Handheld Computing and Programming for Mobile Commerce

Wen‐Chen Hu, Jyh‐Haw Yeh, Lixin Fu, Hung‐Jen Yang
2007 International Journal of Web Information Systems  
Using Internet-enabled mobile handheld devices to access the World Wide Web is a promising addition to the Web and traditional e-commerce. Mobile handheld devices provide convenience and portable access to the huge information on the Internet for mobile users from anywhere and at anytime. However, mobile commerce has not enjoyed the same level of success as the ecommerce has so far because mobile Web contents are scarce and mostly awkward for browsing. The major reason of the problems is most
more » ... ftware engineers are not familiar with handheld devices, let alone programming for them. To help software engineers better understand this subject, this article gives a comprehensive study of handheld computing and programming for mobile commerce. It includes live major topics: (i) mobile commerce systems, (ii) mobile handheld devices, (iii) handheld computing, (iv) server-side handheld computing and programming, and (v) client-side handheld computing and programming. The most popular server-side handheld applications are mostly functioning through mobile Web contents, which are constructed by using only few technologies and languages. On the other hand, various environments/languages are available for client-side handheld computing and programming. Five of the most popular are (i) BREW, (ii) J2ME, (iii) Palm OS, (iv) Symbian OS, and (v) Windows Mobile. They are using either C/C++ or Java programming languages. This article will explain J2ME, a micro version of Java, and Palm OS programming, using C, by giving step-by-step procedures of J2ME and Palm application development. Index Terms-Handheld computing and programming, .J2ME, mobile commerce, mobile handheld devices, Palm OS Article:  Mobile commerce systems: The system for implementing mobile commerce is fairly complicated and it involves several different disciplines such as business, telecommunications, and computer programming. The mobile-commerce system structure includes six components: (i) mobile commerce applications, (ii) mobile handheld devices, (iii) mobile middleware, (iv) wireless networks, (v) wired networks, and (vi) host computers.  Mobile handheld devices: Mobile users use handheld devices to perform the mobile commerce transactions. A handheld device also includes six major components: (i) a mobile operating system, (ii) a mobile central processor unit, (iii) a microbrowser, (iv) input/output devices, (v) a memory, and (vi) batteries.  Handheld computing: Handheld computing is to use handheld devices to perform wireless, mobile, handheld operations such as personal data management and making phone calls. They can be achieved by using server-or client-side handheld computing and programming.  Server-side handheld computing and programming: Server-side handheld computing is to use handheld devices to perform wireless, mobile, handheld operations, which require the supports of server-side computing. The most common applications of server-side handheld programming are the mobile Web contents.  Client-side handheld computing and programming: Client-side handheld computing is to use handheld devices to perform handheld operations, which do not need the supports of server-side computing. Most client-side handheld programming languages are a version of either C/C++ or Java. The application development of J2ME, a version of Java, and Palm OS, using a version of C, will be given step-by-step.
doi:10.1108/17440080780000297 fatcat:qpyehsf33far7ixwceil2cvfsy