Qualcomm Rolls Out BREW 2.0

Qualcomm

The company unveiled the additions at its annual developers conference, held here.

Version 2.0 of BREW, which stands for Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless, will include SSL and HTTPS support for more secure online shopping, banking and stock transactions. The new version also will support standards such as HTML, SHTML and cHTML to provide Internet browsing capabilities.

Qualcomm built in support for the increasingly popular short message service (SMS) and enhanced its location-based capabilities, the company told developers.

"With BREW 2.0, developers can create applications that allow BREW-service subscribers to conduct secure business and banking transactions, tap into more extensive location-based information, and view richer graphics and multimedia content," Gina Lombardi, senior vice president of marketing and product management for Qualcom Internet Services, said in a statement.

Qualcomm said porting BREW 2.0 to devices will be easier thanks to a component-driven installation process. In this version, manufacturers can chose which BREW 2.0 to install on handsets, a particularly important feature for memory-constrained devices, Qualcomm executives said.

The first version of the BREW 2.0 SDK and porting kit is available now. Handsets based on the new version are expected by early next year.

Qualcomm has lined up support for BREW from Verizon Wireless, which is expected to roll out the service this month. Verizon plans to share application download revenue with BREW developers. Sprint PCS, which will roll out its CDMA-based next-generation network this summer, appears to have passed on the technology.