Sun Microsystems' Java Card technology has been adopted into the industry-leading worldwide standard for mobile phones: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and could also be used by SA cellular service providers.
Already shipping, the smart card chip built into GSM phones provides personalisation and security while enabling access to a variety of new wireless services such as remote banking, ticketing and payment due to the phone's ability to provide secure transactions.
"With more mobile phones sold worldwide last year than cars and PCs combined, there are clearly a wealth of opportunities for device manufacturers and service providers," says Patrice Peyret, director, platform software engineering, Consumer and Embedded, Sun Microsystems.
"Leveraging platform independent Java technology in GSM phones will empower the emerging networked economy by allowing telecommunications providers to become wireless portals, connecting customers seamlessly to Internet based content and services," he says.
International Data Corporation estimates that over 200 million people worldwide today use mobile phones and that number is projected to reach one billion users by the year 2005.
"It is likely that this Java card technology will be adopted in due course by cellular service providers in South Africa, especially when General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is implemented," says Vikrant Patel, systems engineer at Sun Microsystems SA.
"The local cellular industry is highly competitive," he says. "Adopting Java card technology would put the service provider one step ahead, as the technology offers a host of benefits to cell phone users."
The combination of Java technology and a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Toolkit will enable service providers to simply create and securely deploy value-added services such as travel and entertainment reservations, ticketing and loyalty programs to GSM phones.
Sun's open technologies, such as the Java Card platform, help ensure cross-platform compatibility, portability and strong security features.
The ability of Java Card technology to work across different platforms is accelerating the convergence of multiple industries. For example, De La Rue (Oberthur) is demonstrating a GSM SIM card that contains support for both Java Card technology and the GlobalPlatform, formerly known as the Visa Open Platform. This particular card provides direct support for both telephony and financial applications.
The Java Card platform's open standard object-orientated structure provides a natural platform for this integration, allowing businesses to deploy payment and transaction services to millions of customers across a wide range of Java technology-enabled devices. Introduced in 1996, the Java Card platform is a widely deployed open standard multi-application smart card environment. With over 30 licensees representing more than 90% of the manufacturing capacity of the smart card industry, the Java Card platform is a proven technology that has been deployed in millions of units.
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Sun Microsystems
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision 'The Network Is The Computer' -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW), to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to ".com" their businesses. With $12.4 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com