AT&T: Hold the Java
AT&T's Roger Smith implied a limited future for Java-based phones at the largest carrier in the U.S.
(Credit: Tom Krazit/CNET News)SAN FRANCISCO--AT&T is planning for a future with just one or two mobile operating systems running on its products, and that may imply a limited future for Java phones at the carrier.
Roger Smith, director of next-generation services at AT&T, implied that Symbian might become the operating system of the future for the phones that AT&T offers subscribers under its own brand. During a talk at the Symbian Partner Event here, Smith promised "dramatic consolidation from AT&T in terms of the mobile platforms and tool chains that we support," and that appears to signal a limited future with AT&T for Java.
"Java has not been a success," Smith said. "It's not because Java is bad, but we didn't manage it effectively." Smith was referring to the much-maligned "fragmentation" problems in the mobile world; in this industry, that word carries the same stench that "proprietary" used to have in enterprise computing.
Solving the fragmentation problem is a key motivation behind the interest in operating systems like Google's Android and the LiMo Foundation's software. Carriers like AT&T want an operating system that they can put their own stamp on, with their own brand, their own applications, and their own unique experience, but they also need support from third-party developers because they simply can't develop everything.
Software platforms like Java and Qualcomm's BREW were supposed to give third-party developers a common platform to write to across different phones and carriers, but in practice, carriers and handset makers essentially "fragmented" those platforms into their own little walled gardens with different user interfaces and requirements. That meant third-party developers had to pick a carrier or phone on which to create their magic and basically start over if they wanted to put that application on another phone; an unattractive proposition.
And as mobile phones have started to become more and more like mobile computers, the software on those phones needs to become more and more sophisticated to run intriguing applications, Smith said. Java doesn't reach down far enough into the lower levels of the phone to exploit hardware in the manner that full-fledged operating systems do, he said.
Enter Symbian. Nokia is attempting to get in on demand for mobile operating systems by acquiring the Symbian operating system and releasing it as a free open-source project managed by an industry consortium called the Symbian Foundation at some point next year. Despite flirting with Android all year, AT&T was a founding member of the Symbian Foundation and is eying that operating system as a candidate for the basic phones that AT&T offers under its own brand.
"We want to standardize our platforms on a platform like Symbian that is mature and effective," Smith said. Obviously, AT&T will continue to offer third-party phones like Apple's iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry, but it has lots of customers who aren't looking for the type of high-end experience offered by those products, yet still want a basic Internet-capable phone, he said.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
My last two phones have been Windows Mobile based from AT&T and once you clean the AT&T crap off of them, the run like champs.
They also need to realize that for those of us that use 'open' smartphones, we end have a significant investment in third party tools and apps, that would be rendered useless if they didn't have an offering that was compatible.
So, be careful what you wish for. Your customers may take you up on it....and go elsewhere.
ATT shifting away from java? just another fragmentation.
this blowhard is talking out of both sides of his mouth.
as long as mobile carriers exercise control over platforms, the fragmentation will continue to be worse than what it is for lowly web developers.
There will be two phone platforms in 5 years. PERIOD. Apple's iPhone on Mac OSX, and Google's Android. All other platforms will become obsolete.
Are they going to drop Samsung's Instinct, too? They're both Java devices.
AT&T's coverage absolutely sucks versus Verizon, anyways, and they clearly don't understand mobile technology. And at least as far as I can tell, Android's a Java device, too.
But Symbian? Give me a break, I'm not going back to the 1990's.
I agree. Blackberry is java and java runs on Android and windows mobile. Mac OSX supports java, give it time and the iPhone will too...
- by sanjayb December 6, 2008 6:06 PM PST
- Java is the only language that can run across many platforms. Problem is that all these carriers have messed it up.
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