According to this news.com article, Java developers are hitting the same old problems that Java set out to solve: incompatible hardware standards.

Part of the problem, he added, is that Sun Microsystems, which created Java and controls the language through the Java Community Process, is not in a position to enforce hardware standards with handset makers.

"If you go to Sun's Web site there are 56 devices that are J2ME compliant," said Rodway, referring to the Micro Edition version of Java that was developed for mobile phones and other low-powered devices. "But there are 24 different screen resolutions. Write once, run anywhere just doesn't happen." A developer who wants to write a game for every device would have to do 24 versions just for the different screen sizes, he noted. "Then there are different sound capabilities, different color depths and so on. We will never get mass- market economics without standards."