In a move to transform itself into the chief platform enabler among software developers and carriers, Qualcomm Inc. has developed an open, CDMA-based technology that will allow third-party users to write applications for mobile phones from a variety of vendors.
The product, known as Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless, seals nine months of experimenting and market-testing in an innovation the company believes will tear down the walls of proprietary technology and erase heartaches among software developers and carriers that have to write and adapt separate software products for each manufacturer’s device.
In short, Qualcomm wants to do for wireless what Microsoft did for personal computers.
“Our aim is to bring the experience users have with personal computers to handsets with all the downloadable capabilities,” said Gina Lombardi, vice president of marketing and product management at Qualcomm’s Internet Services division.
She said the platform will bring to handsets the competitive scenario flourishing in the world of personal computers.
She also said the technology, which takes platform battles a notch above i-mode, WAP and XML, is neutral about programming languages and integrates browsers, Java applications and programs in other languages.
Qualcomm is seeking to create a universal environment for other platforms by opening up distribution channels worldwide for handset markets.
“They can write their applications once and put it in any handset and this lets the developers create relationships with carriers,” she said.
Developers can write a wide array of applications and programs including e-mail, text-messaging offerings, navigation assistance, multi-player games, music, Internet radio and information services.
Brew also is intended to help handset manufacturers shorten internal and external development cycles, decrease time to market and lower operating cost.
Carriers also may benefit from increased subscriber airtime while maintaining high bandwidth usage, revenue opportunities and content control.
Brew is new territory for Qualcomm, which spun off its handset business last fall and has depended on royalties from its CDMA chips.
Lombardi says developers will pay a small fee for certification to access Brew through its software development kits, which include a number of Windows-based tools that allow developers to create and test their applications in a standard-development environment for specific phones.
She said Qualcomm tested the product among several developers and carriers before it felt confident to announce it.
The platform, she says, is compliant to second- and next-generation technologies and that is why some carriers have already demonstrated initial interest.
“Carriers plan to launch Brew this year,” she said. Operators such as Verizon Wireless, the biggest U.S. carrier, Leap Communications Inc., Japan’s KDDI, Mexico’s Pegassus and Korea Telecom Freetel of South Korea have signed memoranda of associations with Qualcomm.
It also has signed memoranda of understanding with about 20 software developers for a variety of services.
Navigation solutions-GaeaSoft, Mitsui and Co. Ltd., Navitime Japan, Telcontar
Location-based applications-Locate Networks
Games-Anicom SoftWare, Bandai Networks, Jamdat Mobile, UIEvolution
M-Commerce-The Brodia Group, NetZero
Entertainment-Indiqu, Launch Media, MP3.com
News, weather, sports-AvantGo
Synchronization-fusionOne
Wireless mobility for the enterprise-Wireless Knowledge
Enterprise/personal information management-Visto
Browser-Pixo
E-mail/microbrowser-Access
Avatars/rich media communication-Eyematic
Strategis Group analyst Cynthia Hswe said while the product is impressive, it remains to be seen if Qualcomm can market it effectively, referring to efforts by vendors like Motorola Inc. with the marketing challenges of iDEN technology and the much-publicized disappointments of WAP services. “Poor marketing probably played a role in their failures and Qualcomm will need to market it,” she said.
