Hi!

[Important: Over-The-Air downloads Requires BES/MDS or when your carrier upgrades to 4.0]
[Note: It is reported T-Mobile users are able to do OTA downloads for apps 70 kilobytes or less, without needing BES/MDS]
[Please post if your carrier appears to let you do any OTA downloads.]

Just so you remember, Blackberry supports J2ME, and MIDP 1.0 which means you can pretty much use any J2ME and MIDP 1.0 software including those originally designed for Nokia, Siemens, Samsung, Sharp, etc. cellphones. Not all of them works, but a surprising number of them actually do:

Being generic cellphone software, they don't advertise as being Blackberry comatible, but many items actually are compatible with Blackberry after all! I was able to test out a few pieces of software for my Blackberry, by following these instructions:

http://j2me-software.com/
http://www.midlet.org/index2.jsp

1. Use Blackberry's own Browser (WAP or HTML) to go to one of the above sites.
   
2. Go to the software section you want. (Example: Games)
   
3. Go to the category (Example: Strategy)
   
4. Click on the link to the .jad file (Example: Minesweeper)
   
5. If no link is found, go to the main menu of the website and click "Select Device". Try "All Devices" first, but if that doesn't work, masquerade your Blackberry as a different model of a cellphone, then try the above steps again.

Now I have Minesweeper and Space Invaders on my Blackberry! Even though it wasn't designed to run on a Blackberry, it was designed in the Java micro edition that Blackberry is compatible with.

Over-The-Air Download Tests Made (All the below apps requires MDS):

VIRCA - IRC Chat Software
Website: http://www.vidarholen.net/contents/virca/
OTA Download: http://www.vidarholen.net/contents/virca/Virca.jad
Note: It seems to work much better than WLIrc! But you must not idle for more than 2 minutes if using Mailstreet (120 second timeout)

VNC - Remote access similiar to PCAnywhere / GoToMyPC
Website: http://j2mevnc.sourceforge.net/
OTA Download: http://j2mevnc.sourceforge.net/downloads/VNCen.jad
Note: Programmers still fixing mouse-button bugs

IM+ Trial - MSN/ICQ/AIM/Yahoo chat
Website: http://midlet.org/category.jsp?parentLevel=222
OTA Download: http://midlet.org/repository/shapese...full_trial.jad
Note: Appears to work on my Blackberry, competitor to WebMessenger (prefer WebMessenger though)

I should warn, this only works with BES/MDS or when your carrier upgrades to the 4.0 software.

I also got Space Invaders and Minesweeper over the air too, from this site:
http://midlet.org/category.jsp?parentLevel=1

Via more complex install steps (Rather than Over-The-Air download), many of the games work even if you do not have MDS but you will have to "Save To Disk" and then follow more complex instructions using javaloader.exe (convert .jad/.jar to .cod first).

Another FAQ item...
Q: How do I remove applications dowloaded over-the-air?
A: Remove them by going to Options -> Apps on the actual Blackberry itself.

Sweet, I'm trying this out.. thanks for the solid instructions mark!

so with my crappy bwc I'm outta luck till sept/nov???
I did the rbro hack....but I still get an 406 error when trying to download evey game on all these sites!!
JAD and JAR files!!

come on rogers catch up pls.........!!! :twisted:

Yes, you need BES/MDS to download software Over-The-Air!

You'll just have to hold your breath till 4.0 deployment or temporarily get http://www.myblackberry.us at about $10 JSD per month.

Are you sure? I installed a bunch of (crappy) games on my berry a few months ago (OTA) and I wasn't on a BES/MDS at the time...

Interesting. Some carriers may be already permitting the OTA download option, assuming they have a properly configured BWC.

I think the only limitation I had was the size of the applet, anything over 70kb and it doesn't download.,

Interesting to know. Thanks. Which carrier are you on, again?

T-mo

Thank you thank you thank you, Mark, for posting Midlet!!! I most certainly do NOT wear the pants in the family (Mrs. C is much meaner than I) and therefore get to do all the shopping. If the shopper 1.04 application works as well as I hope it does, I will owe you for all eternity.

