Jun 5, 2001 12:00 PM,

Java, wireless becoming chummier

Kelly Carroll, Telephony

The JavaOne conference this week looks to be where the programming language and the wireless world are really starting to see eye-to-eye, as wireless players such as Nokia and Motorola have made Java-related announcements.

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By teaming with Borland Software, Nokia hopes to enable the development of wireless Java applications. Together the companies have unveiled Java technology tools for mobile application developers, creating a development environment—JBuilder Mobile Set—to support software development for Nokia’s Java-enabled phones.

The companies also intend to offer the tools to other manufacturers, which could lead developers to standardization on one environment, paving the way for development and deployment of Java applications to occur across any device, regardless of the manufacturer.

Motorola also showcased how it’s working with Java. The company announced new applications for its Java-enabled phones that have been sold by Nextel since April. The Java applications, which will be used mostly for business purposes, now will allow customers to access Web sites using the Secure Socket Layer Internet security standard.

While it has been suggested that Java might be too immature on small devices, the Nokia and Motorola announcements might be evidence that wireless industry is beginning to embrace its potential, according to Daryl Sterling, Internet technology analyst at Mainspring. He further pointed to NTT DoCoMo’s success with Java as an example of what it eventually could do for U.S. carriers.

“The wireless industry really needs to figure out a way to monetize the wireless Internet and justify 3G,” Sterling said, further suggesting that carriers could do so by opening up their networks, focusing more on bandwidth and allowing other people to participate to help drive revenue. “DoCoMo did this and made it easy for the end user to see value in its solution,” he continued. “At the end of the day anything that restrains customers’ choice of Internet [options] has proven not to be good.”