Tag Archives: Java ME

Latest UC Browser 9.0 (Signed Java Version) Modified to Remove the Virtual Keypad On Samsung, LG and Other Touchcreen Phones

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Dennis Bournique

I did a post a while ago explaining how to modify Opera Mini's jad file to hide the unneeded touch keypad that displays at the bottom of the screen on some touchscreen phones. The post included a link to the modified Opera Mini. I received a request asking for a copy of the latest signed Java version of UC Browser modified to hide the keypad.

The process for modifying the UC Browser or any other Java app is exactly the same as what was described in the original post:

1.Download the app's jad file to a PC. You can get UC Browser jad files (signed or unsigned ) at www.ucweb.com/English/UCbrowser/platform.html?platform=java

2. Open the downloaded mini.jad with a text editor or Windows Wordpad

3. Scroll to the bottom of the file and paste in the following lines:

Nokia-MIDlet-No-Exit: true
Nokia-MIDlet-On-Screen-Keypad: no
Navi-Key-Hidden: true
UseNativeTextButtons: hide
ReverseSoftkeys: hide
UseNativeCommands: hide
MIDlet-Touch-Support: true
MIDlet-ScreenMode: ROTATE
MIDlet-Landscape-Support: true
LGE-MIDlet-Width: 240
LGE-MIDlet-Height: 400
LGE-MIDlet-On-Screen-Keypad: no
LGE-MIDlet-Display-Mode: both

4. Upload the file to Dropbox.com or another file sharing service that is easy to use in your phone browser. Click here to get a free 2GB Dropbox account (by using this referral link I get an extra 250 MB of storage in my Dropbox which I thank you for).

5. Visit Dropbox with your phone browser and click the modified mini.jad link to download it to your phone.

If that didn't work or you don't have a PC or are just in a hurry, here's are links to the latest signed version of the UC browser as well as some older versions.

Latest Version

UC Browser 9.0 (25-Apr-2013) The latest "full" (non-cloud) UC Browser release. According to UC, new features in it include:

Fast Video and Audio Playing We have designed the Fast Video and Audio Playing feature to break through storage limitation and poor network connection. The new feature allows users to play video files that have been saved to UDisk directly, without having to download those big files to local phone storage. Enjoy the fluent videos watching on Java Phone.
Account Information Saving To make logging-in to your favourite webpages more convenient, we’ve added the ability for you to save usernames and passwords on several websites, such as Facebook and GMail.
Improved User Interface We’ve given our user interface a makeover, optimizing the design to provide an enhancement of user experience. The menus, night mode, operation in touch screen phones and more has been optimized.
Bug Fixes The stability of this version has been increased and there have been numerous bug fixes, such as a solution to the missing Speed Dial issue.

Download the modified UC Browser 9.0 jad at:
wapreview.com/download/UCBrowser_V9.0.0.260_Java_pf70_(Build13042317).jad
Short Link: is.gd/uc90touch

To install, go to is.gd/uc90touch with your phone's browser.

Older Versions:

UC Browser 8.9 (29-Jan-2012) A "full" (non-cloud) UC Browser release. New features include: Incognito Browsing, Improved Search Bar, Select and Copy and Optimized Text Input

Download the modified UC Browser 8.9 jad at: dl.dropbox.com/u/4637247/UCBrowser_V8.9.0.251_Java_pf70_%28Build13012415%29.jad

Short Link: is.gd/uc89touch To install, go to is.gd/uc89touch with your phone's browser.

UC Browser 8.8 (25-Dec-2012) Another "full" (non-cloud) UC Browser release. New features include: increased download speed, customizable shortcut keys and an improved File Manager.

Download the modified UC Browser 8.8 jad at: dl.dropbox.com/u/4637247/UCBrowser_V8.8.1.252_Java_pf70_%28Build12122410%29.jad
Short Link: is.gd/uc88touch To install it, go to is.gd/uc88touch with your phone's browser.

UC Browser 8.7 (7-Nov-2012) This is a "full" (non-cloud) UC Browser release. New features include: users can switch between multiple accounts when signing in to a website, long press the OK button to invoke the Actions menu, users can save pages directly without changing the page name.

Download the modified UC Browser 8.7 jad at:
dl.dropbox.com/u/4637247/UCBrowser_V8.7.0.218_Java_pf70_%28Build12110609%29.jad
Short Link: is.gd/uc87touch To install it, go to is.gd/uc87touch with your phone's browser.

