Big-name technology makers, including Qualcomm, Motorola, Sun Microsystems, Nokia, Microsoft--and even chip giant Intel--are looking to become to wireless devices what Windows is to the PC: a universal standard for software developers.

With projections of a multibillion-dollar future, many technology companies are vying to establish a de facto standard for wireless software, creating a new revenue source even if sales of cell phone handsets--the most commonly used wireless devices--slip

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