Sun readies Java interface to compete with iPhone

With the iPhone continuing to reign as the toast of the mobile town, we're not surprised to see competing products from the usual suspects: Intel, Microsoft, LG, Meizu. But this comes as a bit of a surprise: Sun Microsystems, best known for its server products, is readying a mobile framework called JavaFX, which "will enable a really rich, slick-looking mobile device," according to Sun spokesperson Shawn Dainas. Dainas actually likened the company's mockup running on a JavaFX OS to the iPhone, though he stressed that, "We're not introducing a phone. We're introducing software to make this possible." The company announced the new Java framework to developers today at its JavaOne Conference in San Francisco.

Additionally, Sun had another big announcement to make at JavaOne: the company has now completed its project to make the bulk of its core Java technology open-source under the GNU general public license version 2 (GPLv2). While some of the Java code remains "encumbered" (i.e. the company does not hold sufficient rights to release it), the company hopes that the open-source community will be able to help in filling in the gaps.

For more on JavaFX:
- see this SFGate.com article
- and this ZDnet article

For more on the open-sourcing of Java:
- see this ComputerWorld article