Sony Ericsson Demonstrates One Year of Mobile Java 3D Leadership

One year ago, Sony Ericsson announced its first Java 3D-enabled mobile phones. A lot has happened since then. In 2004, Sony Ericsson launched six new phones with Java™ 3D technology ranging from entry-level to high-end phones, making Sony Ericsson the only GSM/UMTS mobile phone manufacturer with a broad range of 3D-enabled phones on the market. The company recently announced six more Java 3D-enabled phones including the K750, J300, K300 and W800 Walkman® phone as well as two new 3G UMTS phones, the Z800 and K600, demonstrating Sony Ericsson’s commitment to mobile gaming and mobile Java 3D innovation. With these 12 phones, the company plans to bring 3D gaming to the masses in 2005.

Through the Sony Ericsson Developer World program, the company works with well-known game development companies to distribute high-quality 3D games to the market through the Fun & downloads portal ( www.sonyericsson.com/fun), and enables key operator customers to expand their 3D game offerings.

“Sony Ericsson and Digital Chocolate are leaders in 3D technology and we are pleased to be working closely together to develop graphically rich experiences for mobile entertainment," said Ilkka Paananen, Managing Director of Europe at Digital Chocolate Ltd. “Our 3D games, like 3D Extreme Air Snowboarding™ and 3D Beach MiniGolf™, execute 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.

“The Sony Ericsson V800 for Vodafone was just one in a line of excellent 3D-enabled devices from Sony Ericsson, and we were delighted to include it in the launch portfolio of Vodafone live! with 3G in November last year. It may still be 'early days' for the mobile 3D gaming market in Europe, but that assumption is already challenged in a very pleasing way by the strong interest among our customers in downloading such games," said Tim Harrison, Head of Games at Vodafone Group Services Limited. “High-quality 3D games will be at the core of Vodafone's proposition in 2005, and we look forward with interest to Sony Ericsson's developments in this exciting area. Of course, their continued commitment to supporting the game development community will be crucial to ensure an attractive game portfolio."

To help professional, wireless developers leverage mobile Java 3D, Sony Ericsson Developer World offers a number of services for free to the global community. A new Java 3D discussion forum was recently launched on the Developer World portal. This is backed up 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.Find out more at:www.SonyEricsson.com/developer/java3d