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| Overview
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| Java ME
| Ideal for a portable solution, if the Java ME platform provides the needed functionality. Good for vertical applications that must be portable. Device-specific libraries exist for many devices and are commonly used for games, making them non-portable. Applications (including their data) cannot be larger than around 1 MB if they are to run on most phones. They must also be cryptographically signed in order to effectively use many APIs such as the filesystem access API. This is relatively expensive and is rarely done, even for commercial applications.
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| Symbian
| Very powerful for general purpose development. Designed from the start for mobile devices, the Symbian platform is a real time, multi-tasking OS specifically architected to run well on resource-constrained systems, maximising performance and battery life whilst minimising memory usage. The Symbian Foundation maintains the code for the open source software platform based on Symbian OS and software assets contributed by Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, and Sony Ericsson, including the S60 and MOAP(S) user interfaces. Portions of the platform's source code have already been moved to open source, under the Eclipse Public License. By mid-2010 this process will be complete, making the platform code available to all for free. Close to 300 million Symbian OS-based units have been shipped and Symbian holds more than a 50% market share globally.
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| Android
| Recently announced by the Open Handset Alliance, whose 34 members include Google, HTC, Motorola, Qualcomm, and T-Mobile, Android is a new Linux-based platform. Although it has only 2 fielded implementations, its support by 34 major software, hardware and telecoms companies makes it likely that the pace of adoption will increase. The Linux kernel is used as a hardware abstraction layer (HAL). Application programming is exclusively done in Java. You need the Android specific Java SDK. Besides the Android Java Libraries it is possible to use normal Java IDEs.
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| BlackBerry
| Supports push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, internet faxing, web browsing and other wireless information services as well as a multi-touch interface. It has a built-in QWERTY keyboard, optimized for "thumbing", the use of only the thumbs to type. The BlackBerry devices soon took a dominating position on the north-American smartphone market. Also important for BlackBerry are the BES (Black Berry Enterprise Server) and the Mobile Data System (BlackBerry MDS).
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| iPhone OS
| The iPhone and iPod Touch SDK uses Objective C, based on the C programming language. Currently, is only available on Mac OS X 10.5 and is the only way to write an iPhone application. All applications must be cleared by Apple before being hosted on the AppStore, the sole distribution channel for iPhone and iPod touch applications. However, non-Apple approved applications can be released to jailbroken iPhones via Cydia or Installer.
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| Lazarus
| Ideal for prototyping and quickly developing database powered applications. Also useful for porting Object Pascal software to mobiles. Can access the native APIs when translated headers are available.
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| Python
| Ideal for initial prototyping and concept testing when functionality falls outside Java ME.
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| .NET Compact Framework
| Ideal for deployment on Pocket PC/Windows Mobile devices. While primarily still limited to Microsoft Windows Mobile devices, it is now being extended to Android devices as well via Mono. There have also been discussions about extending Mono to other mobile platforms, but nothing has happened to date.
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| BREW
| Ideal for deploying applications for deployment on CDMA-based networks (also supports GPRS/GSM models) with a deployed Brew Content Platform especially if OTA app deployment is desired. Little penetration in Europe.
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| Windows Mobile
| Ideal for enterprise applications with an existing PC infrastructure and options for significant development investment. However not cross platform and limited to Microsoft devices.
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| Palm OS
| Significant player with strong enterprise following in the important US market.
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| Flash Lite
| Ideal for Graphics-heavy options with a market that can support the Flash Lite player.
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| Microbrowser Based
| Ideal for lightweight functionality, a web-interface for an existing application with no latency concerns, or a widely varying platform base
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| MITR (mobile platform)
| Allows fast paced development of Mobile applications for multiple phone platforms. Mitr supports J2ME, Symbian, Blackberry and Windows Mobile for "Write Once, Run Everywhere" respite
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| Foundation
| Learning Curve
| Debuggers available
| Emulator available
| Integrated Development Environment available
| Cross-Platform Deployment
| Installer Packaging Options
| Development Tool Cost
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| Symbian
| C++
| Difficult (unusual C++ APIs, poor debugger support, and Symbian 9 breaks binary compatibility)
| Good on latest version.
| Free Emulator
| Many choices
| Compile per target
| SIS deployment
| Varies (free tools available)
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| Java ME
| Java
| Average
| Excellent
| Free Emulator, Sun Java Wireless Toolkit, mpowerplayer
| Eclipse,LMA NetBeans Mobility Pack
| Average (many VM implementations have device specific bugs necessitating separate builds)
| Jad/Jar packaging; PRC files under Palm OS
| Free
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| Android
| Java
| unknown
| Debugger integrated in Eclipse, Standalone debugging monitor also available
| Free Emulator
| Eclipse, Undroid (Plugin for Netbeans)
| Android only, because of Dalvik VM (march 09)
| apk
| Free
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| BlackBerry
| Java
| Average
| Debugger integrated in JDE
| Free Emulator
| JDE - BlackBerry Java Development Environment
| BlackBerry only because of the RIM API
| alx, cod
| Free
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| iPhone OS
| Objective-C
| Difficult (C variant, relatively low level coding)
| Debugger integrated in XCode IDE
| Bundled with iPhone SDK, integrated with XCode IDE
| XCode
| Only iPhone and iPod Touch
| Only via App Store, requires review and approval by Apple Inc..
| Tools are free, but require an Intel-based Mac. Simulator testing is free, but installing on a device requires $99/year for a developer signing key.
