December 16th, 2003 (12:00am) - With Intava’s latest marketing and visualization software, mobile operators and game publishers can generate additional revenue via their web sites
Intava, a provider of marketing and visualization technologies for mobile handsets and content, today announced the immediate availability of Intava Showcase(TM) 1.0 for the mobile gaming community.
Intava Showcase is the first web-based product to accurately simulate the wireless gaming experience on a consumer’s PC. When Intava Showcase is integrated into a mobile operator’s or game publisher’s web site, visitors can securely preview Java(TM) based games using simulated mobile handsets before buying and downloading the games for use on an actual mobile phone. These previews help mobile operators and game publishers increase their online revenue and improve customer satisfaction.
Dana Thorat, senior research analyst at research and consulting firm IDC, has been quoted as saying, "In 2003, U.S. wireless carriers cleared a major hurdle in delivering wireless games to subscribers, demonstrating that wireless gaming is a viable business. In the next 12 months, carriers plan to aggressively promote wireless games to their subscribers while offering new line-ups of compelling titles, including those that support multiplayer and limited 3D rendering." The growth of the market will depend on the infusion of download-capable handsets, as well as more effective merchandising and various upselling and cross-selling techniques using other mediums, according to the firm’s recently published U.S. Wireless Gaming Forecast Update, 2003-2008: Mobile Users Just Wanna Have Fun.
Intava Showcase 1.0 is an application built on Intava’s Mobile Experience Framework(TM) for simulating mobile handsets and the content they display. Intava Showcase allows mobile operators and game publishers to move beyond static screenshots and incomplete descriptions of their downloadable games with interactive demonstrations - customers see, hear and experience the Java-based games using on-screen versions of the handsets they already own. Intava Showcase’s features include:
-- A compliant implementation of the Java 2 Platform Micro Edition (J2ME(TM)) Java Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) 2.0 with device-specific class extensions supporting a wide range of mobile handsets
-- Secure content management, ensuring source files used during game-play can’t be redistributed
-- Complete network support, allowing web users to participate in multiplayer gaming communities
-- A configurable user interface, enabling flexible use of the PC keyboard for an optimized gaming experience
-- A simple ActiveX client that installs into most popular web browsers
Incorporating the full feature set of MIDP into an easy-to-install browser plug-in is a unique application of the Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW) technology. Intava Showcase is one of the first web-based marketing solutions to incorporate the actual J2ME runtime library. J2ME lets Intava Showcase users play mobile games on the web precisely as they would on a Java-enabled handset. Intava expands J2ME to include extensions often implemented by device manufacturers and mobile operators to offer one of the most complete web simulators available.
"Working with Intava to fully emulate J2ME within its new Showcase software is one way Sun Microsystems reinforces its commitment to the success of our customers in the wireless gaming community," said Nicolas Lorain, product line manager, Wireless Java Platform, Sun Microsystems. "The mobile operators and game developers who use Java technology need to market and sell their games and content effectively, and Intava Showcase enables them to realistically replicate the gamer’s experience. Consumers can play the games they’re interested in, rather than just read about them - it’s a great channel for promoting sales."
Available immediately, Intava Showcase 1.0 is currently being implemented by some of the largest mobile game publishers in the industry. Intava Showcase can be licensed to support a variety of web server configurations and handsets. A free trial is available to qualified customers. For more information and an online demonstration, please visit http://www.intava.com/showcase.
