[Amit Agarwal]

Hi guys...I'm new to mobile development and need your help. I'm trying to make a application that can detect the applications installed on mobile devices. Now I think there are two ways to achieve this:

1) Create a mobile application that can detect the other installed applications.
2) Create a windows/linux application that will first detect the connected phone and then detect the installed applications.

Now I think that 1st method would be easier if it is possible with j2me as .jar files are recognized by most of the mobile devices.

Or is it only possible by developing separate applications for different mobile OSes . This is something very difficult and time consuming so I thought J2me would be a better option as it targets several mobile devices at the same time( I may be wrong though.)

2nd option seems to be good but I'm not too sure.

Please help me.Tell me the right direction.

[RedSon]

I don't think we have any Java mobile experts here, you might want to try the J2ME website and forums there.

Sorry we couldn't help more.

[markmcgookin]

I'm no J2ME expert, but I have written a lot of Java applications in the past, and have written a number of papers on it in the past.

You are right however, writing a .java application should (in theory) give you cross platform compatibility uving the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) which will run between your device and your code so to speak in order to ensure compatibiity.

However this is rarely the case... .the "Write once run everywhere" is more like "Write once, debug everywhere" but it will save you time.

Your other option is more robust, if you are assuming for a PC install of the application, and multiple cab/jar files for each platform, but as you can imagine, this will take a lot more time and will also involve a lot more work down the line with updates for a number of different applicaitons.

I would put a bit more effort into the J2ME route, as if you can do what you need for your application with it, it would probably be the best bet.

I hope you get this sorted, and if you have any more questions, or java issues, we hope to hear from you soon.

Keep us posted on how this goes!

Mark