Intel and Sun Microsystems have joined forces to pursue
the smartphone and mobile computing device market by working to
optimise Sun's Java software for the Intel XScale processor, which
powers advanced voice and data phones and handheld
devices.
Hans Geyer, vice-president and general manager of the PCA
component group at Intel, described the agreement as unprecedented,
calling it "the first formal deal" between the two competitors.
According to Geyer, Intel sees the deal with Sun as "significant
because Java is becoming [the] leading programming language
for mobile phones, while at the same time, the XScale processor is
becoming the leading processor for mobile phones."
"We are excited about the deal with Intel," said Juan Dewar,
senior director of Sun's consumer mobility and strategic solutions
group.
"It confirms that we are the leading solution for wireless data
services." He estimated that by the end of this month, more than
100 million Java-equipped phones will have been shipped
worldwide.
He said that Sun licenses its "reference implementations" of
Java to resellers such as Palm, some of whose latest handhelds use
XScale processors, or Samsung, which will launch a line of XScale
phones this summer.
Dewar declined to provide details of those licensing agreements,
but he did say that resellers pay more for optimised reference
designs because they can reduce development time. Dewar added that
the Sun/Intel partnership should start shipping the optimised code
by mid-June.
Developing an optimised version of the Connected Limited Device
Configuration of the Java 2 Platform Micro Edition (J2ME) for
XScale processor means applications will run faster and the
hardware will have a longer battery life, Geyer said.
He noted that the Intel/Sun agreement is an engineering
partnership that does not involve payments by either company.
Alex Slawsby, an analyst at IDC, said J2ME can use the
performance boost.
Although the software is easy to use for application
development, Java programs "have always been slow", he said. "This
should help improve the user experience."
Although Java has done well in the mobile phone and mobile
market, it also faces competition from Linux. In February, Motorola
announced plans to ship new mobile phones that use both Java and
the Linux operating system.
Bob Brewin writes for Computerweorld