Sprint wants to help developers develop apps for its phones and has opened up its software for developers.
The Sprint Open Software Platform, will be opened first, via the Sprint Titan
platform for Windows Mobile devices. It will give mobile developers the same
codes, tools and resources used for desktop applications The platform is the first of its kind from an operator.
Sprint's Open Software Platform
The Sprint platform is an open, standards-based mobile Java
ecosystem that extends desktop computing and Web 2.0 capabilities to
devices operating on the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network. To get
started, developers can access the full suite of Sprint Titan
development resources at http://developer.sprint.com. It is the first
of several open software platforms that Sprint will make available to
developers.
The platform supports existing MIDP Java ME applications and adds
the more capable CDC/Foundation Java Virtual Machine and OSGi framework
for new high-capability applications. Support for the Eclipse embedded
Rich Client (eRCP) application model means the platform can run
generically written rich GUI applications across a broad range of
devices and desktop computers. Support for the Widget application model
provides Web developers the ability to develop rich Web applications
that take full advantage of the device's functionality. This allows
developers to easily move Eclipse-based or Web applications from the
desktop to Sprint devices. The platform also includes APIs to give
developers access to Sprint-specific device features, such as location,
messaging and multimedia, which can be useful in a variety of business-
and consumer-oriented applications, such as field service or unified
messaging.
As part of today's launch, the platform is available with its own
set of developer tools that plug in to Eclipse IDE and support both
mobile and non-mobile application development and deployment. The
toolset leverages existing server or desktop frameworks and provides
on-device debugging and profiling, along with device emulation.
For enterprise customers, the open platform leverages the same JAVA
application development framework that many customers already use for
desktops and servers. This means applications can be easily extended to
Sprint wireless devices with little resource training or additional
investment beyond what is already in place today. In addition to
extending enterprise applications to the mobile environment, the
platform enables device management functionality so account
administrators can remotely manage their devices and applications.