BREW Outclasses Java in Run-Time Speed and Location Services:
Qualcomm EVP
June 22, 2001 (TOKYO) -- Paul E. Jacobs, executive vice president of Qualcomm Inc.,
gave an interview to Nikkei Byte and other media representatives in Tokyo.
Jacobs heads the development of Qualcomm's
Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless
(BREW) application platform for mobile phones.
BREW, like Java, enables applications to be run
on mobile phones. Applications are basically
developed in C or C++.
Java-based application services for mobile
phones, such as NTT DoCoMo Inc.'s i-Appli
service, are already making a debut. Coming late
to the party, BREW's purported selling points
are the speed at which applications execute and
the platform's interoperability with location
acquisition capabilities.
"With position location capabilities, you can develop navigation applications that will
locate the nearest Starbucks, say, when the user is some place they've never been
before," Jacobs said, explaining the potential benefits of utilizing location information
on the mobile phones, the tools that people take when out and about.
Jacobs pointed out that using location information will enable a variety of applications
not previously available. "Developers are working on applications such as a program
that lets you download data at the golf course, and will record where the ball landed,
say, or give you the distance to the flag," he said.
Location acquisition capabilities will be implemented with the BREW run-time
environment and in the Qualcomm chipset. KDDI, for example, plans to ship mobile
phones incorporating the chipset in the fall of 2001.
Unlike Java, which executes intermediate code on a Java Virtual Machine, BREW runs
binary code directly. This means that, given the same speed of processor, BREW
applications run faster than Java applications.
Jacobs sees this fast run-time speed as a major advantage. "Late-comer Sony caught up
with Nintendo because of the PlayStation's superior performance. Right now, NTT
DoCoMo has a 60 percent share of the mobile market, but KDDI's au service could
reach 60 percent in the future," he said. "BREW doesn't have the overhead of the Java
Virtual Machine. So it's possible to render 3D animated graphics at about 10 frames per
second, for example."
Several Japanese companies have jumped on the BREW bandwagon. Bandai Networks
Co., Ltd. is working on display of 3D animated characters, Navitime Japan Co., Ltd. is
developing navigation applications that combine GPS with route search capabilities,
and Justsystem Corp. is developing an ATOK-based Japanese language conversion
system. In addition, K Laboratory Co., Ltd. is offering a proprietary Java Virtual
Machine and an environment for developing Java applications on the BREW platform.
Besides KDDI, two other companies, Korea Telecom Freetel Co., Ltd. and Verizon
Wireless Inc. of the United States, expect to launch BREW services later this year.
nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com |
