Article on The Kyoto Economic Journal
Oct. 14, 2002
Sophia Cradle develops handset-independent Internet browser for mobile phones
A mobile phone software developer Sophia Cradle, Inc. (Sakyo-ku, Kyoto. President Kazunori Sugiyama) released the next-generation mobile phone Java browser called SophiaBrowser. It supports all Japanese carriers - NTT DoCoMo, AU and J-phone - for its independency on handsets, which will lead to significant reductions in content providers' development costs.
SophiaBrowser will enable a variety of functions for mobile phones Internet browsers, such as distribution of movies, number access to the Internet and data encoding. According to Sophia Cradle, a content provider will be able to generate its own portal site easily by adjusting SophiaBrowser's system to an on-screen application. SophiaBrowser costs two million yen per server's central processing unit (CPU). 25 per cent of the payment will be required as maintenance fee. Sophia Cradle estimates 250 million yen sales with 100 server CPU licenses during the first year of the release.
Article on Nikkei Industrial Newspaper, p.25
Oct. 11, 2002
Access the Internet just by pushing numbers - new mobile phone software by Sophia Cradle
A mobile phone software developer Sophia Cradle, Inc. (Kyoto, President Kazunori Sugiyama, Tel: 075-754-5155) released a new mobile phone software SophiaBrowser, which supports the network programming language Java. It enables number access to a websites and data compression functions for mobile phones.
SophiaBrowser supports NTT DoCoMo's Java-equipped handsets. It will be offered by content providers who purchase the browser so that end-users can download and use it. It reduces the size of data by more than half, making the communication expenses reduced to half and increasing the response speed, while a user uses the Internet. It enables new functions, such as distribution of movies and geographical information service, that were impossible with the handset's embedded-software. Another advantage of the download system is that new functions will be updated effectively. SophiaBrowser costs two million yen per server's central processing unit (CPU). Sophia Cradle estimates 250 million yen of sales for the first year of the release.
Article on Mobile Media Magazine vol.82, p.12
Sep. 05, 2002
Sophia Cradle develops application framework for BREW handsets
- together with instant messenger, Java application compress tool and graphics converter server
Sophia Cradle announced the release of an application framework for BREW handsets SophiaFramework, instant messenger SophiaAgent, Java application compress tool SophiaCompress and multi-carrier graphics converter SophiaView.
To make the de facto standard for BREW interface
SophiaFramework's impact on BREW handsets, "corresponds to that of Microsoft Windows for computers," according to the President of Sophia Cradle, Kazunori Sugiyama. "It enabled multiple windows on a computer so that many people who had been unfamiliar with computer commands started using computers."
BREW will be equipped on all handsets that have QUALCOMM chips in the future. SophiaFramework therefore has the potential to become a standard for all handsets that are equipped with QUALCOMM chips. "Any applications that are written in C or C++ programming language run on all BREW-equipped handsets, making a software engineer free from writing programs again for each different model," says Dr. Sugiyama.
SophiaFramework is an application framework that enables multiple windows on a mobile phone as well as improving productivity of BREW-application development, because it provides the fundamental parts of an application, such as graphical user interface (GUI), so that an engineer does not have to be bothered with its conception. SophiaFramework does not only help BREW experts, but also allows BREW beginners to create applications easily. Other advantages include the lack of bugs in the fundamental part of an application, easy maintenance, easy handling with ten keys and enter key, templates for developing applications, and automation of event processing.
Sophia Cradle is currently developing the third version of its mobile phone instant messenger SophiaAgent, and SophiaFramework is used in the development of this product. "Information that we obtain on the wireless Internet is what we need instantly," says Dr. Sugiyama, "and instant messenger is the best media to obtain that kind of information." Dr. Sugiyama expects that most handsets will be equipped with an instant messenger in three or four years.
A company will be able to offer the exact information which a user needs, by looking at the messenger status, attribute, place and time (See picture). On the other hand, for example, a user can not only chat with friends in real-time but also know if a friend is busy or not. The update time can be set by a user, and the communication expense for each update is about 0.3 yen. The second version supports AU and J-phone, and the third version will support NTT DoCoMo as well. Sophia Cradle suggests solutions for information systems of parking vacancy and management systems in which a taxi driver keep a journal with an instant messenger.
Automated compress of Java applications
In developing SophiaAgent, another one of Sophia Cradle's products SophiaCompress is used in order to lower communication expenses without sacrificing functions of the messenger. It is a compress tool that optimizes mobile phone Java applications in the execution format, up to 10-15% compression rates.
There is a great demand for compressing applications, and a number of major content providers have already purchased SophiaCompress. Applications are implemented on Java platform. Data areas that are used in Java and the application are shared so that unnecessary areas are deleted. "This seems easy, but without SophiaCompress you need to know Java in depth," says Sophia Cradle Chief Software Architect Junshi Horiguchi.
Prior to SophiaCompress, application developers had to depend on engineers to write programs that minimize the size of applications. This was a daunting task - a complex program takes time when making amendments or adjusting to support new handsets. By making the compress automatic, it helps engineers. Another great advantage is that company secrets of development are kept because the program cannot be reverse-compiled once compressed with SophiaCompress.
The price is 100,000 yen per license, with the license unit ten. Since mobile phone picture mails are getting popular, Sophia Cradle foresees the growing demand of sending pictures between different-carrier handsets. SophiaView is a solution by Sophia Cradle, which is a multi-carrier graphics converter server. Features of SophiaView are the speed (100 pictures per second) and the picture quality. A user can even make a montage as an additional feature. The SophiaView server costs 3,500,000 yen.
