Sun plotting a JavaPhone

Sun said more details surrounding the deal will be announced at the annual JavaOne conference being held in San Francisco on May 8th-11th 2007.

The irony here is that last year's JavaOne conference pronounced the SavaJe-based Jasper S20 mobile phone, produced by Group Sense Limited, as the 'Device of the Show'.

As far as the INQ can ascertain, the S20 is the only commercially available Savaje handset. There were rumours that LG would produce a model based on the OS but that seems to have disappeared.

Indeed, the Jasper doesn't appear to be on sale outside Asia. This is against a background of Bob Gilkes, CEO with Savaje, originally predicting that the first handsets would appear in Q1 2005.

Jayker Shah, an industry analyst commented, "As mobile phones become more 'internet centric' a pure Java OS phone may have some advantages.

Especially when mobile operators are scrambling to offer new data services (which need mobile apps to run) to boost ARPU numbers."

Inevitably, the bloggers will be scouring the archives of the FCC and the US Patent Office to see if Sun files anything pointing towards a JavaPhone or Jphone. Until then, we'll have to wait until the JavaOne conference for more hints as to what Sun is planning. µ

L'INQS
Savaje
Group Sense