Opinionated comments on mobile phone industry news
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All entries are written by Anders Borg, CEO and Consultant of Abiro, that has a long experience in strategic planning, developing embedded and Java software, usability aspects, and the mobile phone industry in general. You can also read the latest Mobile News entries on your phone via wap.abiro.com, and we provide many News Feeds from popular news services. For advertising and contribution queries, please use the feedback form. News feed (local) FeedBurner Feed
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Thursday, October 26, 2006
BlueTrail, developer of mobile enterprise applications
Richard Spence at BlueTrail commented on my Java ME in the enterprise note, so I did some analysis what they are up to.
BlueTrail focuses on know-how in the technologies needed for developing mobile applications in Java ME and adapting enterprises with mobility in mind, and for access from Java ME applications or the embedded messaging or browsing applications. Simply put, what's needed to know to mobilize enterprise services.
Their Mobriz solution provides mobile-based surveys. Customers configure surveys via BlueTrail's site and users then access the site by downloading a Java ME application and fill in information in a custom form (based on the configuration). This could have been done in WML too of course, but with less user comfort, unless installing a new application could be considered a discomfort in itself.
BlueTrail's Mobile CRM solution has been provided to Red Bull, and there's a success story about this.
I get the impression that BlueTrail also does customer-ordered development, so it's not just off-the-shelf product sales.
I noted experience in J2ME Polish and based on the screenshots it seems the survey and CRM applications are using that. I've considered it myself due to the compatibility with standard MIDP (1 and 2) form elements and the possibility to completely customize look-n-feel even though it will work on both MIDP 1 and 2 phones.
Richard mentioned that the location application described on the site uses a central service for location rather than the Java ME Location API. The Location API is still only available in a few phones, so this is the way to go for now.
He also added a comment on the fact that Java ME is used and not Symbian OS etc, which is similar to my way of reasoning: The enterprise side is an interesting area, in that some of the applications we have done have only really become viable when we implemented them on a mobile phone. Had we suggested a windows mobile device or palm, I am sure customers would not have been interested as they would have seen the introduction of new devices as a barrier.
And here's what he had to say about fragmentation among Java ME implementations: Another exciting thing about enterprise Java ME is that the fragmentation issues are less pronounced. Why? Well often the users have the same phone model or at least the same manufacturer (Nokia!).
BlueTrail - Great Applications for Mobile Phones: Java, J2ME, WAP, MMS
BlueTrail focuses on know-how in the technologies needed for developing mobile applications in Java ME and adapting enterprises with mobility in mind, and for access from Java ME applications or the embedded messaging or browsing applications. Simply put, what's needed to know to mobilize enterprise services.
Their Mobriz solution provides mobile-based surveys. Customers configure surveys via BlueTrail's site and users then access the site by downloading a Java ME application and fill in information in a custom form (based on the configuration). This could have been done in WML too of course, but with less user comfort, unless installing a new application could be considered a discomfort in itself.
BlueTrail's Mobile CRM solution has been provided to Red Bull, and there's a success story about this.
I get the impression that BlueTrail also does customer-ordered development, so it's not just off-the-shelf product sales.
I noted experience in J2ME Polish and based on the screenshots it seems the survey and CRM applications are using that. I've considered it myself due to the compatibility with standard MIDP (1 and 2) form elements and the possibility to completely customize look-n-feel even though it will work on both MIDP 1 and 2 phones.
Richard mentioned that the location application described on the site uses a central service for location rather than the Java ME Location API. The Location API is still only available in a few phones, so this is the way to go for now.
He also added a comment on the fact that Java ME is used and not Symbian OS etc, which is similar to my way of reasoning: The enterprise side is an interesting area, in that some of the applications we have done have only really become viable when we implemented them on a mobile phone. Had we suggested a windows mobile device or palm, I am sure customers would not have been interested as they would have seen the introduction of new devices as a barrier.
And here's what he had to say about fragmentation among Java ME implementations: Another exciting thing about enterprise Java ME is that the fragmentation issues are less pronounced. Why? Well often the users have the same phone model or at least the same manufacturer (Nokia!).
BlueTrail - Great Applications for Mobile Phones: Java, J2ME, WAP, MMS
