JavaOne Keynote - JavaFX To Run Consistently On Billions Of Devices
Rich Green, EVP Software at Sun, kicked off the 2008 JavaOne with a keynote presentation today. He began by saying there were going to be some surprises. He wasn’t wrong; although, having said that, almost all of what he talked about is still being built. Mostly, nothing is shipping yet and so all we got to see what demoware. It’s looking good though: 2-D and 3-D scene graphs; and a built-in video codec that will run on mobiles as well as the desktop (Sun is partnering with On2 Technologies for JavaFX video) . It seems Sun might have been taking their time to get things right.
JavaFX Applications Will Run Everywhere
The big surprise of the keynote is what Sun has been doing with JavaFX. It turns out that JavaFX applications are going to run everywhere, and in some pretty interesting ways (including using audio and video). Many people had been assuming that JavaFX Mobile was going to be a small niche play… and that, perhaps, no handset developers would be interested in signing up. It turns out that Sun has been able to make JavaFX applications run not just on Java SE, but also on Java ME (and they also demo’ed a JavaFX app running on Google’s Android).
This is a game changing development. It means that JavaFX applications can run on any device that runs Java, even low-end feature phones. Pretty much every handset manufacturer appears to have signed up (we didn’t get details on this, though, so I might be wrong). JavaFX represents an opportunity to let the same application run consistently across billions of screens… which is a huge deal.
The way that JavaFX works on the desktop looks pretty interesting too. A JavaFX applet running in a web browser can be “torn” out of a web page, and allowed to run as a standalone desktop application with a single drag and drop gesture.
If Sun delivers on what they’re promising, it’s really going to take Java-powered devices and applications to another level.
A couple of new projects were also announced at the Keynote, but were glossed over. They’re to do with how the back-end of these new types of application, that can run consistently on billions of devices, can be handled. The first of these is called Project Hydrazine - an all-new cloud computing platform (maybe it’s the answer to the question I posed on this blog yesterday - what’s next for Network.com? ); and the second is Project Insight - which is a new information-gathering platform that could enable targeted advertising across the billions of devices that are running JavaFX applications.
All-in-all, an interesting keynote. Because nothing is shipping yet, though, everything is subject to change before it hits the market… and, because the devil is in the detail with this kind of thing, we won’t know how well everything really works until the technology ships.
Update: The JavaFX.com web-site is now live.
Asam Bashir wrote:
If Apple had announced iPhone SDK, and it was all a demo, with no shipping products, they’d get slammed. Why should we treat Sun any different? How many times do we hear Sun go on about it’s plans, but then nothing comes out of it.
Why should anyone believe Sun can deliver?
Sure Java can run ‘everywhere’, but what does that mean practically? It’s just talk…
Posted 06 May 2008 at 5:50 pm ¶
Asam Bashir wrote:
Isn’t the fact that Sun is trying to make JavaFX run ‘anywhere’ a little scary? Do you really want to develop an application with JavaFX, then have it run on some rubbish phone using Java, which then lowers public expectation of quality and have it blamed on the develop, when really, it’s the whole Java model that’s wrong, fundamentally. This doesn’t give me the impression that Sun has finally got it’s act together, infact I’m more worried because the era of crappy Java phone applications hasn’t ended, it’s to become worse for the end user…
Posted 06 May 2008 at 5:55 pm ¶
simon wrote:
I think you’re right to question this, given that nothing has shipped. It’s far from a done deal that this will all work out great.
However, I think the value proposition that Sun is making to developers with JavaFX is this…
If you want to know where growth is going to come from in terms of “screens” where people experience the Internet, then it’s in one place: low-end mobile phones. And also that many people willl want to experience their apps across different types of devices and applications e.g. on their phone. on their desktop, and on a web-site e.g. when they’re logged onto a social network.
Furthermore, they’re saying that low-end phones are starting to get powerful enough to run some pretty compelling, visually rich applications. And powerful enough that the lowest common denomenator, that all handset makers can support, can run these compelling apps fast. So, for the first time, the hardware is reaching the point where it could be possible to have a compelling app run well and consistently across billions of devices.
So, in fact, this is actually all about transforming Java technology to allow it to provide super-compelling experiences for the user…
That then, is the value proposition… a promise to develop a technology that works great on billions of devices and on the desktop and inside the browser. They want developers to start learning the new aspects of the technology now (various SDKs will start to become available between today, and over the next few months), with products shipping later this year, and next year.
