JavaOne: Wireless applications abound at show

By Jack McCarthy
IDG News Service, 06/09/00

The burgeoning popularity of Java-based wireless applications was apparent this week here at Sun's JavaOne conference, with vendors making a slew of announcements.

Sun's wireless strategy, including the availability of its Java2 Platform, Micro Edition technology, attracted the support of more than 500 companies which signed up to work with J2ME, making it one of Sun's largest platform announcements, the company said.

Sun also unveiled a "Wireless Java Connection" program to provide business, marketing and technical services for companies using Java in their wireless-based activities.

Some of the J2ME-related announcements at JavaOne this week included:

Motorola announced that it is supporting Java technology in several of its products including wireless devices such as phones, pagers and personal digital assistants, Sun and Motorola said in a statement.

Motorola's first J2ME-enabled cellular phone is set for shipment by the middle of next year. By mid-2002, the company said it anticipates that all its handsets will have J2ME capability.

Motorola, in Schaumburg, Ill., can be reached at 847-576-5000 or at www.motorola.com/. Sun, in Palo Alto, can be reached at 650-960-1300 or at www.sun.com/.

Research In Motion, which makes the popular BlackBerry wireless e-mail device, announced the immediate shipment of its pager-sized RIM 950 Wireless Handheld and its palm-sized RIM 957 Wireless Handheld devices that include an early release of Sun's J2ME.

Based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM can be contacted at 519-888-7465, and at www.rim.net/.

LG Telecom of Korea said it plans to ship J2ME-compatible mobile phones within the next three months.

Nokia said it would support Java technology in a variety of its smart phones and communicators starting next year. Nokia, in Espoo, Finland, can be reached at 358-9-5113-8193, or at www.nokia.com/.

Other Java-related announcements here this week included:

Wind River Systems, a software and services vendor for Web-based smart devices, announced its Tornado for Internet Appliances architecture, a client/server Java technology for the development, deployment and content management of Internet appliances.

To be released in beta version next month, the architecture is tailored to the requirements of Internet appliance developers, ISPs and network operators, Wind River said. Final release of Tornado for Internet Appliances is expected within three months.

Wind River, based in Alameda, Calif., can be reached at www.windriver.com/.

IBM said it has enhanced its WebSphere software platform with new tools and Enterprise Java Bean components aimed at improving developer productivity and simplifying the process of marketing e-business applications.

A development tools initiative, called WebSphere Business Components, will ship later this year. It will include a set of business functions, including components for individual industries such as insurance and banking along with cross-industry components such as supply chain management.

IBM, in Armonk, N.Y., can be reached at 914-499-1900 or at www.ibm.com/.

Iona Technologies announced the release of Orbix 2000 Version 1.1 for Java, which adds Java functionality to give customers an equivalent set of features for developing Java and C++ Common Object Request Broker Architecture applications.

Orbix 2000, the latest release of Iona's flagship object request broker, is a component of the company's iPortal Suite, an e-business platform.

Iona, in Dublin, Ireland, can be reached at 353-1-637-2000 or at www.iona.com/.

Informix announced an upgrade of Cloudscape, the company's Java-based database for embedded systems and distributed e-business applications. Cloudscape 3.5 now offers improved performance, reliability and security, the company said.

Informix, in Menlo Park, Calif., can be reached at 650-926-6300, or at www.informix.com/