Motorola partners with July Systems

Handset manufacturer Motorola said today at the CTIA Wireless trade show in San Francisco that it is partnering with July Systems in an attempt to "change the way mobile media vendors do business."

The joint venture will facilitate the creation of "mobile storefronts," providing the end user (mobile subscriber) with more information and options at the point of purchase.

The new technology is called Motorola GAMA (Global Application Management Architecture) Integrated Mobile Marketplace.

Essentially, GAMA is a toolset that offers mobile operators, retailers, and content providers new ways to present their digital content on existing download decks. Games can now be offered alongside free demos, gameplay video footage, and screenshots. Additionally, similar content can be more easily bundled under GAMA IMM. For example, if tones, wallpapers, and games fit a similar theme, they can be grouped with Motorola's new suite of user interface tools.

Currently, most carrier download decks feature no information about their offerings, apart from game titles. This limitation makes branding important for mobile publishers. So while a retail game has box art to entice players, mobile games currently must bank entirely on the strength of their brands. This leaves unbranded content--regardless of quality--at a competititve disadvantage. GAMA IMM hopes to ameliorate this issue.

Motorola says the application will be shopped to carriers in the next three to six months.