After months of struggling financially and falling behind technologically, Motorola Inc. stands to make its mark as the first handset manufacturer to provide Java-enabled mobile phones.
The company entered an agreement with Santa Cruz, Calif.-based Lutris Technologies Corp. to bundle Lutris’ forthcoming Enhydra 3.5 Open Source wireless Internet application server with its software development kit to create new applications for Motorola’s line of iDEN phones. The new applications will be based on Sun Microsystems Inc.’s Java 2 Micro Edition platform.
As a result of the deal, Enhydra developers will have access to the latest Java-enabled handsets, as well as relevant business programs, Lutris said. Lutris is releasing Enhydra 3.5 in December, and Motorola said it plans to ship its Java-enabled iDEN phones, equipped with prototype applications, during the first quarter of next year, ahead of other major phone manufacturers including Nokia Corp. and L.M. Ericsson.
“This validates the community’s selection of an Open Source application server, rather than a closed one,” said Keith Bigelow, director of product management for Lutris. “It’s not risky. Here’s an Open Source technology that is leading, not following.”
Motorola is the earliest adopter-external to Sun-of J2ME, Bigelow added.
Motorola, Ericsson, NTT DoCoMo, Siemens AG and others announced in September they planned to launch Java-enabled phones in 2001. The announcement was in conjunction with Sun’s release of the Mobile Information Device profile, which ultimately enables software developers to write applications for wireless devices. MID is built on top of J2ME, allowing information to be passed between devices as “midlets,” rather than traditional Java applets.
Rajiv Mehta, senior marketing manager for Motorola, said using Lutris Enhydra 3.5 will leverage the ideas and abilities of the Open Source community to create a more diverse range of applications, although Mehta declined to comment on what specific applications are in the works. Mehta also declined to confirm speculation that Motorola will use Lutris Enhydra to stimulate application development for its other mobile phones, including the widely popular StarTac line. The company’s goal is to recruit more than 10,000 developers to design new iDEN applications.
This latest announcement could help polish the mobile-phone and infrastructure manufacturer’s image after it shocked investors in October by lowering its fourth-quarter and 2001 earnings estimates. Motorola has consistently lost ground to Nokia in Europe in handset sales, and recently has struggled for a leading position in the semiconductor market.
IDEN technology is used by Nextel Communications Inc., one of a handful of specialized mobile radio operators in the United States. IDEN phones are capable of traditional cellular, as well as short-range, walkie-talkie-type service.
“Nextel has been begging for enterprise data-grade applications so they can sell into their Fortune 100 customers,” Bigelow said.
The iDEN Subscriber Group at Motorola targets mainly business customers and those who work in the field and need both cellular and short-range radio communication. Bigelow said Motorola’s entry into the Java-enabled handset market is a real coup because it can continue to serve the business market even more effectively.
