News

Java is going to take over the wireless world?

The promotion starts tomorrow, spending $500 million - but you might never guess. There's nothing about it from Sun. Why? And what has Christina Aguilera got to do with it?

The latest "breaking news" on Sun's own Java site is as old as last December (a lawsuit triumph over Microsoft). Amazing, considering it is the week of Java One, Sun's own biggest Java exhibition and conference and amazing, considering that the software press is thrilled by the prospect of a $500 million marketing campaign to make "Java Powered" a real rival to "Windows Powered" - and Sun has nothing to say about it?

Wait till tomorrow. The story will, probably, emerge sometime after Java One starts - the Wall Street Journal, which broke the story, was probably not expected to get hold of it till then.

It's going to be a big hype. According to Internet News, rock sex symbol Christina Aguilera will take the microphone tomorrow and announce a sales promotion - focused on wireless platforms, and on web services.

But the big fear is the phone business, and that's where the main focus will be. Java is an absolutely essential part of every data phone today, and Microsoft is trying to muscle into that well-held territory.

The Microsoft threat to Java, as far as Web services goes, is largely discounted by Sun. Microsoft's server business remains peripheral; a lot of servers, yes; but almost none at the central IT hub of the big corporations. That's where HP and IBM and Sun, with Unix, rule the day.

Strangely, although Microsoft's penetration of the phone business is tiny compared with its market share in servers, it's the one area where Sun is paramount; and (unrealistically) Sun is determined to maintain its dominance.

So where Windows CE has been renamed "Windows Powered" Java has its "Java Powered" brand - something it's been promoting for three years at least. But up to now, only software developers have been the targets of this marketing plan. Now, it's going to be rock music fans who get to see the logo.

Internet News analysed this as an attempt to recruit more Java developers. "The ultimate goal is to boost the army of Java software developers to over 10 million from the current 3 million level. To do that, Sun realizes it has to come up with new ways to reach new audiences, according to Ingrid Van Den Hoogen, Sun's director of strategic marketing."

If Sun really believes that rock music fans can inspire a new generation of Java programmers, then it has an unusual view of the software world.

However, it isn't entirely losing its grip on software development reality: there will be a new "simplified" toolset called "Project Rave," which will be available later this year. It's not aimed at phone makers, though, but at IT centres.

Several commentators have seen parallels between "Java Powered" and another big branding exercise; but the one they're comparing it with is "Intel Inside." It remains to be seen if they are right.

The point of Intel Inside was not the "catchy four-note jingle" nor yet the "branding exercise" and if Java thinks it is, it's missed the point completely.

What it was, was sponsorship of customers who bought Intel rather than AMD. If Dell, or Sony, or any other PC maker uses the jingle in its TV advertising, Intel stumps up a proportion of the advertising bill. Effectively, it's paying these people to buy its products rather than rival products.

If Christina Aguilera appears on Nokia advertising, we'll know that Sun has got it. If she appears in Sun-brand advertising, we'll know it has lost its way.

Photo courtesy http://www.americas-fr.com but beware popups ...