UC Browser 8.6. (20-Sept-2012): This is a "full (non-cloud) UC Browser release. New features in this release are: full offline download support with synchronous status shown in the download manager, you can now preview the images before uploading, "clear all history" option before exiting UC Browser added, new options to disable the virtual keyboard, faster uploads and display of the upload speed in KB/sec while uploading. This version uses the new user interface from the cloud version with different menus for touch screen and non touch screen phones

Download the modified UC Browser 8.6 jad at: dl.dropbox.com/u/4637247/UCBrowser_V8.6.0.199_Java_pf70_%28Build12092011%29.jad
Short link: is.gd/uc860touch To install it, go to is.gd/uc860touch with your phone browser.

UC Cloud Browser 8.5 (6-Sept-2012): This is first non-Beta version of the UC Cloud Browser, a redesign of the original UC browser optimized for smaller download size and faster page loads. New features in this release are: new user interface with different menus for touch screen and non touch screen phones. Supports copy and paste in the URL bar and all input fields. New screen brightness setting. New share image on Facebook feature. New Game Center free game download store.

I've posted the modified UC Cloud Browser 8.5 jad at: dl.dropbox.com/u/4637247/UCBrowser_V8.5.0.185_Java_pf83_%28Build12082909%29.jad
Short link: is.gd/uc85touch. To install it, go to is.gd/uc85touch with your phone browser.

UC Browser 8.4 (23-Jul-2012):. Major changes are: simplified theme installation, the traffic statistics display is back, the link to browsing history has been moved to the top of the bookmarks page and a there's a new Tools > Phone menu option for making phone call or send a texts from within the browser. See my review for more about 8.4: UC Browser 8.4 for Java Released With Bug Fixes, New Features.

dl.dropbox.com/u/4637247/UCBrowser_V8.4.0.159_Java_pf70_(Build12070415).jad
Short link: is.gd/uc84touch

UC Browser 8.3 Alpha (7-Jun-2012): New features include; UDisk cloud based storage and the App Gallery, a new home screen tab providing quick access to UDisk, bookmark backup and restore and the Quick Reads news deader.

dl.dropbox.com/u/4637247/UCBrowser_V8.3.0.154_Java_pf70_(Build12053010).jad
Short link: is.gd/uc83touch. To install it, go to db.tt/ajY88aHm with your phone browser.

UC Browser 8.2.1 Production (non-Beta) (20-Apr-2012): New features include a built in RSS reader and bookmark backup and restore. See my review for more details.

dl.dropbox.com/u/4637247/UCBrowser_V8.2.1.144_Java_pf70_(Build12041210).jad
Short link: db.tt/ajY88aHm. To install it, go to db.tt/ajY88aHm with your phone browser.

UC Browser 8.2 Alpha (21-Mar-2012): It features many enhancements and bug fixes see my review for details. This is the latest patch release that adds swipe navigation and fixes a bug that made entering URLs on bada phones impossible:

dl.dropbox.com/u/4637247/UCBrowser_V8.2.0.132_Java_pf70_(Build12032111).jad
Short link: is.gd/uc82touch. To install it, go to is.gd/uc82touch with your phone browser.

UC Browser 8.0 (1-Feb-2012):

dl.dropbox.com/u/4637247/UCBrowser_V8.0.3.107_Java_pf70(Build11112416).jad
Short link: is.gd/uc8touch. To install it, go to is.gd/uc8touch with your phone browser.

Posted in Browsers | Tagged Java ME, LG, Samsung, touchscreen, UC Browser, Virtual Keypad | 228 Comments

How To Hide the Opera Mini 7.1 Virtual Keypad On Samsung, LG and Other Touchscreen Phones

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Dennis Bournique

When the Java ME version of the Opera Mini Browser is running on many touch screen phones, an unnecessary virtual keypad appears at the bottom of the screen (image above left). The keypad wastes space, looks ugly and isn't needed with touch aware apps like Opera Mini. The keypad is not part of Opera Mini. It's something your phone adds because it doesn't recognize that Opera Mini is optimized for touch

Here are several ways to get rid of the virtual keypad so your Opera Mini looks like the right hand image above.

I. By using the phone's menu

Some phones have a menu option for getting rid of the keypad. I've only seen it on Samsungs but it may be an option on other brands as well.

Open the folder or menu where you launch Opera Mini. On my Samsung Wave it's called "Games and more".
Look for and tap a button named "Options", "Menu" or something similar or has an icon that looks like a menu, stack of papers or three dots. On the Wave it's the middle button with the three dots in the left hand screenshot below.
In the Options menu (image below, center) look for and tap a button labeled "Use virtual keypad"
On the next screen tap the check mark next to Opera Mini (image below, right) to remove it and then tap the Save button. Now launch Opera Mini and the virtual keypad should be gone

If your phone doesn't have a menu option to remove the keypad continue reading to see if Opera Mini has a fix for your phone.