I think some clearification is needed with regards to this 4.0 browser(s) and OTA version.

4.0 offers:

3 different browsing capabilities which depend on the BB OS Version and what infastructure your on [ 1&2 from older versions ] .

1. WAP Browser ( No BES/MDS ) using carrier WAP Gateway
2. BB Browser - corporate hosted BES/MDS
3. Internet Browser ( new in 4.0 ) - MDS hosted by carrier.

You can't download a .jar file via the WAP browser because the regular midlet needs to be converted to a BB .cod file ( .cod = code ), which can only be done ( for OTA ) via the BES/MDS.

So its not just a matter of updating you BB OS to 4.0 but a function of the entire infrasture being updated as well.

Hopefully that clarifies.

For those of you who cannot do OTA downloads with your carrier yet, you can manually download the .jad/.jar files in Internet Explorer and then use these instructions to convert .jar files to .cod files.

More and more carriers are now permitting OTA downloads now. Rogers and TMobile (at least some users) are now permitting it without needing BES, and I suspect Verizon is.

Can anybody confirm OTA downloads today for these carriers?
- Verizon?
- Nextel?
- TMobile?

I have no problems at all downloading games/apps from midlet.org. Some work - some dont. Its luck of the draw.

With Tmobile on my 7100 I have been able to download a few things OTA but not everytime. Rarely I'll get an error saying that the file is 0 bytes and there is something wrong with the .jar file. But most of the time, as said in the post above me, its pretty much luck of the draw.

Tmo allows me to dl anything.

Blackberry JDE to convert .jar/.jad files to .cod and .alx

Check here. If it works for anyone, please let me know

http://www.blackberry.com/knowledgec...4&vernum=0

Cheers.

I have a non-BES T-Mobile account, and I've had no luck downloading MIDlets to my 7230.

Mark, how about starting a sticky thread for feedback from forum members who have been able to install MIDlets OTA? Each message could explain where the file is located and whether or not it ran on a particular model Blackberry. That could save us all a lot of time, as many MIDlets appear to be incompatible apart from our ability to download them or convert them to COD files.

DavidE
www.davidenglish.com

I have the 7100t w/ T-Mobile. I have been able to download most of the .jar files and install. Unfortunately the MindSweeper games are very hard to see on my screen so my dream is not quite realized yet.

Ya I have the same issue chess, it seems it was designed for the smaller screens and wont stretch out on our screens.

Mark,

The referenced link in your post generates an error message.
-Steve

Seeing i wrote this at 'another' forum here it is cut and paste:

HOWTO: upload midlets (third party software) to your blackberry for all, even BWC!
I hope the moderators don't mind, but this procedure will show everyone how to upload third party software (midlets) to your blackberry. Midlets are java applications written for phones under the MDIP specification. There are hundreds of midlets already available to try, from network-enabled applications such as telnet, ssh, vnc, instant messagers, to games!

Where to download midlets? using Google, i come up with:

http://midlet.org
http://www.javamobiles.com/midlets/

Search around for more..

Who needs to do this and why? We all want more third party software for our Blackberries, and this adds hundreds of potential titles to our third party software base! The folllowing scenarios are Blackberry users who benefit from this procedure:

a) All blackberry users without BES, such as BWC users
b) Blackberry users who use the redirector
c) Blackberry users with BES lower than 3.6

If you have BES 3.6 or higher running, you can download JAR/JAD midlets directly from your blackberry browser, as the BES does the conversion to COD for you automatically. However, you can still do this procedure if you really need to..

What technical requirements do I need to perform this task:

a) You need to be comfortable using DOS
b) You need to download and install the Blackberry JDE (free from the rim developer website)
c) You need to download and install the Sun Java SDK 1.4 or higher.
d) You do NOT need to know how to use the Blackberry JDE, you merely need some of the DOS apps that come with it.

