Java goes mobile with Motorola
- — 09 June, 2000 15:35
The company will support Sun Microsystems' Java technology in virtually all of its wireless products by 2002, covering a wide range of internet applications for commerce, entertainment, and communications, Motorola's chairman and chief executive officer says.
"When people ask me what Motorola is all about these days, I say it's taking the internet and putting it into your purse, your pocket, your car, your public-safety two-way radio and someday your refrigerator," Motorola chairman and chief executive Chris Galvin said, speaking at Sun's JavaOne show on earlier this week.
Motorola will use Sun's Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition in phones, pagers, and other products still in development. It's part of an effort to use the power of the internet to bring new voice and data capabilities to all of its products, Galvin says.
The Motorola chief showed a prototype of a new communications device about the size of a playing card that featured a small color screen and a miniature punch-button keyboard. Programs on the device include email, two-way text messaging, a contact database, and other information management programs. By plugging in a headset, the device can also be used as a digital wireless phone, a Motorola engineer says.
Motorola hopes to ship the device in Europe by the end of the year and in the United States in the first quarter of 2001. It will support the GSM and GPRS communications standards. Eventually, Motorola will add support for Java2ME, allowing developers to create compelling applications, Galvin said.
