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Sprint PCS Calls on Java

New handset will run the Palm operating system and feature Java support to enable more complex applications.

Ashlee Vance, IDG News Service

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SAN DIEGO -- Sprint PCS is jumping on the Java bandwagon. The company has announced support for Java on a pair of handsets running the Palm operating system, as well as an application developers' program in conjunction with Sun Microsystems.

Sprint PCS will join Nextel Communications as a U.S.-based provider of Java-enabled phones via both its developer program and future handsets, says Pat Noland, product manager at Sprint PCS, at the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association event held here.

Sprint PCS is showing the i300 handset at its CTIA booth, and will start shipping the device from Samsung Electronics by the end of this month. The i300 will be the first color handset running the Palm operating system and will cost about $399, according to Noland. The unit measures 4.9 inches by 2.28 inches and is .82 inches thick.

Companies such as Japan's NTT DoCoMo and Nokia have already squared their efforts around Java-enabled phones, announcing that they will be selling millions of handsets with the compact J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition) software over the next couple of years.

Write Once, Run Anywhere

Java is the popular "write once, run anywhere" programming language developed by Sun, which the company claims could make the consumer's wireless life more enjoyable by making it easier to download software and run more complex types of entertainment or business software.

Users can currently load a small program know as a Java Virtual Machine onto Sprint PCS handsets made by Kyocera and run Java applications. The Kyocera handset, which has been available for several months, combines phone functions with handheld tools running on the Palm operating system.

The Kyocera Smartphone weighs 7.34 ounces and is 5.6 inches by 2.5 inches and 0.86 inches thick. It typically costs about $399 when users agree to a one-year service contract with a provider such as Sprint PCS, according to a Kyocera representative at the CTIA show.

Sprint PCS will team with Sun officials and industry analysts to judge a Java developers contest at the Sprint PCS developer conference to be held this October in Las Vegas.

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