Here's how to convert and upload midlets (JAR/JAD) files to your Blackberry. This is not for the faint of heart, but any person with reasonable technical computer skills can do it:

a) Download and install the RIM Java Development Environment.
from http://www.blackberry.net/developers/

This software requires the sun Java SDK, so

b) Download and install the Sun Java SDK.
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/download.html
MAKE SURE YOU GET THE SDK! *NOT* THE JRE!

Once both are installed, download the midlets you wish to put on your blackberry. Midlets are BOTH a .jar and .JAD file.

c) For ease of use, move the JAD and JAR files for each midlet you want to convert to the BIN directory in the RIM Java Development Environment directory on your hard drive, for example:
c:\program files\Research in Motion\Blackberry JDE 3.7\bin\

Using RAPC.exe in DOS, convert the midlet to a COD as follows, all on one line (might be easier to make a .bat file out of this)
d) rapc import="c:\Program Files\Research in Motion\Blackberry JDE 3.7\lib\net_rim_api.jar" codename=virca -midlet jad=Virca.jad Virca.jar

Subsitute a different codename, jad and jar filename for whatever application you wish to convert. If successful, it will say no errors and you will have a COD file. The import= is a REQUIRED step.

Using javaloader.exe from a DOS prompt to upload the newly created COD file to your blackberry (in my case a USB blackberry)
e) javaloader -usb load filename.cod

And that's it! An icon will appear in your ribbon. Give it a try and see if it works. Not everything will work, but most do. Mileage wil vary..

Caveats:

a) If you use the application loader at a future date, the loader WILL remove your midlets as they are not known by it. You will probably have to re-upload them again in this case.
b) Make sure you have enough free space to upload the applications..
c) If something goes wrong, Be sure you are familar with the RAPC or Javaloader.exe documentation. If not sure, use google to help you.
d) If you can, Test your Blackberry JDE on a sample application. Compile, and run a sample app in the simulator to ensure that your JDE functions correctly.

Good luck..!

Is it really hit or miss as to what will work on the blackberry or are games written for certain cell phones more likely to work?

I'm itching to try our some of these on teh blackberry:

http://www.macrospace.com/games/index.shtml

OTA download works on nextel, no conversion or BES required!!

That did it - thank a million

I find most of the irc apps don't work on the telus 7750's even with bes

Did you try JMIRC?

Another useful thread for people who needs to convert .jad/.jar files to .cod/.alx:
http://www.blackberryforums.com/aftermarket-software/762-howto-manually-convert-jad-jar-cod-if-you-cant-do-ota.html

Still trying to find time to get up to speed on midlets. But has anyone tried getting the Virgin Radio stuff working on a BB. They have versions for Nokia/Symbian and you can download .SIS file and thought I read that this was Java based. How do you convert a .SIS type file to run on a BB if this is really some sort of JME app?

Nextel also does OTA (may have already been mentioned). I have the 7510.

I think it would be a great idea for people to post what apps they were able to download OTA and phone model and service provider.

My understanding is that .sis is Symbian. So I think we're out of luck on those unless someone can correct me otherwise.

Been tryin' to find Scrabble for the Blackberry. None that I see online are advertised as MIDP or J2ME based. Would anyone know of any?

Thanks!
J

I'm able to D/L .jad files OTA from my Cingular BWC service. Tried it with Adventurer and got it installed, but it won't run...trying other programs now...

It's all about trial and error.

Verizon does not allow OTA, I am having the error constantly, getting me frustrated, I am not proficient at converting to cod files, even though i have put things in the path as has been suggested I still have issues.

I know I have asked this before and I do apologize but I recently had my pc crash and lost all my notes, not being proficient at this i need to reconstruct and i am stuck, can anyone please let me know what i am doing wrong here, this is what i have typed in the command window: rapc import="c:\Program Files\Research in Motion\Blackberry JDE 4.0\bin\net_rim_api.jar" codename=jmIrc -midlet jad=jmIrc-0.92.jar

when i proceed and hit enter i get this error code returned: Error: no file to process

As soon as i can get past this I am done and will be document in cd so I do not have to bother anyone else again. My apologies to jibi in advance since he showed me once already what to do though I just cannot duplicate it without my notes.

awesome on my bb7730 with tmo