Can Java bridge the wireless data divide?

The trouble with new technology is that it must be scrutinized before being accepted as viable. So when Nextel Communications, along with Motorola and Sun Microsystems, last week announced it would offer the first Java-enabled cell phones in the U.S., wireless followers had a lot of questions. Although some observers don't want to jump on the Java bandwagon too soon, others maintain that Java can help bridge the wireless and data worlds.

Nextel is convinced Java will be a boon for business users and encourage application development.

“It creates vast potential for richer content on mobile phones,” said Tim Donahue, president and CEO of Nextel, during a conference call. “Java is another step forward and a first for us.”

The Nextel i85s Java-enabled phone, which costs $199, initially will allow the carrier's business customers to record and summarize expense reports wirelessly and to access a calculator suite that can be tailored to their line of work. The company expects to offer additional models, some of which will have a more rugged design, throughout the year.

Although Nextel is the first to market a Java-enabled phone, many wireless carriers are working on it. Sprint PCS and Motorola are engaged in a trial of Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) technology.

“Anything we can do to break down the barrier between the wireless and Internet worlds” will help the wireless Internet world move forward, said Darryl Sterling, Internet technology analyst for Mainspring Communications. “This is the advantage that Java has.… It helps create a playing field or an environment [in which] Web services can flourish.”

Though Java still is emerging in the wireless market, it will gain ground as a viable technology in the next few years, said Andrew Cole, principal analyst at Adventis.

“The industry is in a weird stage right now. It is not the end of voice, but it is more of an in-between-wireless-and-data stage,” he said. “There will be an evolution from a network-centric approach to [Java technology] to one that is handset-based in the next three to four years.”

The first phase of Java allows wireless portals, which include a consumer's personal profile, to be extended from the network onto wireless phones, Cole said. Applications will be written to Java initially and eventually will be capable of being implemented directly onto wireless phones.

“There are a lot of technologies that are trying to get us there,” Cole said. “We are bullish on Java.”

As the first out of the gate with the wireless version of Java, Nextel likely will receive the brunt of the initial criticism. However, the carrier maintains that the technology will evolve and continue to meet the needs of its business-centric target market.

“The beauty of Java is that customers can add capabilities without having to get a new phone,” said a Nextel spokeswoman.

With it, there's little cost associated when the time comes for them to customize their phones and change the programs that they have on them.”

Once Java-based applications are downloaded and installed, they are expected to run at 384 kb/s, depending on the number of other applications loaded, Donahue said.

Still, J2ME is in an embryonic stage, Adventis' Cole said.

“The wireless part of Java is a very new technology,” he said. “There will be early innovators, and the technology will provide some functionality, but application selection will come later on. It makes sense for Nextel to be an innovator because the business market is more likely to embrace this.”