Is it possible to run a MIDP application under Android

Question

The Google Market offers an application purporting to run J2ME MIDP applications on the Nexus One.

I have tried this application but it only appears to run MIDP applications that are downloaded from particular web sites; it does not seem capable of picking up a MIDP application that is stored on the SD card in the phone.

I have suggested to the developers that they might like to add such functionality, but they have not been particularly responsive to my messages.

So I would like to build my own MIDP runner for Android and would like to see if I can find a pointer as to where to start, or even whether this is possible.

The MIDP application in question was supplied on CD along with a security camera system and permits remote viewing and remote control over the security system.

Clearly it wasn't built with the Android platform in mind. However, if it is possible somehow to run MIDP applications on Android (perhaps by creating some kind of sandbox environment for example) then I'd be quite keen to develop it.

Answer 1

MicroEmulator is a Java implementation of Java ME. You could try porting this to Android. The UI part should be re-written, as MicroEmulator is based on Java SE components that aren't available in Android. Also hardware access won't be possible. Device vendors implement J2ME APIs (camera API for example) and bundle them with the core J2ME. This won't be easy for you to do. You will need to study the JSR specification and implement it in Android.