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Sony Ericsson Puts New Handsets Online


New Virtual Lab offers remote access to real handsets, before release

By P. J. Connolly
August 29, 2007 — 
Emulators are useful, but true testing requires actual hardware. Developers looking for access to the latest mobile devices from one supplier got a boost on Aug. 22 with the launch of the Sony Ericsson Virtual Lab, a remote testing service hosted by San Mateo, Calif.-based Mobile Complete.

The service is available globally to all members of Sony Ericsson’s Developer World program, and is meant to allow developers access to mobile phones before they are released in local markets, as well as locally unavailable devices.

Six Java phones from Sony Ericsson’s mass-market feature phone lineup—the K550, K810, T650, W580, W880 and W910—are the first devices available for remote testing. Ultimately, Sony Ericsson expects to expand Virtual Lab to the company’s other mobile lines, including Symbian-based devices.

The advantages to such an approach are obvious: Developers no longer have to rely on demo models or even be physically present on a carrier’s network. Mobile Complete handles timeslot reservation and billing for the service, while Sony Ericsson benefits in two ways.

First, is effective multiplication of the limited pool of preavailable devices, allowing the company to launch new models with more interesting applications available on day one. The other benefit is the savings to both company and developer, who no longer have to ship devices to and fro, with the potential for damage, delay or loss.

In reality, noted Ulf Wretling, Sony Ericsson’s general manager for content planning and management, Mobile Complete will offer the wide majority of developers their first chance to test applications on actual hardware. Until now, many developers were unable to participate in Sony Ericsson’s loaner program, which the company explained was restricted to Premier Partner-level members.

Any Community-level member of Sony Ericsson’s Developer World can use the Virtual Lab service for as little as US$100 per month, the company noted.

Mobile Complete’s DeviceAnywhere platform is based on the unique Direct-To-Device hardware interfaces, which are physically integrated with the devices, allowing developers using a Java-based client to perform remote testing as if they were pressing buttons, tapping the screen or manipulating the phone.

The company goes to great lengths to create the sense of interaction, to the point of supplying input to motion sensors and other features that wouldn’t otherwise work on a device mounted in an equipment rack, explained Mobile Complete CEO Faraz Syed.

Mobile Complete currently maintains facilities in California and the United Kingdom, with plans to open a German outpost later this year, noted Syed.


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