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Tira Wireless is the premier provider of porting technology for the mobile content market. It provides tools and technology that let mobile publishers, operators and developers quickly and cost-effectively bring quality mobile content to market. Tira has been recognized as one of IDC's "The Top 10 Emerging Wireless Players to Watch," one of the Fierce Wireless "15 Top Wireless Startups," and awarded the 2004 CDMA Industry Achievement Award for Innovative Entertainment Technology Development.
The Tira Jump Product Suite manages the porting of mobile Java applications across a broad range of handsets, languages and mobile operator requirements. Tira also offers professional services related to porting and application certification programs for mobile operators such as TMobile and Telus Mobility. We had an opportunity to talk with Wayne Seifried, Director of Product Marketing, to understand more about their business. What are some of the challenges faced by developers building content for mobile devices? The installed base of mobile Java enabled handsets has passed the half billion mark globally and is expected to exceed two billion by 2010. Today there are more than 350 different Java-enabled mobile handset models from 31 different manufacturers on the market (and still growing). More than 110 different mobile operators with Java download programs sell these devices. This explosive adoption of mobile Java enabled handsets has created a rapidly escalating demand for mobile games and applications. While Java is the leading platform for mobile applications, device fragmentation may be the single-largest barrier to success. With the variety of screen sizes, memory capabilities, keyboards, etc, every application launched to market must be tailored for each device. When language and mobile operator requirements are added on top of different versions needed for so many devices - developers are challenged by the time commitment, complexity and total cost of deploying mobile applications. Dealing with fragmentation distracts developers from new content development, since it takes increasingly more time to ensure existing applications operate on multiple devices and operator networks. What do you offer to the developer community to help meet these challenges? The Tira Jump Product Suite is the only commercially available technology which addresses the challenge of delivering a controlled, end-to-end process for porting mobile content. The Tira Jump technology encapsulates years of porting and device experience. More than 6,000 different versions of applications have been created using Tira Jump technology. More specifically, the Tira Jump Product Suite solves the fragmentation problem by automating the management and porting of mobile applications across more than 200 different devices, while addressing specific language and mobile operator requirements. It drives significant efficiencies in mobile application porting by automating the process, ensuring quality, consistency and control; and automating creation of multiple application builds from portable reference builds. What are some of the trends you see in the mobile app space? Consumer applications like mobile gaming represent one of the fastest growing revenue categories for mobile operators. According to Informa Media, global revenues for mobile games in 2003 were $1.3 billion, and will reach $6.6 billion by 2010. We are also seeing new capabilities like 3D-based games, multiplayer games and online game communities, and even location based games starting to enter the market - but the large entertainment companies with billion dollar brands are really driving this market. Consumer services also starting understand the value of mobile applications as an extension of say, a web-based service. Google has recently launched local search capabilities in many markets and other major brands from the Internet may soon join them. The enterprise market is on the cusp of discovering the capabilities of the mobile phone as a personal computing device. Security and IT control are still barriers, but as these issues are resolved, the next phase of mobility will open up for the enterprise. How has working with Openwave helped Tira? Openwave's vast industry knowledge and connections have been very helpful, especially since our two companies have an overlapping customer base. They are easy to work with, so we meet objectives quickly. This has let us capitalize on a wide variety of sales and marketing opportunities. How do developers work with you? The best way is through the Tira Developer Network Web Site (www.tiradeveloper.com). This is a central resource for developers to use to not only connect with Tira, but also access detailed guidelines on developing mobile applications for portability. There are also other useful pieces of information and resources that can help developers overcome the challenges of device fragmentation. |