AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands-The world’s largest carrier has partnered with the world’s largest handset manufacturer to simplify software in Java-enabled cell phones.
Vodafone, which boasts 139 million global customers, will work with Nokia Corp. to create a standards-based mobile Java services architecture to enable application compatibility across handsets and carriers. Java was created by Sun Microsystems Inc. to run on any device, regardless of the operating system. But software publishers have had to make adjustments to the platform based on handset specifications, adding an estimated 40 percent to the cost of software development.
The new initiative will allow developers to create software that is more easily transferable between Java-enabled devices, according to the companies.
“The initiative has received widespread support from leading representatives of the mobile industry, including Orange, Siemens, Sony Ericsson, Sun Microsystems and T-Mobile International,” the companies said in a statement. “It is expected that a number of these companies will join Nokia and Vodafone to become members of the Expert Group for the specifications created by this initiative.”
Nokia stock rose 2.5 percent on news of the initiative; Vodafone shares were up 1 percent.