II. By using an official version of Mini customized for your phone to remove the virtual keypad.

If Opera recognizes and officially supports your phone it should deliver a modified version of Opera Mini that contains code telling your phone to remove the keypad. Opera can only recognize your phone if you download Mini from m.opera.com using the phone's built in browser. If you download Opera Mini from an unofficial source or downloaded it with your PC and copied to the phone using Bluetooth or a cable you have a generic version that's not optimised for your phone.

If you download Mini from m.opera.com with your phone's built-in browser and you still get the virtual keypad, let Opera know so they can fix it in a future release. File a bug report at mini.bugs.opera.com. Also visit m.opera.com/detect with your phone's built-in browser and fill in the form listing the phone make and model.

If you still have the virtual keypad after downloading from m.opera.com with your phone browser and you don't want to wait for Opera to get around to fixing it, which can take months, it's fairly easy to fix it yourself. Read on for instructions.

III. By modifying the Opera Mini jad file to remove the virtual keypad

You will need a PC, some patience and the ability to follow directions in order to modify Opera Mini. If you lack any of those or want someone else to do the work, skip to the end of this post for a link to an already modified version of Opera Mini.

Obtain an official copy of the Opera Mini jad file. You can download the unsigned versions of Opera Mini directlty to your PC from www.opera.com/mobile/download/versions/

The trouble with unsigned apps is that on most phones you will get annoying pop-up messages asking you to allow Opera Mini to connect. On some phones you only get one pop-up when you first start Opera Mini but on others you get pop-ups every time you click a link which makes Opera Mini almost unusable. A few phones won't allow unsigned apps to connect at all.

There are many ways to download signed versions of Opera Mini to your PC but the easiest is to use the Opera Desktop browser which is available for Windows, Mac OSx and Linux. Download and install it from www.opera.com/browser/ Then:

Launch the Opera PC browser
Go to m.opera.com using the Opera PC browser
Click "Other Download Options"
Click "Select Code-Signing Certificate" under "Options for Opera Mini 6.5:" (or under "Options for Opera Mini 4.4:" if you prefer that version)
Click "All Certificates" (works on most phones. If it doesn't on yours try repeating this process with one of the other signed options)
Click "Download Opera Mini 6.5" and save the file (named mini.jad) somewhere you can find it later
Open the downloaded mini.jad with a text editor or Windows Wordpad
Scroll to the bottom of the file and paste in the following lines:

MIDlet-Touch-Support: true
UseNativeTextButtons: hide
ReverseSoftkeys: hide
UseNativeCommands: hide
Navi-Key-Hidden: true
Nokia-MIDlet-On-Screen-Keypad: no
MIDlet-ScreenMode: ROTATE
MIDlet-Landscape-Support: true
LGE-MIDlet-Width: 240
LGE-MIDlet-Height: 400
LGE-MIDlet-On-Screen-Keypad: no
LGE-MIDlet-Display-Mode: both

Upload the file to Dropbox.com or another file sharing service that is easy to use in your phone browser. Click here to get a free 2GB Dropbox account (by using this referral link I get an extra 250 MB of storage in my Dropbox which I thank you for).

Visit Dropbox with your phone browser and click the modified mini.jad link to download it on your phone.

If that didn't work or you don't have a PC or are just in a hurry, here's a link to my modified version of the signed (All Certificates) version of the Opera Mini 6.5 ,jad file:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4637247/mini.jad or http://is.gd/mini65

Updated 7-Jun-2012: Here's a modified version of the new Opera Mini 7.0:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4637247/mini7.jad or http://is.gd/mini7

Updated 20-Sept-2012: If you get out of memory errors installing Opera Mini 7, here's the smaller but less capable Opera Mini 4.4.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4637247/mini44.jad or http://is.gd/mini44

Updated 26-Nov-2012: Here's a modified version of the new Opera Mini 7.1:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4637247/mini71.jad or http://is.gd/mini71

Click any of the above links in your phone browser to install Opera Mini 4.4 or 7.1 with the virtual keypad disabled.

Posted in Opera Mini Tips and Tricks | Tagged Java ME, LG, Samsung, touchscreen, Virtual Keypad | 130 Comments

Opera Mini 7.1 For Java ME and BlackBerry Released

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Dennis Bournique

Today Opera Software released new versions of the Opera Mini Browser for feature phones with Java ME support and for BlackBerrys running OS 4.2.1 for latter. The new release adds several of frequntly requested features to Opera Mini's download manager. The new features in the release are:

Downloads can now be paused and resumed. You can even pause a download, exit Opera Mini and resume the download the next time you launch the browser.
Smaller files (up to around 15 MB) are downloaded faster.
When you download a file you can now change its file name before saving it.
The last used download folder is remembered for various file types and the browser will default to that folder on future downloads of the same type of file.
There's a new option to pass files to the device OS to handle instead of downloading them through Mini.
Stability and performance improvements.

