Java standard for wireless and mobile created-- PTC1000 here we go! I hope
I think this will be big and will make my investment in Patriot Scientific's (PTSC) PTC1000 finally pay off. (What do you think Snake eyes?)
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Sun serves up Java on mobile phones
By STEPHEN SHANKLAND, CNET NEWS.COM
nytimes.com
After years of programming, evangelism and corporate wrangling,
Sun Microsystems and its business partners have created a standard
for putting Sun's Java software into cell phones, the company
announced today.
As previously reported, the standard, called the mobile information
device profile (MIDP), will be used in cell phones from Motorola,
Nokia, LG Electronics, Nextel and NTT DoCoMo, Sun said. It will
also be used in handhelds from Research in Motion, Sun said.
In addition, several telecommunications companies including
SmarTone, EasTone, Telefonica and One 2 One will offer back-end
services that the cell phones can tap into, the company said.
These Java-enabled services, though in the most nascent stages,
indicate that the technology is finally entering the real world after
years of being consigned to white papers, marketing plans and
proof-of-concept demonstrations.
The services will allow cell phones to tout new information feeds or
services. Tracking down the nearest Burger King over the Internet,
playing games online or creating charts of daily stock performance are
some of the possible applications, said Eric Chu, director of product
marketing for Sun's consumer and embedded Java products.
"In Asia, entertainment is the killer service," Chu said. "Some of these
devices come with games, but the problem is you get bored. By
having Java technology in the device, you can now flash out any
games you're bored with and download new games."
However, some are skeptical that cell phones are powerful enough to
handle Java and assert that Sun's initiative is little more than
marketing.
"Sun almost had to do this, it seems, to cash the check their mouths
have been writing about Java (being used) everywhere," Robert
Frances Group analyst Michael Dortch said.
"If you look at most of today's cell phones, trying to squeeze truly
useful Java-based applets or applications or resources into that form
factor seems like a solution in search of a problem."
Sun's Java software, at least theoretically, allows programs to run on a
variety of computing devices without having to be rewritten for each
one. Theoretically, a programmer wouldn't have to tailor a service
nine times for nine different cell phone makers. After its invention in
the 1990s, Java caught on first as a way to spruce up Web pages, then
as a way to power e-commerce servers.
But for years, Java hasn't worked on small gadgets with limited
memory and processing power. Sun has been stripping down Java
while waiting for the gadgets to get bigger screens and faster chips.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Sun is pushing to get Java's
steaming-cup-of-coffee logo onto gadgets as well, hoping that
consumers soon will associate the logo with "really cool services,"
company executives have said.
The Java software competes with Windows, the operating system
that Microsoft is trying to shrink to fit handheld computers and
augment for powerful servers. In the Microsoft vision of the future,
programs will run atop Windows instead of Java. But that's a vision
Microsoft has had only modest success in making a reality.
Sun hopes Java will make money chiefly by fostering new markets for
powerful servers at telecommunications companies or other service
providers. These are the servers from which games, stock quotes or
restaurant locations will be downloaded.
But Sun also makes money from licensing its Java technology. Using
the Java brand requires that a company pass Java compatibility tests
to make sure it works properly.
"Not only are we making money in terms of revenue on the handset,
we're also very much focused on getting business on the back end as
well," Chu said.
The constraints on how fast current second-generation, or "2G,"
mobile phones can transfer data limits the amount of processing that
can be handled on a central server, Chu said. With those bandwidth
constraints, it's more feasible to send the cell phone compact
information, such as a description of how to display a Web page, and
to let the cell phone's processor handle the creation of the actual
image, he said.
LG Telecom has been offering entertainment software over its
Java-enabled system, Chu said. "They're bringing in people to write
games and even silly things like wallpaper and screensavers," he said.
NTT DoCoMo plans to offer entertainment such as interactive gaming
by the end of the year, he said, but it also will offer mobile commerce
options.
Companies also like the Java technology because it allows them to
easily display the company logo, and potentially advertisements, on
cell phone screens, Chu said.
Other companies that plan to introduce MIDP-enabled devices or
services include Sony, Symbian, Matsushita, Siemens and NEC, Sun
said. The MIDP standard, based on Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), was
developed collaboratively by more than 20 such companies.
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All the best,
Michael |