Article on Nikkei Industrial Newspaper, p.21: Handling of mobile phone screen gets easier
Aug. 01, 2002
Handling of mobile phone screen gets easier
A mobile phone software developer Sophia Cradle (Kyoto, President Kazunori Sugiyama, Tel: 075-754-5155) develops SophiaGUI, software that makes handling of mobile phone screens easier. It supports QUALCOMM's mobile phone software platform BREW. In Japan, KDDI cooperates with QUALCOMM and offers BREW-equipped handsets since March. To display multiple windows on a handset screen, like computers, used to be very difficult - therefore Sophia Cradle is developing SophiaGUI to make it easy.
Article on The Kyoto Economic Journal, Kyoto Venture Companies File 72 Sophia Cradle: Sophia Cradle develops software for mobile communication
Jul. 22, 2002
The Kyoto Economic Journal, p.5
Kyoto Venture Database: File 72 Sophia Cradle
Mobile phone software developer
The Start
Before establishing Sophia Cradle, Dr. Sugiyama had worked as an technical official at an information technology (IT) company. When the company completed making a product, he saw a difference between the company's policy and what he wanted to do, which was "to make new things."
The Entrepreneur
Dr. Kazunori Sugiyama - finished his doctoral courses at Kyoto University's Faculty of Engineering in 1987. He worked for IBM Japan where he did planning, development and sales of information systems until 1991. After that, he worked for an IT company as a technical official, and then for Mitsubishi Research Institute. In February 2002, he started his own business and established Sophia Cradle.
Business Model
Sophia Cradle develops and sells software, mainly for mobile phone Internet systems. Currently, 25 per cent of the total sales is derived from its own product and the rest of it from the development on consignment. Sophia Cradle has recently released an instant messenger that enables real-time e-mail communications on mobile phones. Sophia Cradle also sells a compress tool to handset makers, carriers and content providers. The goal sales of the compress tool is 30-50 million yen.
The Advantage
"Our first priority is the staff," says Dr. Sugiyama. All staff other than him are of their early-twenties. Most of them are Kyoto University students who study information engineering. "Because of the young age, they have the potential."
Vision
"We will create the Internet system for mobile information devices with the outlook on the world." Dr. Sugiyama is willing to develop systems and software that provide geographical information in the form of movies on mobile devices. Sophia Cradle's financial goal is to achieve 800 million yen sales in three years, and to go public in five years.
Challenges
"To specialize in research and development while making profits" is Sophia Cradle's biggest challenge for a while. Now the company is operated at the "minimum condition" in terms of the organization size. Once Sophia Cradle establishes a firm business structure, the cash flow will be invested in employment, research and development.
Hot News
Sophia Cradle is starting full-scale sales of the Java application compress system. The sales target is mobile phone software developers with total 500 licenses within a year.
Article on The Kyoto Economic Journal: Sophia Cradle improves productivity of Java software development and develops compress tool for mobile phones
Jul. 15, 2002
The Kyoto Economic Journal, p.5
Sophia Cradle improves productivity of Java software development and develops compress tool for mobile phones
A mobile phone software developer Sophia Cradle (Hyakumanben, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto. President Kazunori Sugiyama, Tel: 075-754-5155) released compress tool for mobile phone Java applications. NTT DoCoMo's i-Appli is written in Java (Java applet). Due to small memory size of a handset, development of i-Appli had been ineffective. However, Sophia Cradle's compress tool "improves productivity of development" because a software engineer is free from being bothered by memory capacity if he uses it, according to Dr. Sugiyama. Sophia Cradle will offer this product mainly to content providers.
The name of the product is SophiaCompress. It analyzes the inner structure of a Java program, then automatically deletes all unnecessary parts and compresses or shares other necessary parts for execution. By specializing in mobile phone Java program, Sophia Cradle succeeded in doubling the compress rates of other compress tools.
Mobile phone Java programs can be sent through networks, in the form of such applications as games or schedulers. Java supports more than 15 million handset models of NTT DoCoMo, AU and J-phone, but the obstacle was that there was not enough memory capacity, which is only 30 kilobytes. Therefore, a software engineer had to spend a lot of time in shortening a program, without SophiaCompress.
Sophia Cradle was established in February 2002, by Dr. Sugiyama who is a graduate of the Kyoto University and has experiences in a major computer maker and another newly-established company. One of the reasons of Sophia Cradle's success is the staffs that include students of Kyoto University Faculty of Engineering. The price of SophiaCompress is a million yen each (for 10 clients) and Sophia Cradle estimates 50 million yen sales in this year. Sophia Cradle's website is http://www.s-cradle.com. /
Article on Nikkei Industrial Newspaper, p.25
Jul. 02, 2002
Nikkei Industrial Newspaper, p.25
Sophia Cradle enables significant reduction in the size of mobile phone applications
A mobile phone software developer Sophia Cradle (Kyoto, President Kazunori Sugiyama, Tel: 075-754-5155) released a mobile phone application compress tool for the network programming language Java. By specializing in mobile phones, Sophia Cradle succeeded in realizing the comress rate as high as 6-15%.
SophiaCompress analyzes a program that is written in Java, then automatically deletes unnecessary parts and compresses or shares other necessary parts for execution. According to research by Sophia Cradle, other compress tools that are also used for other purposes than reduction of a program size, only compresses a program at a rate of 2-10%. Sophia Cradle will improve the compress rate even higher in the future so that mobile phone games will be downloaded at a lower cost. The price of SophiaCompress is one million yen (for ten computers). Sophia Cradle is eager to make 50 contracts with content providers during the year.