(keitai-l) Re: SIM and J2ME

FYI:

The 'latencies' for some of the USA Java phones are as high as 6 to 8
seconds.  Nextel has the best results, because of PTT (Push To Talk),
but even that is 1 to 2 seconds.  I'm impressed that you see 1 second
latencies in Japan ... gives me hope.

We're shipping a 3D multiplayer game latter this year (MIDP 1.0).  It
was one of the most interesting design challenges I have ever faced.

To go to the next generation of multiplayer games ... we will have to
move to a "thin client" model ... but we will also have to be very
careful on packet loads.

Bill Volk
Teknik.


-----Original Message-----
From: keitai-l-bounce@appelsiini.net
[mailto:keitai-l-bounce@appelsiini.net] On Behalf Of Chris Wooldridge
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2003 10:20 PM
To: 'keitai-l@appelsiini.net'
Subject: (keitai-l) Re: SIM and J2ME

Addressing some of the recent traffic re my post on this subject:

One of the key arguments against thin service frameworks is packet
billing
charges.  My understanding is that where carriers are considering this
type
of solution, they would be bundled as a part of a flat rate all you can
eat
plan.  A number of readers have pointed out that these plans are
becoming
widely available outside of Japan.  I personally pay about 1500 yen a
month
for all the GPRS data I can choke down.

Bearing that in mind, before we dismiss thin services out of hand, take
a
look at the Cognima trial with Orange:  

http://www.cognima.com/releases/25_jun_03.shtml
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/archive/29271.html

The Register article points out, there are many useful scenarios for
this
type of product.  Adding thin-client components into the phone
infrastructure means networked corporate applications can be accessed
and
remotely managed in the same way.  This is something we at Bullant do.

Performance, by the way, is very good.  At the Wireless Japan shows this
year we demonstrated this fact with multi-player move based games being
played between a DoCoMo and J-Phone handset.  Latencies in the order of
one
second were the norm for moves in a Connect 4 game running between
different
players on different handsets across different phone networks.  

BTW, checkout http://www.x-9.com/ - they used to have an iMode ping tool
in
their iMode menu under tools.  The answer for iMode latency was
150-200ms
which is very usable.  In Australia, we put up with one to one and a
half
second round trip latencies on GPRS.  

Thin in the Bullant model also means I can run multiple networked
applications simultaneously so I can play a game, compose a mail and
engage
in an IM session without any loss of context with instantaneous
switching
between applications.

It has been pointed out that Japanese carriers do not own applications -
content providers do.  Having worked in Japan for some time I understand
the
model well.  

Not so with Cognima.  It is being trialled and branded by Orange in
Europe.
By providing this service, Orange hopes to increase customer
satisfaction
and reduce churn.  I believe Cognima are trialing with six European
carriers
in total.

I concede that the concept of a 'thin phone' is a poor idea.  As I was
at
pains to point out in my original post, this would only work when
network
connectivity is ubiquitous (in utopia that is - and my carrier doesn't
have
a roaming agreement with them yet).  There are a number of models for a
thin
service framework that must provide a balance on the phone and in the
network functionality and can add to the overall user experience.