re: Nextel on Mobile Java
>> Java Will Drive Data Adoption
Sue Marek
Wireless Week
March 28, 2002
Wireless data's potential may finally be met. According to experts at the WirelessDevNet.com Tech Day, held in conjunction with last week's CTIA Wireless 2002, technical advancements such as Java and GPS capabilities at last will overcome many of the challenges wireless data has faced over the past few years.
According to Bob Ewald, director of wireless data service for Nextel Communications Inc., the industry finally will reach the nirvana of millions of data subscribers thanks to the advanced capabilities that Java offers. "Java will overcome many challenges that we have today," Ewald told a group of about three dozen developers attending Wireless DevNet.com's opening session. "Java will overcome the shortcomings of WAP."
Some of the advantages of Java? According to Ewald, Java-enabled handsets allow data applications to reside in the handset, so subscribers can activate the applications even when they don't have wireless network access. In addition, Java provides persistent memory, allowing users to save information on the handset, and has a graphical user interface, which simplifies entering text into a handset and provides graphics capability.
Those capabilities, when combined with GPS, will drive the acceleration of data adoption in the United States, Ewald predicts. Look for Nextel itself to tightly integrate Java with GPS in the coming year. Ewald says the company will introduce GPS-enabled handsets in October.
Nextel, which introduced Java-enabled handsets last year, currently has about 1 million of those in subscribers' hands. At year's end, Nextel had about 9 million voice subscribers and 8 million data subscribers. Ewald credits Nextel's strong data subscriber base with the company's nationwide packet data network and the fact that every Nextel handset is packet data-enabled and has WAP capability.
If wireless data's shortcoming are resolved in the coming year, Ewald predicts there will be a huge uptake rate, particularly among enterprises, which is where Nextel has focused much of its business. Nextel believes the biggest market opportunity for wireless data is from corporations that want mobile office applications such as e-mail and messaging; companies that want to outfit their field sales representatives with wireless; and enterprises that want to use wireless for field services or outfit their fleets with wireless connectivity.
According to an Evans Data Group survey of 400 large corporations, 47 percent are deploying wireless e-mail, 41 percent are setting up wireless instant messaging and 71 percent of corporate PDA users want wireless e-mail access. <<
- Eric - |
