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devices under their own label and sell devices to consumers (either directly or via the
operator, or most often both), while ODMs design and build hardware on behalf of oth-
ers. While both ODMs and OEMs must differentiate their product on the basis of price,
quality, and features, for OEMs brand and marketing also become key concerns.
Many of today's wireless operators simply require a Java ME runtime on most of the
phones that they provide to subscribers. As I discuss in the next section, “Looking from
the Operators' Perspective,” operators are seeking ways to raise revenue per subscriber,
and data services are one way to do this. Today, data services consist of more than just
wireless web services; many Java ME applications rely on the network for their content.
Requiring handset manufacturers to include Java ME on their devices leaves an open
door for developers to create new applications that provide operators with new sources
of revenue.
Providing Java ME on devices is more than just an operator requirement for many
manufacturers. Some manufacturers, including Research In Motion (RIM), offer Java
ME runtimes that both meet Java ME standards as well as include additional classes in
their implementation, enabling developers to build novel applications atop the phone's
fundamental platform. More frequently, however, you'll find the baseline Java ME
implementation on a device. In either case, Java ME enables device manufacturers to
build and bundle applications for their products more quickly than with existing
embedded toolkits.
This is especially true for the growing number of dedicated devices that connect via
home or municipal wired and wireless networks where the use of Java ME may not be a
mandate. Java ME provides a ready alternative to closed, proprietary platforms for writing
application software for wireless Internet devices, set-top boxes, and other embedded sys-
tems. Even when the end platform is closed to third-party developers, selecting Java ME
can help device manufacturers bring their product to market by providing a more powerful
and well-understood platform than an internally defined or purely embedded alternative.
Whether chosen because of a customer requirement, as an opportunity for differen-
tiation, or to speed product development, Java ME provides important advantages over
other platforms. Unlike its larger cousins, Java Platform, Standard Edition ( Java SE) and
Java Platform, Enterprise Edition ( Java EE), Java ME has been carefully tuned to run on
small devices, important for meeting the cost and power constraints of most devices
today. It's an open platform, encouraging contributions of technologies through the Java
Community Process ( JCP). Finally, Java ME brings with it the entire community of Java
developers, providing a pool of talented engineers, designers, and project managers from
which to draw.
Looking from the Operators' Perspective
Wireless operators today face challenges, too. While differentiation on the basis of quality
and brand remain important, chief among challenges is the drive for higher ARPU. Rev-
enue from voice activity has largely leveled off, making data services an obvious area in
 
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