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| Lazarus
| Object Pascal
| Excellent
| Average. Can debug on the IDE via ActiveSync for Windows CE
| Uses the emulators of the platforms
| Lazarus IDE, including integrated GUI designer and debugger
| Compiled language available for Windows CE, linux-based devices and a SymbianOS port is under development.
| The native distribution format of each platform
| Free
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| Python
| Python
| Excellent
| Average
| Add-on to Nokia Emulator
| Several, including plugins for Eclipse
| Interpreted language available natively only on Nokia Series60 (and desktops) though there are ports to other mobile platforms, including PalmOS
| Sis deployment with py2sis or can use Python Runtime
| Free
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| Flash Lite
| ActionScript
| Average
| Good
| Bundled with IDE
| Macromedia Flash MX2004/8 / Eclipse
| Excellent (Bundled - Top 5 mobile manufacturers, limited handset model support as of 3/06, best web compatibility)
| SIS / CAB deployment or OTA/IR/Bluetooth SWF files
| Varies (Free but limited with MTASC)
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| .NET Compact Framework
| C#, VB.NET, Basic4ppc
| Excellent
| Excellent
| Free emulator (source code available), also bundled with IDE
| Visual Studio 2008, 2005, 2003, Basic4ppc IDE
| Windows Mobile, WindowsCE, Symbian-based devices (via third party tools)
| OTA deployment, CAB files, ActiveSync
| Most tools free (but commercial editions of Visual Studio required for visual designers)
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| Microbrowser Based
| XHTML (WAP 2.0), WML (WAP 1.2)
| Varies by Server-side scripting language
| Good
| Many
| Many
| Basic Page rendering is very excellent. However per page customizations and tweaks are invariably required across different browsers.
| N/A
| Free
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| Rhomobile
| Ruby with HTML interface features compiled through an interpreter into native applications.
| Excellent (in particular for Ruby developers)
| Good
| N/A, applications can run in Win32 runner, or in device emulators for supported platforms.
| xCode or Eclipse, on-demand RhoHub version includes full IDE
| Excellent (Supports iPhone OS (inc. 3.0), Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Symbian and Android)
| OTA deployment, iPhone OS through App store, .SIS, .CAB, .APK, .COD
| Free for GPL, Commercial Licenses Available. Subscription for RhoHub
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| Blueprint (programming language)
| XML routed through Yahoo Mobile servers and displayed in native browsers
| Excellent (short list of allowed XML)
| None beyond a schema check
| N/A, translates to web or mobile as needed
| N/A, any XML editor
| N/A, translates to web or mobile as needed
| Combined config upload at Yahoo with self-hosted dynamic XML
| Any XML editor
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| BREW
| C (the APIs are provided in C with a C++ style interface)
| Difficult (but easier, and less featureful, than Symbian)
| Debugger support for the native ARM target code now available via ARM RVDS 3.0. ($6k) Can use Visual Studio to debug the x86 testing code.
| No Emulator for the target ARM code, has a simulator for the x86 testing code.
| Visual Studio 6.0, Visual Studio 2003 .net, Visual Studio 2005
| Compile for the specific BREW version available on the handset.
| OTA
| Related Dev Fees Typically Required for Brew App Certification - VeriSign annual fee for becoming a certified developer. Realview ARM compiler for BREW (The free GNU C/C++ is also available, but with limited function and support). TRUE BREW testing fee for distributing the application.
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| Windows Mobile
| C, C++
| Average (excellent for Win32 developers)
| Excellent
| Free emulator (source code available), also bundled with IDE
| Visual Studio 2008, 2005, eMbedded VC++ (free)
| Windows Mobile, WindowsCE
| OTA deployment, CAB files, ActiveSync
| Free command-line tools or eMbedded VC++, or Visual Studio (Standard edition or better)
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| Windows Mobile
| Basic4ppc
| Excellent
| Average
| Average. Emulates interface on windows forms.
| Basic4ppc IDE
| Windows Mobile, WindowsCE
| OTA deployment, CAB files, ActiveSync
| Commercial tool required.
