Insignia has announced the availability of its Mobile Foundation technology for Microsoft’s Smartphones 2002 platform.

The Insignia Mobile Foundation will enable Smartphone 2002 devices to run J2ME applications, broadening the range of mobile services available to users. It conforms to an enhanced version of the Java CLDC/MIDP specification, designed for relatively low power devices such as smartphones and communicators. According to Insignia it will ship on Smartphones 2002 products which are due for commercial availability prior to the end of the year.

“We have been working closely with Smartphone licensees to incorporate our Mobile Foundation technology into the devices powered by Microsoft Windows for Smartphone platform,” said Mark McMillan, president of Insignia. “Working together, we have optimised our Java technology-enabling software to provide a seamless and rich mobile experience that will speed the adoption of these devices by the market. This enables wireless operators to seamlessly deploy the widest range of mobile services to users and consequently increase revenues and reduce churn.”

Insight

Microsoft is commited to .NET for extending multimedia services to mobile devices, but even it must acknowledge that J2ME is likely to be the application technology of choice for the forthcoming generation of 2.5G smartphones. Hence it’s discreet collaboration with Insignia (Microsoft didn’t even provide an official quote for the press release), which will enable Smartphones 2002 OEMs to include J2ME support and satisfy the demands of network operators and application developers.

The announcement also hints that we might finally see some commercial hardware emerge, most likely in the form of the much-delayed Sendo Z100. Insignia has been working with Sendo for some time and its technology was part of the original technical specification for the product when it was first announced back in February 2001.