Sun Microsystems Inc. today announced a new partnership with chip maker Intel Corp. as well as new plans to sell wireless application services to businesses, all parts of an effort to continue the expansion of the company’s Java 2 Micro Edition technology in wireless.
The news also comes in conjunction with Sun’s annual JavaOne developer’s conference in San Francisco. Wireless will play a major role during this year’s conference, with the number of mobile phones shipping Sun’s J2ME technology hitting about 100 million by the end of this month.
Under Sun’s deal with Intel, the company will work to optimize its Java technology for Intel’s Xscale processor. Sun said the move will improve the performance of Java applications running over its Java VM (virtual machine) powered by Intel’s Xscale platform, enhancements that will support high-end multimedia applications. Specifically, Sun will sell its integrated Java VM along with Intel’s processors to device manufacturers, a move Sun said will also cut down on device development times.
“It’s going to accelerate the availability of our high-performance virtual machine,” said Juan Dewar, Sun’s senior director of consumer mobility and strategic solutions. “What we’re doing with Intel is taking it one step further.”
The deal is a notable play for both companies. Sun licenses Java technology to a variety of third-party players, some of which sell their own versions of Sun’s Java virtual machine. Now to optimize its own Java VM for the Intel platform-thereby cutting down on manufacturers’ design costs-Sun is looking to make its Java VM more attractive to device makers.
Intel, on the other hand, serves to gain increased attention in the wireless space through the deal. The company is a major powerhouse in the personal digital assistant realm but is looking to break into the mobile-phone industry. By teaming with Sun and gaining an optimized Java VM, the company’s chips could draw in more mobile-phone manufacturers.
“The value of this is to get two main players-Sun and Intel-together,” Sun’s Dewar said.
Aside from its deal with Intel, Sun also today introduced a new infrastructure solution for Java business users. Under Sun’s Business Mobility Initiative, the company is teaming with carriers, software vendors and hardware makers to sell technology that would allow business users to access enterprise information using their Java-capable mobile phones. Specifically, the initiative would allow businesses using Sun’s Java technology in their servers to also extend corporate information to Java devices.
“The network operators are really looking for business solutions they can take to their customers,” said Paxton Cooper, Sun’s group manager for mobile enterprise solutions. “It’s very much a platform play.”
Indeed, interest in the wireless enterprise continues to grow, despite the tightening economy. EDS just last week announced a major new effort dubbed the EDS Extended Connected Office, offering mobile and wireless access to personal and corporate information.
However, Sun isn’t solely focusing on enterprise users. The company last week announced its new Game Technologies Group, an effort focused on fostering Internet and wireless Java games.
“Sun is in a unique position as we’ve been developing massively connected environments for years, and we plan to use that knowledge to further the capabilities of the gaming community,” said Chris Melissinos, Sun’s new chief gaming officer.
