Communology takes smart Java apps to mass market

COLOGNE, GERMANY: At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Communology, a Cologne, Germany-based software house specializing in mobile applications, aims to dispel the myth that sophisticated applications can only run on smart phones.

The company will be showing LiveMedia C³ Cubical and LiveMedia Visual Voicemail, new software clients that also support feature phones and Java ME, the dominant platform in the medium-priced mobile segment. With its smart Java apps, Communology is targeting the needs of mobile operators that want to present richer offerings to the mass market.

LiveMedia C³ Cubical for Java unites a range of different web services and mobile communication applications on its Connected Home Screen. Cubical offers users easy access to telephony, e-mail, SMS, MMS, visual voicemail, instant messaging (IM) communities, and social networks.

With its Connected Phone Book, the application also provides a central contact management tool that supports every available communication channel: Besides data from the device’s own phone book, it can incorporate instant messaging and social network contacts and even show contacts’ presence status.

With LiveMedia Visual Voicemail for Java, Communology makes its exceptionally easy-to-use client software available to users of the widespread Java platform and mid priced feature phones. Communology also ensures interoperability with the various voicemail servers used by operators and can provide implementation services and, if required, patent licenses, all from a single source.

Smart Java apps
Thomas Kähler, CEO of Communology, said: “Today, mobile apps are the domain of smart phones. Although mid-price feature phones are much more common, hardly any attractive applications are available for them. The question is why this vast potential market has remained largely untapped. One reason is that developing advanced applications which need to control multiple functions on user devices is significantly more complex on Java ME and proprietary platforms than it is on smart phones with their open interfaces.

"Now, though, our Java specialists, with their many years of experience, have succeeded in creating sophisticated applications for the mass market. The keen interest this has generated among mobile operators shows that our smart Java apps stand up to comparison with apps for Android, the iPhone, and similar platforms.”

LiveMedia, a proven portfolio
Communology offers quality-tested, pre-configured LiveMedia clients as white label products that can easily be customized and branded to mobile operators’ requirements and ported to specific models of mobile device. Customers who have purchased LiveMedia clients include Sony Ericsson, Nokia, T-Mobile and Vodafone.

The LiveMedia portfolio comprises communication and multimedia applications for a range of platforms, including Android, Java ME, Symbian and Windows Mobile.