What language is needed to write applets for e-ink Kindles?

Question

So I want to write a small app for my e-ink Kindle. I know it's possible -- Amazon has released a Kindle Developer's Kit, but I can't figure out how to signup (I followed a signup link on another SO post that redirected to the useless homepage).

I've also seen people doing it on the MobileRead Forums.

The app I want to make is pretty simple, but I can't figure out what language it would need to be in.

What languages are native to the older Kindles (not Kindle Fire)?

Answer 1

It's written in Java, specifically Java 1.4.2.

Answer 2

Personal Basis Profile 1.1 and Java 1.4

It seams you cannot register as a developer for the old Kindle anymore, so you need to jailbreak it and use a key (that you create yourself) to sign your jars.

You can find instructions what to do and several resources at the URL mentioned below.

There is also a tool to create your own Kindle developer key.

You need to install the public key on your Kindle. To be able to use your jars that you sign with it.

A Hello-World example is also included on the website.

It is also explained how to use retroweaver that makes it possible to use java 1.5 and than convert it to 1.4.

http://cowlark.com/kindle/getting-started.html

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P.s.
Please add a comment as soon as you successfully wrote your first app that runs on your kindle.