Motorola Inc. announced that it will use and distribute the full family of Sun Microsystems Inc.’s Java platform technologies, according to a licensing agreement the two entered.
Under the terms of the agreement, Motorola will incorporate the Java technology into its entire portfolio of consumer and embedded products, including silicon chips and solutions, smart cards, automotive components, wireless devices and advanced electronics systems and computers.
“This agreement marks the largest technology license agreement in the history of the Java platform,” said Scott McNealy, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Sun Microsystems. “Motorola ships many 10s of millions of embedded silicon solutions and radio products a year worldwide as the market leader in various industries. We look forward to seeing Java technologies in as many of those products as possible.”
Motorola would not specify what products will benefit first, but Joan DeLuca, president and chief software strategist, semiconductor products sector, said she expects consumer products with Java connectivity to begin shipping this year. “We’re talking a matter of months, not years,” she said.
The agreement marks a change in Motorola’s approach to incorporating nonproprietary software. Traditionally, the company would create its own technology and push it to an industry standard, rather than adopting another’s.
But Sun’s Java platform has come to dominate most operating system networks, networks with which Motorola and its semiconductor customers want their products to connect.
“The whole industry is changing,” DeLuca said. “We listened to our customers … Java could scale into a broad range of devices that we create and our customers create.”
“By embracing Java, Motorola has sent a clear signal to developers, manufacturers and consumers that it is committed to open technology and freedom of choice for customers,” said Sun Microsystems.
Larry Swasey, senior analyst at Allied Business Intelligence, said convergence is the big buzzword today and this agreement falls in line with that philosophy.
“It allows disparate technologies to be tied together with Java,” he said. “What we see here is a very big deal based on a simple concept. This opens more doors in technology being used in a network environment. Now they have a great chance to put a product in the field that can come back to the network without a concern.”
Swasey said because the Internet is the current “killer app,” and Java has taken the Internet by storm, Motorola almost had no choice but to adopt the platform at some point. “Motorola has never been opposed to jumping on a successful bandwagon,” he said, adding that the agreement likely will be most noticeable when third-generation products come around.
“This is great for both companies. Java gets Motorola using its product and Motorola is using one of the better network systems … They want to make sure they are tied into the Internet.”
Motorola is the latest, and largest, company to commit to the platform.
Texas Instruments announced in October that its Wireless Communications Business Unit will incorporate Sun’s EmbeddedJava and PersonalJava specifications in its communications platforms for end-user equipment. Alcatel Telecom, Northern Telecom Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. all endorse PersonalJava and have agreed to use the platform in future smartphone products.