So, if (and it’s a big if) Sun and its partners execute well on this, it’s going to be a huge deal.
Posted 06 May 2008 at 6:26 pm ¶
Asam Bashir wrote:
So what Sun is saying is that Java has not been a good experience for the majority of consumers because of the past hardware and low-end phones, but now that the hardware is reaching the point where it’s fast enough it’s all suddenly going to change.
Sounds like Sun trying to blame hardware developers rather then accepting it has a role to play insuring end-users get a high quality GUI experience. Doesn’t sound like such a radical big deal, sounds like the same old plan being churned out in slightly different cloths.
What I would have done is to draw a line between past and current hardware, and come up with specific JavaFX branding for certain phone models. Distinguish past and present hardware and software, if you buy a certified JavaFX branded phone, you have a certain guarantee of application quality and end-user GUI experience. Something that Android will achieve, but with this plan, gives me no confidence that Sun has learnt anything at all….
Posted 06 May 2008 at 6:59 pm ¶
simon wrote:
I don’t think Sun is blaming hardware people… they admit they didn’t have any real focus on consumers previously. However, it’s also the case that it’s only now that low-end hardware is becoming powerful enough to run applications quickly.
I actually think Sun *are* now focussed on building technology that enables consumers to get a high-quality GUI experience. That’’s what JavaFX is all about.
Posted 06 May 2008 at 7:20 pm ¶
Asam Bashir wrote:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/05/06/Sun-offers-JavaFX-road-map_1.html
Does this read as ironic to anyone else? Or is me,
“Although Sun could have its work cut out for it positioning JavaFX against rival technologies, a Java developer in the audience was impressed.”
Then you get them bitching about iPhone and how it’s up to Apple to get Java on the iPhone, and to top it off they run JavaFX on Android! And this sounds like a bunch of Sun executives that know what they’re doing?
Posted 07 May 2008 at 1:41 am ¶
Asam Bashir wrote:
Does the JavaFX.com website need some special version of Java to work properly in both Safari and Firefox on Mac OS X? All those windows that pop up, there’s no close button, or is it meant to be like that, and that is actually Sun’s idea of navigation on a web page?
All the fonts in the title look messed up. Is it only me having a problem with this site?
Posted 08 May 2008 at 1:07 am ¶
simon wrote:
The web-site isn’t very good - lots of people have pointed this out. There’s not supposed to be any pop-up windows. It doesn’t use Java at all, I don’t think; just HTML and quicktime movies.
Even when it works as intended though, it’s still not very good. It’s not going to inspire confidence in the community in terms of Sun knowing what it’s doing when it comes to design. Now that they’re building technology aimed at designers and consumers, I think Sun needs to hire a top team of web-designers to build web-sites for these kind of properties; I get the impression that JavaFX.com was put together by some developers in the run-up to the conference.
Having said that, the JavaFX technology isn’t launched yet, so it’s early days. In the future, JavaFX.com needs to be a showcase for JavaFX technology, and the site itself should, therefore, be powered by JavaFX. So, this site may only be supposed to last a few weeks…
Posted 08 May 2008 at 5:33 am ¶
Asam Bashir wrote:
This is probably a manifestation of the fundamental problems at Sun, and again something Sun could learn by watching Apple. What ever goes on in Apple, the message it gets out to consumers or developers is always slick and focused and attention to detail is immaculate, a company the size of Sun, with all the resource it has on hand, should never make these kinds of mistakes.
Posted 08 May 2008 at 3:27 pm ¶
simon wrote:
For sure, Sun could benefit from what Apple are doing; and also at how Adobe and Microsoft present Flex/Flash and Silverlight.
It’s not so critical right at this moment, given that we’re pre-launch. However, more resources will need to be put on the presentation side of things as launch approaches. I think the developer crowd at JavaOne are intelligent enough to understand that demoware can crash sometimes, especially using technology that is still under development…
When the formal launch is done, though, it’s not going to be acceptable to have demos crashing left right and centre, or have web-sites not work cross-platform and cross-browser… especially given everything that JavaFX is supposed to stand for.
Posted 08 May 2008 at 6:53 pm ¶