What Sun has in store for us?

I've attended Java Technology Day here in Israel and while this is a technological conference, it has deep implications on the mobile content we're about to see in the following years.

As you probably know Sun's J2ME (Java for mobile devices) became the de-facto standard for mobile applications in Europe, and is also rather popular all around the world, pushing other platforms such as Qualcomm's Brew aside (even in the US).

One of the major problems with J2ME is the lack of compatibility among devices. One of the reasons for this situation is that Sun's standard for mobile devices (MIDP) didn't require them to implement APIs for common features (such as multimedia, SMSs, Bluetooth etc.). This made developers to release several builds for each device according to its specific API support.

To solve this problem Sun has defined (in a process led by Nokia and Vodafone) a standard called MSA (Mobile Services Architecture). This standard has much more strict requirements from devices and as such can push the market into standardization. MSA comes in two flavours: full and MSA subset (for weak devices). Even in the MSA subset standard the following are a must: Multimedia, Messaging (SMS), Bluetooth, 3D graphics, SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) and PIM (Personal Information Management, i.e. access to the contact list and other files on the phone, such as pictures, MP3s etc.).

When J2ME started it was quite limited (somewhat due to the traditional "sandbox" approach), but as you can see the added APIs can leverage mobile Java applications into a whole new level.

Of all the APIs mentioned above, SVG is probably one of the more strategic ones for Sun, and useful for developers. Unlike bitmap graphics, vector graphics allows lossless scaling of graphic objects and is more suitable to some applications including mapping and can also help handle the difference in devices' screen sizes in games and animations.

The emphasis on SVG and its definition as a must even in the MSA subset is probably due to the gap closing by Sun's nemesis Adobe. Adobe has won the battle over the desktop with its Flash technology, mainly due to the difficulties users are having with installing the JRE which is the Java plug-in (And not a word about Microsoft's role in that...).

Now, Adobe is headed towards the mobile with its Flash Lite technology. In the mobile world Sun currently has a big advantage and that's its big install base, but Sun knows better than to sit still and is targeting one of Flash's flag features: Vector graphics.

The PIM API is also extremely important: Not only it allows interacting with the contact list (which is useful for community/friends driven applications) but it also allows access to local files on the handset. This means that Java apps are able to play MP3s and show pictures from outside their sandbox.

Another API worth mentioning which is not included in the MSA subset but on the full MSA is CHAPI (Content Handling API). This API allows Java applications (as well as native ones) to run other Java application to handle specific types of content, in the same way that on your PC browser when you click a resource of a specific type (PDF, MP3 etc.) it launches the relevant application.

So, to summarize, the new APIs, and their availability on a multitude of devices, opens a door to a whole set of new applications and new market opportunities. Now go get 'em!


P.S. - Expanding the standard set of supported APIs is great, but it is not a complete solution to the problem. Device manufacturers/mobile JVM vendors have been known to cut corners on Java implementations, and even the base API is sometime different from phone to phone (preventing the application developer from releasing a single build that fits all). So it is certainly not the end of porting - but it's a good step in that direction...

IVA 2007

Last week I've been to IVA 2007, the annual conference of the Israeli Venture Association. The conference which attracts most of Israel's VCs (And entrepreneurs...) was focused this time on building large companies (Israel has a lot of successful exits of small and medium companies, but just a handful of really large hi-tech corporations).

The conference featured some impressive keynotes from Shay Agassi (ex-SAP), Gil Schwed (Checkpoint) and Stanley Fischer. Some lectures/panels were very interesting, others quite obvious, but all in all a good balance. Anyway, I guess it was all worth it for the mingling, and also for Alex Vieux's direct style of interviewing (For example, in a question to Israel Makov, ex-CEO of Teva: "So, why did you leave Teva? Were you tired, or were they tired of you?...")

Anyway, the major trend everyone is talking about (surprise, surprise) is CleanTech. In Agassi's lecture he basically said "drop everything you're doing now - go to CleanTech..." others said it less bluntly, but in any case this is definitely one of the directions VCs in Israel will go to. But all of you software/Web 2.0 entrepreneurs don't have anything to worry about - there are plenty of interest and actual investments in these fields...

Another trend that could be seen is the involvement of the VC/Hi-Tech industry in social projects. The exhibition featured mostly social projects intended to help underprivileged kids, teenagers and students.

That's about it - it was definitely a good place to meet some old friends and catch up on today's trends.

Walking down the street... on the web...

Well, this has nearly nothing to do with mobile content, but it is so cool that I couldn't not write about it...

Google has launched a new service inside Google Maps which is called "Streetview". The service allows you to see how the streets actually look like as if you were walking/driving. As I understand Google (or actually its partner for this project, Immersive Media) took a car out on the streets with a special camera on top of it, and there you have it: America is physically on-line...

The great thing is that though these are static images, you can go in any direction with a very intuitive inteface, and it really looks like as if you were walking down the street (a frozen in time street, but still...).

Currently the service covers areas in New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Denver & Miami but I am sure they'll get everywhere soon enough...

Anyway, you simply have to check it out yourselves. But beware - it's addictive...

The Asian Markets

Yesterday I met with several diplomats from Asia (Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, Thailand and more). They came to see the incubator model here in Israel, so they visited JVP Studio which is the incubator in which GamearraY grew.

Now, I have already written about the importance of Asia, and in particular Japan and Korea in the mobile market. But when I was asked by the Japanese delegate why do Israeli companies prefer doing business with Europe and the US, my spontaneous answer was "force of habit".

Usually when asked this question, people will say "cultural difference" or something like that. And while it's true that there are huge differences in the culture, but there are also differences between Israeli culture and the US & European culture and still Israeli companies feel confident approaching these markets at early stages (and are doing quite well there...)

It is my feeling that while there is some more profound cultural gap between Asia and the western world, in the modern business world the "culture" is becoming a lesser factor, since the real "culture" guiding businessmen is actually some sort of a global "business culture". The only problem is that it takes time to these changes to be realized, and since before Asian markets were not very open to western companies, people still think that and already have the instant answer of "cultural differences".

I may be oversimplifying things, and I know that there are a lot of nuances, but still, I think that Asian markets are more open today than they have ever been, and it is worth exploring the Asian option, especially in the mobile market.