Sun's JavaFX, a new family of products that initially includes JavaFX Mobile and JavaFX Script, combines Sun's mobile version of Java with technology obtained in its recent purchase of SavaJe. While JavaFX is being seen as Sun's alternative to Ajax, it also is being called a competitor to Microsoft's Silverlight and Adobe's Apollo platforms.
Another contestant entered the race Tuesday for tools to build the next generation of multimedia on portable devices and other platforms. During the first day of the JavaOne developers conference in San Francisco, Sun Microsystems announced the launch of JavaFX.
The new JavaFX, a family of products that initially includes JavaFX Mobile for smartphones and JavaFX Script for development, "will support all content and applications currently available across the billions of Java technology-based devices in the world today," Sun said.
The Santa Clara, California-based company also said that JavaFX will deliver "the ability to create interactive content, applications, and services from the desktop to mobile devices to the living room."
Outside the Browser
JavaFX Script is "not a general purpose programming language like Java," according to Jeffrey Hammond, an analyst with industry research firm Forrester. It's more like writing HTML or JavaScript, he said. "It can run outside the browser, and is competing against Ajax, but it's competing more against Silverlight and Apollo."
Ajax, a technology cocktail that includes asynchronous JavaScript and XML, enables Web applications to be more interactive. JavaScript is a scripting language originally created by Netscape and should not be confused with the full Java programming language by Sun.
Microsoft 
's recently released Silverlight, a cross-browser technology for interactive Web applications, is designed to deliver next-generation media experiences that are based on the company's .NET technology. In some ways, Silverlight is going head-to-head with Adobe's ubiquitous Flash platform.
Apollo, recently released by Adobe, provides a development kit and runtime application to help developers build software that works across operating systems. Once the Apollo apps are created, users can launch them from the desktop without using their browser or connecting online. Adobe has said that it will extend support for Apollo to mobile devices.
SavaJe Technology
JavaFX will combine Sun's current mobile version of Java with technology obtained in its recent purchase of SavaJe Technologies, a Massachusetts-based company that has done Java-based development for mobile devices.
The core developer market for each framework, Hammond suggested, will be the shops that are already invested in that company's technology. "If you're an existing Java shop," he said, "you might use JavaFX as a natural extension, just as a .NET shop might gravitate toward Silverlight."
Sun said it would make JavaFX available to the open-source community, while providing an OEM license with technical support for handset makers, carriers, and others. Versions for set-top boxes, navigation devices, and automobile dashboards are also planned.www.toptechnews.com
