The Sun-backed Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) will be distributed on the 6xxx range of Qualcomm’s CDMA Mobile Station Modem (MSM) chipsets. J2ME support will allow existing Java applications to run on the handsets.

Qualcomm claimed that support for J2ME is based on feedback from carriers, and not the early stages of a move to kill BREW. Carriers, Qualcomm said, now have a choice of deploying handsets based either on J2ME or BREW.

Johan Lodenius, senior vice president of marketing and product management for Qualcomm’s CDMA technologies, said the company remains completely committed to BREW. The Java runtime will be built on the MSM chipset’s BREWapi software layer.

However, Qualcomm’s support for J2ME follows a concerted effort by the company to develop and promote BREW, used on cell phones based on CDMA wireless technology.

Despite that effort, evidence suggests J2ME is rapidly becoming the de-facto software platform for cell phones. Java is believed to be in use with 34 carriers worldwide and Sun claims 50 million handsets. Qualcomm has signed eight carrier customers to BREW but, at time of going to press, was unable to say how many handsets use BREW.

Furthermore, BREW’s long-term future is in question, as growth of CDMA seems limited. A report by wireless analyst EMC, published yesterday, predicts that CDMA’s lead in the US would be closed by the rival GSM technology by 2007.

EMC said 43% of US cell phones used CDMA at the end of 2002 compared to 11% for GSM, but by 2007 CDMA will account for 44% of the market while GSM will have grown to 33%.

EMC attributes GSM’s growth to the work of carriers like AT&T Wireless, who are replacing outdated wireless networks with GSM. Some CDMA carriers, meanwhile, are already beginning to swim with the J2ME tide. Sprint PCS, a CDMA user, has chosen Java instead of BREW.

Lodenius conceded yesterday: It’s my job to make the carriers happy.

Nicolas Lorain, product line manager for Sun’s wireless Java platform, said Qualcomm’s decision confirmed J2ME as the platform of choice for wireless data services. He called Qualcomm a mature company who’d listened to carriers’ requests to support J2ME on its chipsets.

Lorain said carriers are selecting J2ME over other alternatives because it does not lock them into a single vendor and because it also provides security through the Java sandbox. Wireless operators are sensitive because they have a certain quality of service. They don’t want to see a virus crash their base stations, Lorain said.

Source: Computerwire