Seems like all the usual downfalls: innovators dilemma (sticking with analog mobile phones too long, being late on smartphones), arrogance based on past successes leading to a massive investment in a product nobody wants (Iridium), too many internal fiefdoms, etc.
Motorola had J2ME-based programmable phones around the year 2000. I believe that was the first smartphone in the US. Back in the day, I developed a few apps and tried to release them for free. I was asked a few grand for the apps to be "certified" for release. The nerve! I moved onto other things in life but it was interesting how it played out and here we are today.
I remember trying to hack some application for Motorola Razr V3, but unfortunately, the J2ME apps needed to be signed in order to work, so I was quite dissapointed...
Used to develop J2ME apps, pretty sure they didn't. There was a weird app you could use to get them on to any of that generation motorola phones.
The JVM was utter crap though, with no JIT, so everything was 1/10th of the speed of Sony Ericsson phones or Nokia of the same era... still, at least they weren't too nonstandard, like Samsung and Lg who would change JVM and bugs every phone.
