Friday, July 16, 2004

Wonderwerx to launch mobile Java products

by Mark Mayne on 26 September 2001 15:19:00 GMT

Wireless startup Wonderwerx is to launch its first product, PinchMee, in two weeks time. The Java-based product is an instant messaging application for GPRS and 3G handsets.

Although Java on handsets (based on the 3GPP MExE standard) has been an industry talking point for some time, only recently has it begun to hit the streets. The Nokia 9210 supports Java downloads, and more phones are due out in the coming months – Nokia has apparently committed to providing 50m Java handsets next year. Instant messaging has also been touted as a killer app for next generation phones.

Stephen Griffiths, Wonderwerx founder, said: “PinchMee is Java-based so it is platform independent, and runs in a very restricted space. Another advantage is that the front-end skin can be changed easily, allowing far more potent branding opportunities for companies, either B2B or B2C.”

PinchMee also apparently offers a central inbox, and transparently works across all messaging mediums, (SMS, ICQ, email) depending on what device the user is online with. Promotional campaigns could eventually be directed across such mediums, although the logistical problems involved have not yet been convincingly solved.

According to Griffiths, the product will probably be live by Q3 next year, and is to be aimed at customers such as middleware companies, like Logica and Comverse. He conceded that the current market for such applications is limited, but pointed to the migration of users from GSM to GPRS as being a likely catalyst.

“Although there are few GPRS users at the moment,” he said, “the operators desperately need to begin migrating early adopters onto the new GPRS networks – a process that will begin in earnest this Christmas. It will be interesting to see how services and packages are pitched in these difficult times.”

Copyright © 2007 Breakthroo Limited. All rights reserved
Breakthroo is powered by → ExpressionEngine