November 28, 2001
In a major leap toward the advancement of applications for mobile devices, Motorola's (NYSE: MOT) Semiconductor Products Sector and In-Fusio have developed new software that will assist developers in creating more compelling games for Java technology-enabled mobile phones and other wireless devices. Motorola and In-Fusio, a leading mobile game publisher, have created a common application programming interface (API) that is designed to provide the more than 2.5 million Java developers with the ability to enhance the graphics, sounds and networking capabilities for games being developed for mobile devices.
The API, which will be incorporated into Motorola's leadership implementation of the Java(TM) 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME) software, known as the Motorola Embedded Reference Implementation (MERI), will be called the MERI Mobile Games Engine.
In-Fusio said that this collaboration is a significant milestone for writing the most compelling games, compatible with J2ME software.
"Writing games for Java technology lets our developers use less code and shortens development cycles. Thanks to the games engine, games themselves are smaller, faster and require less bandwidth to download over the air," said Thomas Landspurg, In-Fusio's Chief Technology Officer. "This will increase productivity for developers since In-Fusio's ExEn(R) and Motorola's MERI platform both incorporate the same games API and deliver standard, off-the- shelf tools."
Appealing to In-Fusio's experience in mobile gaming, the MERI Mobile Games Engine is designed to enable true portable games with all the attractiveness, performance and interface consumers have come to expect from more traditional games consoles. Many believe that to compete with popular video games, mobile devices need to offer games with appealing features and an eye-catching appearance.
"Motorola and In-Fusio intend to help accelerate the adoption of consumer applications for mobile devices by making the new API specification available to any manufacturer within the wireless industry," said Anne-Marie Larkin, vice president and director of Motorola's Wireless Software Applications and Services. "This announcement is a significant milestone in moving mobile gaming forward. It opens the door for manufacturers, enabling them to offer consumers enhanced game options designed to help drive adoption of next-generation mobile devices."
Providing leadership software solutions based on Java technology for the mobile communications market is a cornerstone of Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector's strategy to be a leading provider of wireless technology to manufacturers of mobile communications devices. Motorola has introduced six handsets enabled by Java technology into the market and intends to incorporate the technology into the majority of the handsets it will introduce in 2002.
"This platform will greatly improve the user experience by enabling enhanced graphical, audio, and even motion effects for gaming applications," said Peter Aloumanis, vice president of Motorola and director of the U.S. Market Operations for the iDEN Subscriber Group. "Using this API, developers will be able to make games that display animation, play music, make backlighting flash, and vibrate the phone to make the player part of the action."
It's expected that consumers using a wireless device that incorporates Motorola's MERI Mobile Gaming Engine will have a more robust offering of advanced game options. Some of these features include enhanced graphics, animation, background music, sound effects, backlighting, vibrations, and the ability to download levels and play games against other consumers on a wireless network.
Because the J2ME software is designed to run on top of any device's operating system software, J2ME software provides an open standards-based method for software developers to create applications for mobile devices regardless of the system software operating environment. This greatly eases the development costs and time to market for applications targeted for mobile devices.
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