Orange sounds note of reality on operator stores
Published: 5 June, 2009
READ MORE: Orange
The importance of the mobile web to Java was highlighted at this week's JavaOne conference, with an intense focus on using the platform to bring a measure of unity to the fragmented market. In particular, app stores were at the forefront, with Sony Ericsson, Verizon Wireless and Sun itself announcing new shopfronts - but Orange sounding a note of caution.
Orange's fears are shared by many observers of the industry and center on fragmentation. Steve Glagow, VP at developer unit Orange Partner, told the conference: "I struggle a little bit with all of the announcements of all the application stores because there's a plethora of choice out there for the end consumer. And in a sense, it creates a little bit of confusion in terms of where do they go to find what they're looking for."
This is where Java may come in. It is already an important platform for bringing web services and content to midrange phones, which are often operator branded, and many moves have been made to allow programmers to create their apps once and run them virtually unchanged on all these phones. The same trend could spread to the high end - rather than each device or operator having its own closed environment and tools, as Apple does, developers could use Java and the store's individual brand could be merely a skin to attract certain user profiles. Sony Ericsson is blazing this trail by bringing its Java system up to its 3G content platform and phones.
Glagow did acknowledge the significance of stores to the operators, saying Orange has noticed that consumers keep their handsets longer when they can purchase content. However, he questions how new in concept many of the emerging stores really are, saying Orange has had a shopfront for years. Julien Blin, analyst at JBB Research, concurred, telling Telephony: "Generally speaking, I think it is fair to say that carriers like Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T already have a mobile app store. They just don't call it an app store."
Orange is looking to create a store that spans its TV set-top boxes and PCs as well as phones, and the key role of many carrier shopfronts will be to bring together apps for different devices and operating systems. Verizon Wireless, for instance, will host Java and Brew software in its new Plaza Retail (many Brew apps are written in Java anyway).
Taking up the fragmentation theme, Sun's VP of Java engineering, Jeet Kaul, said: "Eventually, there will be consolidation. Now is not the time."
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