News - Tuesday 29th June 2004 - 10:01am
SAN FRANCISCO
JavaOne Conference (Sony Ericsson Booth #1332)---Sony
Ericsson Mobile Communications and Tira
Wireless announced today that the two companies are working together to enhance
the mobile gaming experience for North American consumers seeking a more robust
selection of popular games on their mobile devices.
Working together, the companies are utilizing the Tira Jump platform to enable
quick portability of Java Platform Micro Edition (J2ME) applications to Sony Ericsson
handsets, which eliminates the need for developers to manually rewrite applications
and keep track of multiple versions.
The new tools enable mobile operators offering Sony Ericsson handsets to quickly
deliver more games to the market and address the rapidly expanding demand for
content. The Tira Jump platform has the capability to automatically generate multiple
builds of J2ME applications across a broad range of devices, languages and mobile
operator requirements from a portable reference build enabling a quick and efficient
way to bring gaming applications to the market. Leading software publishers have
had classic games, such as Snood from THQ Wireless, quickly ported to Sony Ericsson
devices using the Tira Jump platform.
“Application developers in general have to spend a lot of effort and resources
to optimize their games for the variety of mobile devices available on the market.
By working closely with Tira Wireless, Sony
Ericsson can efficiently and quickly help developers deliver popular mobile Java
games to a broad market, thereby providing consumers with more choices and an
improved gaming experience,” said David Bent, vice president of marketing,
Sony Ericsson North America. “The Tira Jump platform will enable even more
creativity in the development community that will benefit consumers and the industry.”
Sony Ericsson currently offers a number of leading mobile phones and accessories
to provide consumers a robust mobile gaming experience. Sony Ericsson handsets
feature bright color screens, sharp graphics, polyphonic sound, vibrating force
feedback and joystick control. The Z500, K700, S700, P900, Z600, T637, T610 and
616 mobile phones all support Java, and Sony Ericsson actively works to ensure
consumers will have quick access to some of the hottest available games through
a download from its Fun & Downloads site and the Sony Ericsson Application
Shop. Additionally, Sony Ericsson
offers the Gameboard EGB-10 attachable game controller that transforms selected
handsets into a mobile gaming device.
“Sony Ericsson’s latest handsets offer mobile game players many exciting
choices,” said Tony Davis, CEO, Tira Wireless. “By using Tira Jump,
Sony Ericsson, carriers, and consumers will have access to a broad selection of
best selling games for those devices.”
About Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB serves the global communications market
with innovative and feature-rich mobile phones, accessories, PC-cards and M2M
solutions. Established as a joint venture by Ericsson and Sony in 2001, with headquarters
in London, the company employs more than 4,000 people worldwide, including R&D
sites in Europe, Japan, China and America. For more information, please visit
Sony Ericsson Developer World is a global support program and web portal totally
dedicated to helping serious wireless developers achieve business success by providing
the documentation, tools, training, technical and go-to-market support they need
in their development process. Sony Ericsson Developer World helps developers get
on the fast track from mind to market, thereby ensuring that a constant stream
of fun, useful and innovative content and applications is available for Sony Ericsson
phones. http://www.SonyEricsson.com/developer
About Tira Wireless
Tira Wireless is a provider of enabling technology for the J2ME marketplace. Tira's
proprietary J2ME technologies enable mobile operators, publishers and developers
to quickly and securely deliver quality J2ME applications to market. Its technologies
include the Tira Jump platform, which automatically ports J2ME applications across
a variety of handsets and languages; and the Mobile Assure wireless application
certification software and process. Tira's customers and partners include THQ
Wireless, Disney Mobile, Sony Digital Pictures, mForma, T-Mobile, TELUS Mobility,
and Sun Microsystems,
Inc. Based on the continued growth of Java and Tira's strengthening position in
the market, Tira was recognized as one of "10 Emerging Wireless Players to
Watch" by IDC and named one of the Top 15 Wireless Startups by Fierce Wireless.
Tira Wireless is a privately held company funded by Brightspark Ventures of Toronto
and Flagship Ventures of Cambridge. For more information visit www.tirawireless.com.