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| Palm OS
| C, C++, Pascal
| Excellent
| Average
| OS 1.0 - 4.1: Free Emulator provided by PalmSource (Access); OS 5.0: - 5.4 Device-specific Simulators provided by Palm (palmOne)
| Palm OS Development System (Eclipse), CodeWarrior, PocketStudio
| Palm OS handhelds, or Windows Mobile with StyleTap emulator
| PRC Files, PalmSource Installer (.psi)
| Free (POSE or GCC for Palm OS), or commercial (CodeWarrior), or various commercial rapid-development frameworks
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| MoSync
| C, C++
| Excellent (Soft learning curve especially for C/C++ developers)
| Excellent (Development with Visual Studio) | Integrated debugger support in MoSync IDE under development
| Excellent, emulator support in MoSync IDE
| Eclipse, MoBuild (w/ text editors), Visual Studio 2005 and later
| Excellent (Supports Windows Mobile, Symbian, j2me and Moblin. Android)
| OTA deployment, .SIS, .CAB, .JAR
| Free for GPL 2.0, Commercial Licenses Available
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| Mitr - mobile application platform
| Java
| Excellent
| Excellent
| Free emulator
| Eclipse
| Java, symbian,windows mobile,blackberry
| Jad/jar,SIS, COD, CAB,OTA deployment, CAB files,on the basis of mobile profile
| Trial developer
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| Linux
| Symbian
| Java ME
| Lazarus
| Python
| Flash Lite
| .Net Compact
| Microbrowser Based
| Blueprint (programming language)
| Rhomobile
| BREW
| Windows Mobile
| Palm OS
| Android
| iPhone OS
| BlackBerry
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| Graphical Interface
| 2D, 3D Graphics (newer phones), Many Widgets, Visual Form-Based GUI Builder
| 2D, 3D graphics (M3G or OpenGL ES), Many widgets, Visual Form-Based GUI Builder
| 2D graphics, Many widgets, Visual Form-Based GUI Builder
| 2D Graphics access, some simple widgets
| 2D graphics, Many widgets
| 2D, 3D graphics, many widgets, visual form-based GUI builder
| Basic XHTML-forms (applies to XHTML-MP, CHTML browsers). Basic forms for WML 1.1 (WAP 1.1).
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| 2D Graphics access, some simple widgets
| 2D graphics, 3D graphics (not available on all phones), limited widgets, no visual form-based GUI builder. uiOne (not available on most phones in the market)
| 2D, 3D graphics, many widgets, limited visual GUI builder (dialogs only)
| 2D, 3D Graphics, Many Widgets, Visual GUI builder
| 2D, 3D (OpenGL ES) Graphics, Some Widgets, Third-Party GUI Builder
| 2D, 3D (OpenGL ES) Graphics, Simplified 2D animation (Core Animation), many widgets, video, Interface Builder
| 2D Graphics , SVG support (Plazmic Media Engine)
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| Functionality
| No restrictions
| Varies by handset - dependent on available included JSR's. No high-resolution pictures, Cell ID available on some phones), limited file access
| No restrictions as long as translated headers are available
| Partial through API: High resolution pictures, Cell ID
| Partial through API
| Limited audio access
| Isolated to browser
| Browser + Yahoo helpers (TBD: Yahoo Go Native access)
| Partial through API
| Powerful API access; specifics may vary slightly due to Operator application certification restrictions
| No restrictions
| No restrictions
| Partial through API, Theoretically, no restrictions since all source is available.
| Partial through API; apps are sandboxed on disk and cannot run in the background
| Partial through API
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| Phone Data Access
| Full
| Varies by handset - dependent on available JSR 75, the PDA Optional Packages.
| Full, but also requires using the native API
| Partial through API: Calendar, Contact List
| None
| Full
| None
| None
| Full
| Full
| Full
| Full
| Full
| Partial through API: Contacts, media library, photos
| Full
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| Runtime Speed
| Best (Grounds up fast)
| Below Average (Grounds up Object Compiled language)
| Average due to Java bytecode
| Best (Compiled language)
| Below Average due to Interpreted language
| Below Average due to Interpreted language
| Average
| Average
| Average
| Average
| Best (Compiled language)
| Best (Compiled language)
| Best (Compiled language)
| Average due to Java bytecode
| Best (Compiled language)
| Average due to Java bytecode
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| Crippled Providers
| None known
| None known
| None known
| None known
| Not usually - Dependent on operator
| None known
| Dependent on data access plan
| Dependent on data access plan
| None known
| Need a handset & application specific signature to run any application on a retail phone. Test signatures only work on phones with BREW debug mode enabled.
| None known
| None known
| None known
| None known
| No carrier crippling, but apps must be signed by Apple to run on any phone. Developers can designate up to 100 test phones.
| Need a signature to run any application which uses the "net.rim.api" on a real phone.
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The abilities of any specific language or platform is one of the primary drivers when choosing a mobile development direction.
