Verizon Wireless this month marks the nationwide launch of BREW-based applications over its wireless data network. The company was the first to roll out BREW commercially in the United States, when it launched in March early applications based on QUALCOMM Inc.'s binary runtime wireless technology.
Customers that purchase new $149 Kyocera International Inc. or $399 Sharp Electronics Corp. (see right) phones running BREW now can access a handful of single-player games from Jamdat Mobile Inc. and download musical ring tones from Vivendi Universal Net USA for between $1 and $10 per application.
Additional applications, including multiplayer games; a calorie counter; and various business applications, such as one that helps people keep track of business expenses while on the road, are coming down the pike. A total of 80 BREW applications are available or in the pipeline.
Verizon's vice president of wireless data and Internet services Jim Straight says these applications are expected to drive new revenue and lower churn at Verizon.
But the company will give the "lion's share" of the customer revenues from the BREW services to Jamdat Mobile and its other developers, says Straight. One analyst told xchange the breakdown was 80 percent to the developer and 20 percent to Verizon.
Initial applications are all games played offline, so they aren't positioned to drive significant new traffic on the network. Customers simply download the initial six or seven applications from servers onto their handsets. The handsets, which include 1 and 1.5 megs of RAM, can hold three 18-hole golf course games and five other game applications simultaneously, says Jamdat Mobile CEO Mitch Lasky.
BREW also is available in Korea. In the United States, Alltel Corp. and U.S. Cellular Corp. have announced intentions to offer BREW-based services.
As a competitor to BREW, applications based on Sun Microsystems Inc.'s popular Java technology soon will make a splash in wireless networks, says Nokia spokeswoman Virve Virtanen. New Nokia Java-based handsets announced at the recent CTIA show in Orlando include the Nokia 7210 triband model with color screen and an FM radio; the Nokia 7650, the company's first multimedia messaging services device now shipping in Europe and Asia, which includes a digital camera to enable users to send photo attachments to others wirelesses users; and the flashy, youth-oriented Nokia 3590. "Fifty percent of the phones we announced at this show are Java-enabled," says Virtanen, adding that network operator Cingular Wireless voiced its commitment to Java at the show.