I tried the new Opera Mini on two feature phones, a basic and rather old Motorola WX400 "Rambler" QWERTY phone and a "Type and Touch" Nokia 302, also a QWERTY. The browser performed well on both phones.

As with previous Opera Mini releases there were some minor key mapping issues with the Motorola. I wasn't able to play YouTube videos using Opera Mini on the Motorola even though the phone's built-in Myriad browser was able to play the same videos. I wasn't offered the option to open the videos using the phone's OS either. Even with these issues I greatly prefer using Opera Mini over the Myriad browser which is slow and generally does a horrible job of rendering even simple mobile sites.

I had no such problems using the new Opera Mini on the Asha. The QWERTY keyboard worked without issues and videos from a variety of sites including YouTube played without error.

Opera Mini 7.1 can be installed by visiting m.opera.com using your phone's browser. If you prefer to sideload, the .jad and .jar files or a .zip file containing the BlackBerry .alx and .cod files are available at www.opera.com/mobile/download/versions/

Posted in Browsers | Tagged BlackBerry, Java ME, Opera Mini, server based browser | 13 Comments

Opera Mini 7.0 Now Available For Java ME, BlackBerry and S60

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Dennis Bournique

Opera Software has just announced the availability of version 7.0 of the Opera Mini browser for Java ME, BlackBerry and Symbian S60 second edition and latter including all Nokia Belle devices. Opera sent me a pre-release copy of the Java ME version earlier today. Here are my initial impressions.

Opera Mini 7.0 is the release version of the Opera Mini Next Beta, that launched three months ago. It contains many bug fixes and stability improvements, but no new features compared with Opera Mini Next, which added:

Smart Page - The browser's start page now has two tabs; Speed Dial and Smart Page. Smart Page is a one page summary of your favorite sites, the latest from your Twitter timeline, Facebook news feed and news sites of your choice.
Support for more than 9 speed dials - you can have as many as you want, limited only by device resources.
Improved support for Right To Left languages
Tabs are now closed with a single tap on touch screen devices. When you close a tab, Opera Mini now switches to the last one used rather than the one to the left.
The default "www." prefix has been removed from the address bar. Auto completion still supports it, though.

Smart Page

The biggest change is obviously the Smart Page. It has three main sections. At the top are large non-removable icons for the Opera Mobile App Store and Opera's Facebook page (image above, left). Below is "My Sites", an ever changing dynamic list of your most visited sites. Next come non-editable icons for Google+, Gmail, Google News and a second Opera Store icon That's followed by a "Social Networks" section with items from your Twitter and Facebook feeds (image above, right). The page wraps up with "My News", links to recent stories from your most visited news sites and blogs and a nicely organized directory of top sites, which is not customizable (image below, left).

The My Sites, Social Networks and My News sections can be independently swiped or scrolled left and right to reveal more items.

A like much of the Smart Page but I'm a bit put off by the large number of non-editable links and icons. I realize that many of these are paid placements that help support the considerable development and hosting costs of the browser. It is possible to disable the Smart Page entirely. I hope future releases will give users more control of the Start Page content.

Speed Dial Enhancements

The other new features in Opera Mini 7 are all appreciated, especially the ability to have more than 9 Speed Dials. The bug in Opera Mini Next that caused Opera Link to duplicate Speed Dials seems to be banished. At least I didn't see it on either of the devices I tried Opera Mini 7 on.

Hands On

I briefly used Opera Mini 7 on a basic Motorola WX400 Qwerty clamshell that retails for less than $50 on pay as you go and a Nokia Asha 303, a high end Touch and Type S40 feature phone. Both ran Opera Mini Next with no real issues and Opera Mini 7 worked just as well.

Instalation

As is usual with Opera Betas, Opera Mini Next installed alongside existing any Opera Mini release version. Because Opera Mini 7 is a release version, installing it upgrades your existing Opera Mini 6.5 or earlier browser, retaining all your settings, bookmarks and saved passwords.

Opera Mini 7 is available now from m.opera.com (mobile) and opera.com/mobile/download/ (desktop).

Conclusion

I continue to be impressed by Opera Mini's ability to quickly, accurately and completely render large, complex desktop web pages even on very basic phones. That combined with the speed, data and money saving virtues of a proxy browser makes it easy to see why Opera Mini is one of the most widely used mobile browsers in the world. It's particularly popular in the developing world where data is slow and expensive and feature phones are still the norm. Opera Mini 7 is a major upgrade that adds significant new features and usability to an already outstanding browser. I recommend it.