palmOne Extends Java Support To The Treo 600 Smartphone

"This is Native ARM version of the application of the runtime environment of Java, so it's very fast," said David Williams, product line manager, wireless and enterprise software for palmOne. "It's been expanded so that developers writing wireless applications can now write them for the Treo 600."

Williams said the release is targeted toward independent software developers looking to create commercial applications in java to deploy across a range or products, including the Treo 600 and Tungsten handhelds. Other target audiences, said Williams, include in-house developers using Java as a primary development environment looking to build connected applications for handhelds using IBM's tools for development.

A beta of the new version of IBM's WebSphere Micro Environment Toolkit for Palm OS developers was released to developers Monday through the palmOne PluggedIn developer Web site.

Jermone Liss, a developer with Digital Dispatcher, a wireless solution provider based in Philadelphia, said the new release expands the number of devices the company's location-based services for fleet fueling and oil delivery will support.

Digital Dispatcher currently offers its software on Java-enabled telephones. But the network availability for those kinds of phones is still limited primarily to Nextel, so Digital Dispatcher needs to be able to work with other service providers to offer services in areas not covered by the Nextel footprint as well as expand the variety of equipment used.

"Being able to use a Palm-type platform, in general, gives us more flexibility in what services we can provide," said Liss. "Moving to the Treo gives us an all-in-one unit with performance that's really not compromised."

And because Java Virtual Machine can run the application as a natively on the unit, it can run as fast as any other Palm applications.

"So the fact that it's J2ME makes it very easy for us to move from one application to another," said Liss. "And with minimal changes. That's important."

The WebSphere Micro Environment Toolkit for Palm OS Developers is a standalone developer toolkit for use with any J2ME-compatible development environment, such as Borland JBuilder, SunONE Studio and Simplicity for Mobile Devices.

Developers can download the no-cost toolkit, both the beta of the MIDP 2.0 toolkit and existing MIDP 1.0 toolkit, from palmOne's web site. The MIDP 2.0 runtime is scheduled to be available for both the Treo 600 smartphones and the Tungsten handheld devices next spring. The runtime would cost $5.99 fro Treo 600 smartphone users.

The existing MIDP 1.0 runtime is now available for the Tungsten line. Tungsten T3, Tungsten E, Tungsten W, Tungsten C and Tungsten T2 handhelds purchased on or after Oct. 1, 2003 can use a downloaded WebSphere Micro Environment, available at no cost from the palmOne Web site.

Tungsten devices purchased before Oct. 1, 2003 along with the Zire 71 handhelds require the $5.99 download fee. Owners of the MIDP 1.0 version of the runtime would be able to download the MIDP 2.0 upgrade at no cost when it becomes available next year.