JavaFX Mobile is starting to get hyped as an iPhone killer by many.
Sun has a great foothold in the mobile gaming arena. But productivity and office applications are still a a mountain to climb for Java MIDlets. With the instant success of Web 2.0 , there is a talk about Mobile 2.0 gaining strong grounds.
Rich Internet Applications (RIA) on Mobile platforms are fought by Adobe FlashLite, Openlaszlo etc.
What is JavaFX Mobile?
Instead of being just a runtime over the native Operating system, Sun chose JavaFX mobile to be a complete mobile operating environment/system. They gained a lot of IP from the recent acquisition of SavaJe. SavaJe has feature rich CDC platform with full-fledged telephony APIs. ( unlike other vendors support MTA!(Mobile Telephony API))
JavaFX Mobile is a small GNU/Linux platform containing a complete Java VM 6. It competes directly with Windows Mobile, Symbian OS and Palm Linux OS.
During the JavaOne 2007 presentations, an FIC Neo 1973 Phone sporting OpenMoko Linux Kernel was at display, to showcase the iPhone like animated/functional interface of JavaFX Mobile.
Possibilities
It is been told by Yahoo! that, the latest Yahoo Go! 2.0 , is having the JavaFX script as the foundation. That could very well be the secret behind the carousel richness of Yahoo Go!. This also revels that JavaFX can also be targeted at a minimal MIDP 2.0 platform.
Directions
It would be interesting to watch how JavaFX Mobile is being received by Japanese and Chinese Phone manufacturers. Mobile Linux has a strong presence in China. It would also be interesting to see if US/European carriers show any interest in JavaFX Mobile. Internet tablets are another area which JavaFX shall excel at. So we are unlikely to see JavaFX Mobile as a potential iPhone Killer, unless Motorola dumps its own Mobile Linux and GUI, in favor!
