Sometime in the future, wireless users may never again have to mail in their phones to get a software glitch repaired. If such a vision holds true, users won’t even know there’s a problem.
“Subscribers just want to make these things work,” said Gene Wang, chairman and chief executive officer of Bitfone Corp.
Bitfone is one of several major players looking to turn the vision into reality. The mechanism these companies are pushing is called over-the-air updating, or OTA. It allows carriers or handset makers to broadcast bits and bytes out to users’ mobile phones, offer software packages that could patch glitches or even introduce new data services.
It’s a heady idea-remote control over a mobile phone-and it’s one that the world’s No. 2 mobile-phone maker has embraced.
Motorola Inc. last week licensed Bitfone’s over-the-air firmware update product, mProve, as well as its Generator, Prism, Delivery Server and handset Agent technologies. The technology will allow Motorola to repair software glitches in its phones remotely, without asking users to mail in their devices. The technology could also be used to introduce new applications-adding a calculator during tax season, for example.
Motorola said the technology would be available in its handsets next year, although the company couldn’t immediately provide details.
Such OTA offerings typically require several components. First, the phone itself must be able to receive the software broadcasts. Bitfone’s OTA update client, which sits inside the phone, can be as small as 30,000 bytes. On the network side, the carrier must be able to broadcast the software and ensure it reaches its destination unmolested.
It’s a service that many in the industry have been discussing for years, and one that has gained added weight with the introduction of newer, advanced mobile phones. Such devices feature far more software and applications than in years past-and are thus far more prone to glitches in that software. Indeed, Motorola has been forced to delay the introduction of several new handsets in the United States, reportedly due to software problems.
“The number of bugs per line of code is increasing, and the number of lines of code is increasing,” said Bitfone’s Wang. Bitfone estimates that repairing software glitches costs the worldwide wireless industry $8 billion annually.
Accordingly, OTA updating has generated a significant amount of interest. Bitfone joins fellow startups Insignia plc and DoOnGo Technologies Inc. in offering OTA technology to carriers and handset makers. The issue has even come to the attention of the Open Mobile Alliance standards group, which has formed an OTA committee. However, any OMA specifications won’t likely be available until next year at the earliest-which could cause carriers and handset makers to hold off on over-the-air services.
With its fresh Motorola deal, Bitfone has gained some significant traction in the OTA market. Bitfone started life in 2000 selling technology that compressed and transmitted images over wireless networks. However, Bitfone soon discontinued that product, called iBroker, following its merger with OTA company Digital Transit in 2001. Bitfone currently is working to license its technology to carriers and handset makers. Wang promised the company will soon announce its second major customer, this time an Asian wireless carrier.
Insignia offers similar OTA technology, but is taking a slightly different selling track, said Peter Bernard, the company’s chief product officer. Insignia is offering its technology free to handset makers as part of an effort to encourage them to include the OTA technology on their phones. The company plans to derive revenues through a usage model, charging carriers and handset makers to send potential software updates.
“We’re taking a much more holistic, systems-based approach,” Bernard said.
Insignia has a deal with operating system company Symbian to offer its technology to Symbian licensees and recently inked an agreement with Motorola subsidiary Metrowerks to broadcast its software updates. A Metrowerks spokeswoman said the company is an independent Motorola subsidiary and can therefore use technology that is different from that of its parent company.
Also on the playground is DoOnGo, which has a major presence in Asia. The company in February signed China Unicom as a customer, which promised to distribute the company’s technology through its handset providers. DoOnGo has also signed deals with Matsushita Communication Industrial Co. Ltd. (Panasonic), Sharp Corp. and NEC Corp.
Qualcomm Inc. too has dabbled in the market for OTA technology through its BREW application download system. BREW allows users to download games and other applications to their phones, and Verizon Wireless and other carriers offer the service. Qualcomm initially developed the technology to send out software repairs to its line-up of CDMA phones, before the company sold its handset business to Kyocera Wireless Corp.
Aside from a few implementations in Asia, there currently are almost no commercially available OTA update services. However, one unique offering comes from T-Mobile USA Inc. and its Sidekick device. Based on technology from upstart Danger Inc., T-Mobile is able to remotely manipulate software on the device, introducing new services and applications. However, the carrier recently generated some ire from its customers by remotely erasing several games on the device. The carrier said it erased the games to install newer games.
OTA technology “is an important opportunity,” said Seamus McAteer, a senior analyst with the Zelos Group. “You talk to all the carriers, and they all say it’s a major headache.”
McAteer said there are a significant number of hurdles the industry must leap before the technology becomes widespread. Standards issues aside, the technology must be secure and free of glitches. Further, carriers and handset makers will have to take care not to bombard users with new applications and services. Handset makers especially could take a cautious approach, as over-the-air system upgrades might forestall new handset purchases.
McAteer said the industry may see some OTA phones in the market next year, but it will likely be another 18 months before there is a big enough installed base to make the service worthwhile.
“It’s still a ways off,” he said.
