Java Reference
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which to drive growth. This is especially true in some countries, including the United
States, where carriers have spent huge sums of money obtaining the rights to new parts
of the wireless spectrum.
While arguably the wireless Web, Short Message Service (SMS), and Multimedia
Messaging Service (MMS) all play a role in contributing to the bottom line for data serv-
ices, mobile applications play a growing role as well. Java ME applications can contribute
in two ways: by driving data use itself and by providing revenue when an operator acts as
the channel for application distribution. Increasingly, just as you can buy a ring tone or
wallpaper for your handset via the operator's wireless web portal, you can now buy Java
ME applications as well. As you will learn later in this chapter (in “Marketing and Selling
Your Application”), partnerships between developers and operators establish important
channels for application sales, bringing revenue to both parties.
While the bottom line drives business decisions, marketing and brand image play an
increasing role in Java ME's importance for operators. By opening their network to third-
party developers such as yourself, operators bring your creativity to the table. Moreover,
Java ME enables operators additional ways to partner with key brands around the globe,
helping the operators differentiate themselves and giving brands far removed from the
mobile computing market an opportunity to interact with consumers in new ways.
Looking from the Consumers' Perspective
Today's consumers demand more from their devices. Whether using a cell phone, set-top
box, or dedicated appliance, consumers expect clear value. Reliability, ease of use, per-
sonalization, and network awareness are features becoming increasingly important even
for traditionally isolated devices. Java ME fits the bill as a platform on which to base these
devices, because it's small, highly portable, and powerful.
In the wireless telecommunications market, consumer demand for reliability, ease of
use, personalization, and network awareness has already begun and continues to grow.
As I write this, Sun estimates that more than two
billion
wireless terminals have shipped
with a Java runtime since the initial launch of Java for handsets. These devices support
communication, entertainment, multimedia, and other applications bringing customiza-
tion and choice to mobile device users around the world.
Java is poised to repeat this success within the set-top box market after years of
persistent effort. With Java on every Blu-ray player as well as countless set-top boxes
for personal entertainment, the potential for new applications is almost boundless. This
market will be more diverse than the mobile market, with room for both small players
and large application development houses as well as the traditional entertainment
content partners (many of whom were latecomers to the wireless telecommunications
marketplace).
Through all of this, Java ME enables developers to provide subscribers with greater
choice, freedom, and flexibility. The fundamental platform enables developers to create
stand-alone applications as well as network-aware applications and games, while
