, a WAP 1.2.1-compatible browser, integrated Bluetooth, a "wallet" application for mobile transactions, and a Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) virtual machine based on the mobile information device profile (MIDP)." Includes infrared and USB as well. Not much quickly available describing the wallet app, but it probably isn't peer-to-peer.
My take on the situation is that the platform vendors are so anxious to get developer mindshare, and new apps, that they are for the most part giving away the development environments and specs.
IOW, a decent number of platforms are ready to go. Cool. Regards, Steve