Some device allow to put a J2ME application in background with this piece of code:

display.setCurrent(null);

To check if the cal was succesfull, we can use the isShown() method of the class displayable. So if m_disp is your displayable you can use:

if ( m_disp.isShown() ) {
    // method didn't work
 }
 else {
    // app is in background
 }

From MobileEntertainment News:

GetJar has launched its App Download Page platform, which allows developers to offer their content from within third party sites.

It comprises a mobile webpage that can be linked to from any mobile site. When that page is displayed on a phone, the device is automatically detected and the user is directed to the appropriate version of the app from within the GetJar catalogue.

If no application exists, GetJar provides a free Mobile Site Shortcut (MSS), which is a small application that launches any phone’s native web browser and redirects it to the appropriate mobile site.

The platform has recently been trialled on Facebook and Photobucket has confirmed it will roll out the service this autumn. Developers upload and manage all of their applications on the GetJar Developer site.

Ilja Lars, GetJar CEO and founder, said: “The rapid adoption and growth of mobile apps and sites makes discovery and promotion of mobile properties a critical component of any mobile strategy. As we have seen with the initial Facebook launch, App Download Page helps take brands where they really want to be: on the consumers’ handset.” 

The software is downloadable from http://m.opera.com/next. As stated in the Opera Mini Blog, the new main features are:

• New, sleek design
  
• Tabbed browsing
  
• Password manager
  
• Inline text editing
  
• Copy-and-paste function
  
• We have made a special, native version for BlackBerry which includes opening links and copy-and-paste functions

At a first glance the new graphic is really nice!

This issue appears on the Nokia families: Series 80 2nd Edition, S60 2nd Edition FP2, S60 2nd Edition FP3, S60 3rd Edition, S60 3rd Edition FP1.

From Forum Nokia: when a MIDlet tries to edit an existing contact, add a new one, or remove an existing contact using the JSR-75 PIM API on S60 2nd Edition FP2, S60 2nd Edition FP3, and S60 3rd Edition devices, the user is asked for change confirmations every time, even if the API access setting is "always allowed". This includes situations where the MIDlet is placed in the operator/manufacturer domain (excluding S60 3rd Edition FP1 devices), or the user has manually changed the API access settings for the MIDlet in a trusted 3rd party domain.

Unfortunately, there is no workaround for this problem.

Sun is going to announce its own app stores at the Java Conference on 1st of June in San Francisco. According to Sun, Java powers more than 4.5 billion devices, including about 2.1 billion mobile phones and handhelds as well as more than 800 million PCs, 3.5 billion smart cards and myriad set-top boxes, printers, games, car navigation systems and related technologies.

While details on the Java store otherwise remain scarce, it seems that added candidate applications will be submitted via the web, evaluated by Sun for safety and content and presented under free or premium terms to the broad Java audience. "Over time, developers will bid for position on our storefront, and the relationships won't be exclusive (as they have been for search)," he writes. "As with other app stores, Sun will charge for distribution--but unlike other app stores, whose audiences are tiny, measured in the millions or tens of millions, ours will have what we estimate to be approximately a billion users. That's clearly a lot of traffic, and will position the Java App Store as having just about the world's largest audience."

From Fierce Mobile Content

The j2me applications come with a pair of file: a jad and a jar file. The Blackberry devices require application in a particular format: .cod file. Here, we'll describe a fast procedure to obtain a cod file from your midlet.

Before proceed be sure you have installed the Blackberry JDE (downloadable from the Blackberry developer website: download here) and the Java SDK from Sun (download here).

Here you are the steps:

• Move your JAD and JAR in the bin directory of the JDE installation folder (i.e. c:\program files\Research in Motion\Blackberry JDE 4.7.0\bin\ that will make easier the process from the command line);
  
• Open a DOS shell windows, go to the bin directory mentioned before and call the RAPC command: rapc import="c:\Program Files\Research in Motion\Blackberry JDE 4.7.0\lib\net_rim_api.jar" codename=myMidelt -midlet jad=myMidlet.jad myMidlet.jar. Use the name of your application instead of the myMidelt used in the previously written command line
• Now you have your cod file, use the javaloader (after you have linked your device to the pc through usb cable) to send the application to your phone: javaloader -usb load filename.cod