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Motorola, Inc. is a company pledged to providing easy-to-use and uninterrupted access to the communication, information, and entertainment that you want and need -- anywhere, anytime, across any device. Creating these experiences means reducing complexity for consumers -– but doing so presents unique challenges for manufacturers, network providers and developers. As the mobile and consumer electronics realms converge, and technology becomes increasingly complex, how can we best prepare to innovate across multiple platforms, devices and application environments? How has this world of ever-new features, devices, and end-to-end capabilities created a fragmented and complicated technology environment?
In Thursday’s General Session, (May 10, 8:30 to 9:15 AM), Padmasree Warrior, executive vice president, chief technology officer, Motorola, Inc., will discuss how developers can move beyond the hurdles and reap the rewards of a rapidly converging world.
With mobile Internet access moving rapidly from an occasional alternative to the PC desktop, to center stage -- right on the mobile handset in the palm of your hand -- the opportunity for developers and the momentum around mobile and consumer electronics devices are ever more impressive.
Mobile and consumer electronics -- including TVs, cameras, gaming devices, and video and audio equipment -- are poised to generate $1.8 trillion in combined hardware and content revenue by 2009 (PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 2005).
This year, the global mobile phone market will top a billion units (Gartner, March 2007) -- approximately 85% of which will be Java-enabled (Ovum, March 2007).
Today over 22 million mobile users in the U.S. regularly access news and information through a mobile browser. And with WiMAX trials and deployments already in progress on six continents, offering mobile wireless alternatives to cable and DSL, such usage figures can only further increase.
But, in this world of "Internet everywhere", developers face increasingly difficult challenges — issues of transcoding from one file format to another, communication between diverse networks, authentication and security, location awareness, and even the more basic issues of where a given application functionality should reside (locally, or at the back-end), to name a few.
In her General Session, Warrior -- together with a few surprise guests -- will offer ways to meet the challenge of this rapidly converging ecosystem of diverse technologies and devices, and discuss the fundamental shifts that mobility brings: If our definition of mobility is morphing, does this mean that how we define an application is also changing? How are we beginning to see evidence of this today, whether in the form of the Java Virtual Machine (abstracting away from a specific operating system), system virtualization, Service Oriented Architecture, or the growing popularity of digital mash-ups? Is the idea of a hard and fast application, locked into a given purpose, hardware, and OS, truly becoming obsolete?
"We’ve seen this evolution in other realms already," says Christy Wyatt, vice president, ecosystem and market development, mobile devices business, Motorola, Inc. "In technical computing, we saw things go from large single applications, to client-server applications, to web front-ends, to rich browser-based applications. And then we saw things settle into a combination of all these architectures, depending on what you were trying to create. It’s a trend we’re starting to see in the mobile space -- creating a layered architecture, where there are increasingly more things being pulled from the network."
As a means of helping developers to wind their way through the challenges and opportunities presented by this evolution, Wyatt will discuss onstage with Warrior the latest developments in Motorola’s MOTODEV developer program -- introduced at last year’s JavaOne Conference. MOTODEV is an integrated developer resource that combines Motorola-wide tools and technical support with a broad business ecosystem that includes developers, service providers, and business and channel allies. MOTODEV offers development tools, sample code, software development kits, an online library of device specifications, developer guides, media guides, a searchable online knowledge base, technical support engineering experts, and invitations to workshops and special events. "With MOTODEV, we’re continually evolving the offerings of tools and platforms," says Wyatt, "to make sure developers have what they need in working with these different development models."
The most recent addition to the MOTODEV development program is MOTODEV Studio. Introduced in late March, MOTODEV Studio is an integrated development framework for mobile applications, based on the Eclipse IDE. The initial version of the facility is MOTODEV Studio for Java ME, providing a full set of Java ME libraries, sample MIDLETS, tutorials, and tools -- for developing, debugging, and testing mobile Java applications for Motorola’s latest 3GSM devices. The facility emulates individual Java APIs on the desktop, enabling developers to jump-start their development cycle before phones are even available.
The MOTODEV Studio framework is open and extensible, and will support future plug-ins. Through a web-based connection, the facility notifies developers when new tools, SDKs, updates, and features become available, ensuring that they always have the latest functionality. And Motorola is also offering a standalone Motorola Java ME SDK, which provides the same emulation and update features as MOTODEV Studio for Java ME, but with the flexibility of being integrated into other IDEs. "MOTODEV Studio is just one more example of how we are delivering on our promise of connecting the developer community with the resources they need," says Wyatt.
Meanwhile, be sure to stop by the Motorola booth and explore real-world wireless development opportunities. As part of the MOTODEV Developer Challenge, the first 50 developers who drop by and demonstrate their commercial-grade Java application running on a MOTOKRZR K1 or MOTOROKR Z6 handset will qualify to win a free mobile device.
And Motorola’s currently running MOTODEV Game Developer Challenge offers Java developers the opportunity to have their winning application published by mobile entertainment company, I-play. Begun in late February, the "Best Java Software Game" portion of the contest offers developers the opportunity to submit their unpublished game for the Motorola MOTOKRZR K1 handset. Entries will be judged in the categories of uniqueness, fun factor, design, and operation and innovation in visual arts and audio. Each category’s grand-prize winner will see their mobile title published by I-play, and receive a variety of Motorola and I-play prizes. And the runner-up in each category will receive the opportunity to meet with the judging panel to discuss their submission, as well as receive a variety of Motorola and I-play prizes. The contest ends August 10, 2007.
"This is one of the many ways we’re encouraging innovation, and in a category that’s already very mature in the mobile space," says Claudia Backus, Director, Ecosystem & Platform Marketing, Motorola, Inc. "We want people to really get creative, and think outside the box. And since the winners are going to win an actual publishing contract for their application, it’s a very significant prize."
"It’s really all about continuing the relationship we have with the Java developer community," says Wyatt. "We want more developers, creating more compelling applications, for the Motorola platforms."
For More Information
MOTODEV Developer Network
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