Ericsson: Sony Ericsson gears up for Java 3D gaming

A lot has happened since Sony Ericsson announced its first Java 3D-enabled mobile phones a year ago. In 2004, Sony Ericsson launched six new phones with Java 3D technology, ranging from entry-level to high-end phones. These made it the only GSM/UMTS mobile phone manufacturer with a broad range of 3D-enabled phones on the market, demonstrating Sony Ericsson?s commitment to mobile gaming and mobile Java 3D innovation.

K600

K750

Z800

Sony Ericsson recently announced eight more Java 3D-enabled phones, including the K7500, J300, K300 and W800 Walkman phone; two new 3G UMTS phones (the Z800 and K600); and two phones exclusively for T-Mobile's European markets (the D750i and K508i). All of these are MIDP 2.0 and Java 3D-enabled, supporting both Mascot Capsule Micro3D v3 and JSR-184.

Through its Sony Ericsson Developer World program, the company works with well-known game development companies to distribute high-quality 3D games to the market, enabling key operator customers to expand their 3D game offerings.

Ilkka Paananen, managing director, Europe, at Digital Chocolate Ltd., says: "Sony Ericsson and Digital Chocolate are leaders in 3D technology and we are pleased to be working closely together to develop rich graphic experiences for mobile entertainment. Our 3D games, such as 3D Extreme Air Snowboarding and 3D Beach MiniGolf, work and display beautifully on Sony Ericsson's handsets."

By combining attractive product features with fun, useful and innovative content and applications, Sony Ericsson offers operators an attractive value proposition and consumers a rich multimedia experience.

Tim Harrison, head of games at Vodafone Group Services Limited, says: "The Sony Ericsson V800 for Vodafone was just one in a line of excellent 3D-enabled devices from Sony Ericsson. We were delighted to include it in the launch portfolio of Vodafone live! with 3G in November last year. These may still be early days for the mobile 3D-gaming market in Europe, but there is strong interest among our customers in downloading such games.

"High-quality 3D games will be at the core of Vodafone's proposition in 2005, and we anticipate Sony Ericsson's developments in this exciting area. Of course, its continued commitment to supporting the game development community is crucial in ensuring an attractive game portfolio."

To help professional wireless developers leverage mobile Java 3D, Sony Ericsson Developer World offers a number of free services to the global community. A new Java 3D discussion forum was recently launched on the Developer World portal. This is backed by experienced Developer Support Engineers, Developers' Guidelines, a Special Interest Paper on Mobile Java 3D development and the continued roll-out of Java 3D tips, tricks and code samples. The Sony Ericsson J2ME Software Development Kit (SDK) supports MIDP versions 1.0 and 2.0, full 3D emulation and on-device debugging.