Orange and T-Mobile's Europe unit are the first carriers
to join the Java Verified Programme, a group formed to ease the
approval of Java-based applications for mobile phones and speed
them on to carrier networks.
The program, announced at the 3GSM World Congress in February,
is intended to give developers and carriers one place to go for
certifying that Java applications work correctly on specific mobile
phones.
By turning to the Java Verified Programme, the carriers save
themselves the expense of certifying the applications in-house,
said Greg Wolff, group marketing manager for mobile systems at
Sun.
Sun expects a growing number of mobile operators to join the
programme for this reason, he added. The new members are to be
announced in advance of next week's JavaOne conference in San
Francisco.
Developers of Java applications for mobile phones can submit
their software to the www.javaverified.com website and choose among
a number of testing houses to verify it, according to Wolff.
Among other things, the testers make sure the program loads and
runs correctly on a particular phone, he said. Applications tested
under the program bear a digital signature and the Java splash
screen to verify to carriers that they have been approved.
The Java Verified Programme grew out of the Unified Testing
Initiative, launched at JavaOne in 2003 by Sun and mobile
phone suppliers Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson Mobile
Communications and Siemens. Orange and T-Mobile Europe are adding
those members on the programme.
Orange operates mobile networks in 19 European countries.
T-Mobile Europe includes operations in Germany, UK, Austria, the
Netherlands and the Czech Republic.
Stephen Lawson writes for IDG News Service