Chinese Manufacturer to Launch Java Enabled Handsets

Lionbridge Technologies has said that its ChinaConnect subsidiary has signed an agreement with China's Ningbo Bird to jointly develop Java-enabled mobile phones. ChinaConnect has successfully integrated its wireless platform, SkyVM K Java Virtual Machine, with Bird's CDMA2000-1x model phones, and is planning to rollout China's first domestically developed Java mobile phones in the third quarter of 2002.

ChinaConnect's SkyVM, which is based on Sun Microsystems' newest Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) and Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) standards, has an extremely small footprint which is ideal for mobile devices with limited resources. It provides a robust platform for applications developed using Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME).

"We are pleased to be the first domestic mobile phone company to produce a Java-enabled mobile phone. This development will allow Bird to establish a strong presence in China's fast growing data service market," commented Siqing Wang, director of research and development, Bird Electronics.

Bird is one of the largest and fastest growing mobile phone companies in China, with an estimated five million mobile phones to be sold in 2002. Last month, ChinaConnect and Sun signed a Java technology partnership agreement. ChinaConnect is the first China domestically based company to become a Sun authorized Java channel partner.'"

Posted to the site on 17th May 2002