Cellphones are too closed

[Moosader]

I'm currently shopping for a new cellphone, and I was hoping to get one with Java support.
Since I'm cheap I'm looking at Cricket phones, and they're all CDMA using BREW.

Researching BREW, it's a very closed runtime environment created by QUALCOMM; to develop for it you have to pay AT LEAST $400 to get a "digital signature" thing.

I was also looking at OpenMoko, but damn, it's $400 for just the phone. x_x;

I hear lots of good things about iPhone's platform, but again, I don't want to pay so much for a phone. x_x;

I guess I'ma have to settle with something I can't dev for >_>

[aamesxdavid]

The iPhone isn't even that expensive, it's the service for it, when you expand it to internet, etc. I don't know if that's required though. I assume you have AT&T then, if it's even a condsideration?

Supposedly all of these phones can be dev'd on with the Sun Java Wireless Toolkit:
http://developers.sun.com/mobility/device/device

I don't know if there was something more specific you were looking to do though.

[sparda]

Well, I usually don't buy gadgets I'll have difficulty tinkering and programming for; hence I bought an used iPhone off of ebay about a week ago, since it is so straight forward to do just that. It actually arrived yesterday, and I've been playing with it ever since.

I would definitely recommend an iPhone. The 2G model is not that expensive, I found one for like $250 with the "buy now" button available on it (sorry don't have the link off hand). I instead bought the 3G which admittedly cost me a little more ($400), but not so much as I didn't buy it "cracked" or jailbroken, as the nomenclature goes. I cracked it myself Stupid people actually pay like $200- $300 ($800 +) extra bucks for 3G phones that are "jailbroken," WTF.

And since the iPhone is GSM based, I just popped in my SIM card (with my current phone plan), and I was set.

Anyway, the advantages of the iPhone platform are well known; open SDK, documentation, and a slew of videos and helpful "start up" clips available thorough the Apple developer connection, all for free. If you'd like the ability to have your apps featured on the "App Store" then you'll have to pay Apple, just like Microsoft's XNA subscription. The only downsides that I can think of are 1) that to use the actual SDK, you'll need a Mac OS X installation, to canonically develop for the iPhone platform. And 2) that as a developer, if you'd like to do some serious OO stuff, you'll be pressed to use Obj-C. But if not, then you can use straight C99 C, and you'd be fine.

If you're homebrew kinda gal Lusikka, and like using win XP (Booo!), then you can check out this blog for details on how to get developing on windows: here.

Aside from the developing side of things, the actual phone is amazing. Great smartphone features, and a bunch of other apps you can either buy (Booo!), or crack (Yaaay!). I concentrated on the programming side of things, because ahhh . . . That's what would really matter for a programmer, I SUPPOSE!

Hope I was able to help.

[Falco Girgis]

Get a goddamn iPhone. You will regret it for a looong time if you don't. It is by far the best thing on the market.

[aamesxdavid]

Get a goddamn iPhone. You will regret it for a looong time if you don't. It is by far the best thing on the market.

Perhaps they've significantly improved. My brother had one when they first came out, and loved everything except the phone part of the phone. That's why we both just have iPod Touches. You can do all the same dev stuff, and you don't need an expensive cell phone plan. Win.

[Moosader]

expensive cell phone plan. Win.

Yeah, right now I need something relatively cheap. With Cricket, I'm getting $40/mo with unlimited texting (and "pix", but if you text me asking for hawt pix, I will light something on fire and send a picture of it to you)

I kind of wish I had been dumped BEFORE I ordered the phone and plan though.

[aamesxdavid]

(and "pix", but if you text me asking for hawt pix, I will light something on fire and send a picture of it to you)

Sweet, what's your number?

As far as plans go, that's cheap, so it's hard to recommend something else if that's top priority. But if you want something portable to dev on, you'd probably be better off with something like a PDA or iPod Touch.

[Moosader]

Yeah, I was just hoping I'd be able to write some utilities for my phone, but apparently not. :P

[avansc]

lus, NOKIA phones are infinitely better than IPHONE or anything else for that matter.
and java works fine on them.

[wearymemory]

You may have already purchased a phone, LusikkaMage, but I did come across the Android Open Source Project a while ago, and I thought that I would post a link to their developer's page in hopes that it might possibly gain your or anyone else's interest.

http://developer.android.com/

[LeonBlade]

I'm getting an iPhone 3G on the 18th :D

[aerosmithfan4ever]

lus, NOKIA phones are infinitely better than IPHONE or anything else for that matter.
and java works fine on them.

True that. I've got N95 8GB and it kicks ass( except for the GUI part, but I don't need all those transitions and stuff ).

[Moosader]

I doth receivethed my Cricket phone finally. Unfortunately, Cricket isn't very widely supported for things, like using AIM via SMS.
Yeah, I really wish I could code for this thing about now. There's almost nothing in the games store (hmm, Tom Clancy's Hawx and Oregon Trail?!) and like two apps in the app store that are useless. Maybe if they used a more open format, they'd have more business in that area. ;P
( If they gave me a free devkit and registration with the dumb brew crap, I'd totally put all my PC-based stuff on hold to make decent crap for the phone. Well heck I'd do that if any company gave me a devkit *winkwinknudgenudge* D: *wants to code for WiiWare* )

[DJ Yoshi]

Quit bitching and buy a G1.

On another note, my n82 is slick as hell.

[eatcomics]

Quit bitching and buy a G1.

On another note, my n82 is slick as hell.

I agree on the nokia ones, if I am to get a phone I'mma get a nokia xD