Ericsson to enhance W-CDMA phones with Java. (Ericsson Telephone to license PersonalJava, Java Application Environment from Sun Microsystems) (Company Business and Marketing)

Mobile phones, systems will tap PersonalJava and Java Application Environment

Ericsson Telephone has announced that it will license Sun Microsystems' PersonalJava language and Java Application Environment for use in its next-generation mobile phones and communication systems.

The telecommunications equipment manufacturer plans to use PersonalJava -- a small-footprint version of the Java language for non-PC information devices such as phones and pagers -- to enhance the functionality of its upcoming Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) mobile phones and systems, officials said. Ericsson's upcoming W-CDMA products will let users transfer data and multimedia services via wireless networks using special handsets.

Ericsson is not the first company to license Java for use in mobile phones. Northern Telecom (Nortel), Motorola, and others have already jumped on the Java-licensing bandwagon and are integrating the language into mobile communications products. Nortel is releasing a Java-based mobile phone offering Internet access and specialized content later this year.

Ericsson did not say how exactly it plans to implement PersonalJava or when users can expect phones with Java support. However, last week at the CeBIT trade show in Hanover, Germany, Ericsson did unveil part of its plan in the mobile data communications arena.

Ericsson is investing heavily in developing new products for the mobile data communications market -- an area of high growth in Europe and around the world, CEO Lars Ramqvist said. Specifically, Ericsson has begun trials of W-CDMA services with ...