MEX

Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), the industry group recently formed from the merger of the WAP Forum, SyncML initiative and other organisations, has announced specifications for standardising the process of downloading content to mobile devices.

The specification documents call for a single system to handle all types of content, with support for a number of different payment models and that can be brought to market quickly. OMA is keen to halt a growing fragmentation in the content downloads market which has seen operators, device manufacturers and software developers using proprietary technology or creating incompatibilities by altering existing standards-based solutions. The download specifications will initially cover popular items such as ringtones and icons, but will quickly be extended to video and Java applications as these capabilities become widespread.

OMA’s membership encompasses virtually all of the world’s leading manufacturers, operators and developers. The group is keen to show it is making progress in defining standards for key next generation technologies and has conducted an internal reorganisation to better meet the needs of the market. It has established working groups in areas such as Web Services, Requirements, Architecture, Interoperability and formed a Technical Plenary to oversee the development of recommended specifications.