New York, July 15: The latest cell phones can show you the nearest bathrooms in San Francisco or which subway to take in London. They can also help with your diet by tracking calorie intake. Behind such programs and more is the very technology at the center of an intense battle between Microsoft Corp and Sun Microsystems over control of desktop computers.


Though Sun has mostly lost that fight, the beleaguered Silicon Valley icon is trying to give new life to its Java programming language with an aggressive push into mobile devices. Once again, it finds a foe in Microsoft. But this time Sun has the lead.


Java gives consumers nifty applications like games, weather and maps. It helps motorists avoid traffic congestion and lets companies track sales people on the go. Nokia already has more than three dozen Java-enabled models, and plans to include Java in all but its low-end units in the future, said Victor Brilon, Nokia’s Java application manager. One phone model even uses Java to snap photographs. Sun, which distributes Java for free and sells computers to power Java services, says more than 94 million Java devices are in use.

What began as a novelty in Japan has garnered broader interest in Europe and North America over the past year, with 53 wireless carriers embracing Java, up from 35 last year, according to Sun.


Java also is appearing in cars, printers and camcorders. Alan Brenner, Sun’s vice president for consumer and mobile systems, said makers of medical devices are also taking a look.



Though Sun is not conceding the desktop, it suffered a setback recently when a federal appeals court refused to require that Microsoft’s dominant Windows operating system carry Sun’s tools for running Java applications.

News Corp eyes HSS stake: Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has offered to buy a 20 per cent stake in Hughes Software Systems Ltd (HSS), the Indian software arm of US-based Hughes Electronics Corp, at Rs 232 per share, a HSS statement informed the BSE on Monday.


News Corp has offered to buy 6.73 million shares of the Delhi-based HSS for Rs 156 crore ($33.6 million) in cash. News Corp’s cash offer came after it agreed to take over Hughes Electronics, which holds a 56 per cent stake in HSS in India.

News Corp will make the offer together with Hughes Network Systems India, Hughes Electronics Corporation and HNS Mauritius Holdings. Bureau Report