Mobile media companies face a host of publishing obstacles: multiple platforms, inconsistencies across handsets using the same platform, limited code space, inability to update applications after launch, and more. Vindigo devised a platform powerful and flexible enough to deliver any kind of content—Vindigo’s Server-driven User-interface Definition System or SUDS™. SUDS is a thin downloadable client for BREW and Java handsets. To create applications, we use SUDS XML-based markup language to define the user-interface elements and other actions that the handset should take. The markup is passed through a proxy that validates its syntax and turns it into a compact binary format, which is sent back to the SUDS client. That client renders the markup on the handset, creating a rich user interface with zero client-side coding. SUDS enables Vindigo and our partners to: Build applications faster and more easily

• Apps are written quickly and efficiently in markup, not in native C or Java
• Support is built in for ringtones, wallpaper (using interlaced graphics), telephony, and location-based services (including interactive maps)
• Every SUDS app runs automatically on every one of the dozens of handsets that the SUDS client supports—launching across multiple carriers is seamless

Leverage carrier billing platforms

• Every carrier offers third-party billing for downloadable apps, like SUDS products, but not every carrier offers billing for browser-based apps

Optimize wireless delivery of content

• SUDS controls and images are rendered incrementally as they are delivered across the network, instead of waiting until the transmission completes
• Smart caching of content on the handset improves perceived speed

Dramatically reduce the cost of carrier-grade certification

SUDS allows control over the look, feel, and behavior of the app from the server, without having to modify the client code and resubmit it