DOES IPHONE have JAVA PLUG IN INSTALLED IF NOT? CAN I INSTALL IT?

There is no Java plugin that is compatible with the iPhone - yet.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/03/07/sun-iphone-java_1.html

If you are trying to install anything on your iPhone, this indicates you have hacked/modified your iPhone which is not supported by Apple.

You're welcome.

It wouldn't matter if Java has a plugin compatible for the iPhone at this time. It isn't possible to install 3rd party applications on an iPhone, or even Apple applications. What can be installed on an iPhone is what Apple makes available via firmware updates for the iPhone, unless you hack/modify your iPhone.

Even then, the 3rd party application must be iPhone compatible. It is doubtful that your trading platform software is compatible with the iPhone - even with a hack/modification which can void your warranty.

Apple is releasing firmware update 2.0 for the iPhone this June, along with the iTunes App Store. Apple released the iPhone/iPod Touch SDK on March 6 for 3rd party software developers interested in developing 3rd party software for the iPhone. All 3rd party applications approved by Apple will be made available via the iTunes app store.

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/iphoneroadmap/

When Apple released the iPhone, it was running firmware version 1.0 or 1.1.

Since then, firmware updates 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3, and 1.1.4 (which is the current) have been released. These updates were provided at no extra charge.

Firmware update 2.0 will be released in June at no charge - and the same for all future iPhone updates.

No different when Microsoft releases a Windows version update or patch, or when Apple releases an OS version update. The current Leopard (OS X) version for a Mac is 10.5.2. When Leopard was released, it was 10.5.0. 10.5.3 is expected to be released soon and these OS X system software updates are provided at no charge. Updates provided for the iPhone are no different.

Some 3rd party applications made available via the iTunes App Store will be available as a free download, and others will cost extra to download and install. This will be determined (along with the price charged for 3rd party software) by the developer.

Ok. Now for the rest of the story (What AS didn't tell you)....

Sun has officially announced that they intend to develop a JVM for the iPhone when the 1.2.0 firmware with Appstore is released in June. Presumably if this happens (there are still licensing issues to be worked out with Apple) many but not all Java applets would be able to run on the iPhone. I'm not sure if this is what you needed/wanted to hear but......

You must have missed this link that I included with my first reply to the OP.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/03/07/sun-iphone-java_1.html

FYI - it won't be firmware update 1.2.0 released in June.

It will be firmware update 2.0.

It wouldn't matter if Java has a plugin compatible for the iPhone at this time. It isn't possible to install 3rd party applications on an iPhone...

There seems to be a basic misunderstanding here. Java itself is a native application; apps that run under it are not.

So if the iPhone had Java, the normal software restriction wouldn't matter. Java ME (Micro Edition) is ported with an AMS (Application Management Software) overseer. It can usually load Java apps from memory or from the web.

Even then, the 3rd party application must be iPhone compatible. It is doubtful that your trading platform software is compatible with the iPhone - even with a hack/modification which can void your warranty.

If his trading program works on the hundreds of millions of phones with Java such as Blackberries, Windows Mobile, Nokia and others, then it would work on the iPhone with Java as well. This is why businesses like to write their apps with it.

The whole point of mobile Java apps is that they can run everywhere if written to. It's the Java Virtual Machine (VM) that's device specific, and that's what Sun would port to the iPhone.

All of this is moot anyway. The Sun port announcement was premature. [While Sun said they could port Java, Apple hasn't been receptive. |http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/04/24/Sun-continues-pursuit-of-Java-for-iP hone_1.html]

As an alternative, that article says another company is building a tool to compile Java apps into iPhone programs, which would allow developers to sell or give away their wares. That won't help with every app, of course.

Allan Sampson wrote:
It will be firmware update 2.0.

Then Apple will be charging for it according to your explanation earlier? Apple doesn't charge for minor bug fix updates of the Mac OS, i.e. from 10.5.0 to 10.5.2, but they do for feature updates, i.e. 10.4.x to 10.5.x. All the iPhone updates have fallen under the former type of bug updates. If the iPhone OS (a.k.a. "firmware") is bypassing even the feature update to the massive rewrite version, like from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS 10, it will be interesting to see.

Nope. Apple states on this site that 2.0 will be free. 1.1.3 was a feature update and that was free.

10.4 to 10.5 is an upgrade to a new Operating System. 1.1.4 to 2.0 is a firmware update rather than a whole new OS upgrade.

Then Apple will be charging for it according to your explanation earlier?

NO.

Firmware update 1.1.3 included some "feature" updates and was provided at no charge.

Firmware update 2.0 will include a number of "feature" updates - more so than firmware update 1.1.3, and will also be provided at no charge, which you already know and obviously had nothing else better to do with your time.

Sun's still in talks with Apple about Java ME. So it's still up in the air sounds like.

Tamara wrote:
10.4 to 10.5 is an upgrade to a new Operating System. 1.1.4 to 2.0 is a firmware update rather than a whole new OS upgrade.

Except that what is being called "firmware" is in fact the whole OS for the iPhone. Unlike the iMac, there isn't separate "firmware" and OS. Of course it is all a question of semantics, and like I said before it WILL be interesting.

Since I have only a 4 GB iPhone, I may wait and buy a new one with 2.0 factory-installed to preclude any problems.

NO, THERE IS NO PLUG-IN AVAILABLE.
BY THE WAY, YOU'RE CAPS LOCK IS BROKEN.