Sun's JavaFX may pose challenge to "Silverlight"

Sun Microsystems on Tuesday came up with an array of announcements, which includes its Java-based product family called JavaFX and JavaFX script, JavaFX Mobile, which appears to be a Flex Mobile competitor, and a phone that remarkably looks like Apple’s iPhone.

At the 12th JavaOne conference in San Francisco, Rich Green, executive vice president of software at Sun, previewed the new product line.

JavaFX, which covers Java development from the desktop to the Web to mobile devices, is aimed at the growing market for rich Internet applications (RIA), Green said during his keynote at JavaOne. The new JavaFX line is focused on opportunities in the consumer communications market, including desktops, mobile clients, and TVs, he added.

Besides the tools and open-source programs focused on consumer-oriented technologies to create visually impactful technologies, JavaFX comes with its own scripting language, called JavaFX Script.

JavaFX Script applications, which will run on any Java SE (Standard Edition) technology-based platform, can be used for creating rich content and applications to run on browsers and billions of Java-powered devices such as mobile phones and Blu-ray Disc players, Sun said.

"With this scripting language we are taking advantage of the high-volume distribution of Java, all the way from desktop to mobile device," Green told media-persons during a pre-conference briefing, "and we're allowing the folks who operate at the creative level to develop content, fast, that can be deployed on a wide range of devices."

JavaFX Mobile, the first product in the JavaFX line, is a complete software system that targets the mobile devices. This software system is designed to leverage the security and ubiquity of the Java platform, and will support all existing content and applications available across the billions of Java technology-based devices in the world, Green said.

JavaFX Mobile will be available via OEM license to carriers, content owners and consumer electronics manufacturers, while JavaFX Script will be available under an open-source license.

The Santa Clara, California-based server and software company, Sun on May 8 has released the early alpha version of JavaFX Script at openjfx.org on Java.net. The site solicits developers to join the JavaFX community, download the code and provide input and feedback.

Sun demonstrated Java FX Mobile applications, including Yahoo Go mobile Internet services, running on a mobile phone. The phone, a model from First International Computer, ran the Java FX Mobile software on a stripped-down version of Linux, said Sun Fellow James Gosling, who is known as the father of Java.

"There are parts of the world where a person’s desktop computer is their cell phone, and that’s the kind of end point that we’re going to get to," said Gosling.

Sun executives acknowledged that JavaFX bears a similarity to enhanced graphics capabilities offered in the new Microsoft Silverlight, which is a new cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of media experiences and rich interactive applications (RIAs) for the Web.

Microsoft’s Silverlight, which can be used in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser as well as Apple's Safari browser and Mozilla Foundation's Firefox, integrates with existing Web technologies and assets to provide higher-quality experiences with lower costs for media delivery.

Microsoft plans to make Silverlight, which will offer consistent experiences to both Macintosh and Windows users, widely available this summer.

Meanwhile, Gosling said that Silverlight differs in that it is mostly focused on video-streaming. Formerly referred to by the codename, F3, the JavaFX platform could draw attention from the programmers of AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), which has grown as a popular technique for building Web pages.

Adobe’s Flash is AJAX-based open source solutions widely used in RIAs today.