Java ME regains second most popular mobile OS rank | Hacker News Reader

Java ME regains second most popular mobile OS rank

tech.fortune.cnn.com

17 pointsTerretta14 comments

Not sure how relevant this data is. Android became number 2 for a very short amount of time, and so I question how accurate this claim is.

This article suggests a different story: http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/29/comscore-apple-grows-market...

Measuring a completely different thing. This is mobile web usage, the Comscore thing is sales data. Android mobile web usage has never kept up with its soaring marketshare, for whatever reason.

How exactly is Java ME an "operating system"?

Don't fret about it - this is perfectly in line with the browser being considered an OS by the same people [1]

In their vocabulary OS == "platform" and while these notions are sometimes interchangeable, in regards to market-share that's really comparing apples to oranges.

Three reasons for that - (1) Java ME could start being distributed on Android phones (God, I hope not) + (2) Java ME is not a standard you can rely on and Nokia/Symbian and Samsung/Bada could always ditch Java ME, effectively killing it + (3) Java ME is as potent as Java's browser plugin is - good distribution numbers, poor apps, unsatisfied customers and in general a plague.

[1] http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2...

Thank you for rephrasing the headline before submitting.

Is there any chance that this includes other uses of embedded Java (eg, Bluray players)?

Don't think so. Don't forget how many 'normal' phones there still are being sold.

Sure, but how many of these are being used to browse the web? The description in the article just uses the vague term "embedded systems, such as the low-cost feature phones".

Without some details on what is really happening, this data isn't very interesting, IMO.

Article focuses on Android and Java ME trading places, but graph suggests an iOS vs Java ME tradeoff in October '11. Measurement error?

All of NetApplications' graphs wobbled a bit in October; probably a change in the way they do things.

the numbers and claim are being massaged.. the tradeoff was iphone vs javame not javame vs android..

look for other questionable numbers coming as its right before some more court stuff via Oracle vs Google..never underestimate Oracle's desire to massage numbers

On the (rather dubious) basis that Oracle controls NetApplications, surely they'd massage Android numbers _up_, so as to make a case for greater damages?

As far as I understand, Oracle's claims against Google have kind of been laughed out of the court in the last week or so.

TL;DR: Obsolete mobile development technology few care about and even less love, still exists in phones.

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