14 DAY TRIAL // Sony Ericsson announced earielr this week its first mobile phone to support Mobile Services Architecture (MSA), the next-generation Java umbrella standard (JSR-248). The Z750 clamshell phone is the first phone based on Sony Ericsson's Java Platform 8 (JP-8), supporting a range of new Java programming features including instant messaging / chat and presence based functionality, handling banking, payment transactions, user identification and authentication through secure encryption technology, mapping and other location-aware applications.
The new mandatory application programming interfaces (API's) supported through MSA include 3D graphics, personal information management, Bluetooth, Scalable Vector Graphics, web services, location services and payment services for Java ME (Micro Edition). Sony Ericsson has supported several of these API's in its earlier Java Platform versions but with MSA there is finally industry alignment and a clear set of expectations on the implementation of these JSR's. With MSA, the mass-market mobile phone becomes an increasingly capable platform for enterprise development and it will be possible to ensure secure data storage and communication and create new innovative applications, for example SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) maps.
"With the introduction of MSA, the next-generation Java standard, in our portfolio we hope to continue our proud tradition of delivering consistency, quality and market-leading performance across our range of Java technology enabled phones - for the benefit of our operator customers, third party Java developers and consumers alike," said Rikko Sakaguchi, SVP and Head of Portfolio & Platform Planning at Sony Ericsson.
MSA reduces variations in the platform environment and creates a predictable environment for application developers, reducing porting issues when creating new applications and games for mass-market feature-rich phones.