SavaJe … a possible competitor in the mobile UE space?
May 31st, 2006 by Scott Janousek
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Not to steal any of the thunder from the recent Flash Lite 2 BREW announcement, but I thought this might be of interest … not to worry, I have quite a few Flash Lite 2 posts I’ll make shortly! I just feel like this should be blogged.
Those of you who might accuse me of some sort of “Flash Mobile Blasphemy”, just hear me out … as a rule of business, it’s always good to know who the “other guys” are. You know, the supposed competitors. That way you can take steps to beat them.
I’m not entirely sure whether SavaJe actually poses much of an actual threat (yet) to Adobe. But part of their business is UE, hence the post.
With Adobe’s Flash Lite, SavaJe might fit the bill as a possible “competitor” in some miniscle way … even if they aren’t really quite on the radar screen yet. They also have quite a different business model … is it taking on Microsoft in the mobile OS arena with their Java based OS?! or solving the problems with mobile RAD, and the UE? All three as a “comprehensive” platform perhaps?
Needless to say, these folks (savaje) are trying to copy some of the same UE philosphies that MacroAdobia has helped refine over the past few years on both the desktop and Flash Mobile (more recently Flash Lite) platform.
Here is a quote directly from their site:
“A compelling user experience is the single most important factor in winning customer loyalty and increasing the demand for data services. SavaJe OS, an open standards-based, Java™ platform for mobile phones, enables operators and handset manufacturers to rapidly brand and customize mobile handsets, while simultaneously delivering high performance and an advanced feature set.”
Sound familiar? Yeah. I know, there guys are definiately on Adobe Mobile turf. Is it true? Not sure! I’d love to find out first hand from an actual device.
What are they planning with SavaJe? It appears, they are trying to eliminate some of the complexities inherent in J2ME by offering their own set of tools (API, and OS by the looks of it). Interestingly enough, they are targeting the ARM chip. Perhaps they are targeting Windows Mobile?
You can check them out at savaje. They have some whitepapers, and other information on their site.
They’re also offering a “Developer’s phone” at $199. Tempting, but not sure if I really want a Java OS enabled phone.
Personally, if I were a J2ME developer at this point, I would be considering broadening my horizons with Flash Lite, and the backing of Adobe … rather than a startup and the promise of a mobile Java implementation that addresses all the weaknesses of J2ME.
However, if I were a bitter Java developer (and not a hardcore Flash Developer), who hated Flash (yes, sadly, these people do exist in the world!), perhaps I might think this platform might actually be, well, viable in the future. Just Maybe. If that’s your thinking, good luck is in order. I’d urge you to take a look at Flash Lite again, if UI and UE are your game.
In any regard, I thought I’d just post about these guys since they are treading in Adobe waters now.
Adobe Mobile take note of these folks. You might have uninvited guests to the whole mobile usability and user experience party.
Sure they have a long way to go, and it’s pretty obvious that they have different plans (taking on Windows Mobile perhaps?), but the promise for a better mobile user interface is a strong one, and device manfacturer’s and operators recognize this.
Will we hear more about SavaJe? Not sure, but Adobe take heed.
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June 1st, 2006 at 6:01 am
Hey Scott,
Great post. I totally agree with you on that. Most of J2ME companies are slowly accepting the fact that Flash Lite is the better option to produce Rich Media content for mobile devices, not because they LOVE Flash, but because they are recognizing it as a more productive and low cost technology that can make them more competitive in this emerging market.
As any other community, the J2ME folks LOVE their chosen mobile technology, but we must look to the mobile scene as a market and not as a “technology battle arena” for passionated developers. Companies doesn´t care about technology “passions” and ideologies, they are just there to make profit that can sustain their business model.
The last time i tried to post about Flash Lite x J2ME pointing out some major advantages of Adobe´s technology to Sun´s, my blog was taken down several times in the same week. I guess they took the “Write once, Debug anywhere” joke too seriously.
June 1st, 2006 at 11:59 am
Luciano, well put.
June 2nd, 2006 at 1:48 am
Scott, I am quite technology agnostic as I’ve developped for many different platform, even if J2ME is my preffered one, but I have several comments:
* I totally agree that FlashLite is much more productive to do user interface than J2ME. The problem is that an application is not only user interface! And then Flash is really painfull when you go beyond simple stuff.
* The biggest issue with Flash, is deployment. Most of companies -including the one I am working for - are looking for customers! If there is a way to produce product with the same quality while reducing development cost, they will take it. But Flash is today poorly deployed….
* Do not think that Macromedia is the “only one” trying to solve the UI issue…
June 2nd, 2006 at 5:36 am
thomas,
1. Personally I see this as a blessing more than a curse. Flash is good at what it does. If that doesn’t fit the bill (and integration is a pain), I would say look elsewhere. The important thing is to evaluate your options thoroughly.
2. This is changing.
3. First it’s Adobe, not Macromedia. This is an important distinction now. I would not argue that there are other players out there … but in my opinion, Adobe has the experience, capital, technology, and motivation to be very successful in this area of mobile.
June 22nd, 2008 at 2:57 am
Thanks for that post, Flash is going to popular on mobile.