Oracle making embedded Java push

Infoworld - Oracle will introduce on Tuesday a version of embedded Java intended to boost the platform's prominence in the realm of networked devices. The company also will roll out a middleware stack geared for the embedded world.

With the Oracle Java ME (Micro Edition) Embedded 3.2 client runtime, Oracle is taking a version of Java that has been used in feature phones and is releasing a generic Java binary for small, embedded devices, said Peter Utzschneider, Oracle vice president of product management. The release broadens Java to cover microcontrollers for such uses as industrial automation. This version of Java could even be used in applications like the monitoring of vending machines, determining soda volumes and temperatures.

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Previously, an embedded Java SE (Standard Edition) version has been used on large embedded systems, such as aircraft and medical systems, while Java ME Emebedded has been in units like Blu-Ray players and set top boxes. "What [the 3.2 release] means is that we extend our product portfolio, [which] already covers large-size devices, and now we can go after very small devices," Utzschneider said.

The Embedded 3.2 release is geared to the ARM chip architecture and has a full JDK (Java Development Kit). Also complementing the 3.2 release is Oracle Wireless Client 3.2 mobile handset software.

Wireless modules maker Cinterion, which specializes in machine-to-machine communications, plans to use the Java ME Embedded 3.2 in modules being introduced next week. Users can run device software on the modules and implement business logic. "Customers will be able to have multiple apps or applets running on the modules," said Axel Hansmann, vice president of strategy and marketing communications at Cinterion. The 3.2 release, Oracle said, means small embedded devices are no longer tied to a single hardware platform.

Also being announced is Java Embedded Suite 7.0, an embedded middleware suite for Java SE Embedded, featuring an optimized version of the GlassFish application server and the Jersey Web services framework. The suite also is based on the JavaDB database. Developers can use components of the suite to build applications running on Java SE Embedded 7. Applications can be built for network appliances, health care devices, and large peripheral devices, such as multi-function printers. The suite is available for Linux on x86 and ARM processors.

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