May 15th, 2007
Project Orbit launches, puts OpenLaszlo on devices
Lost in some of the hoopla last week of JavaFX was that Sun launched Project Orbit, a runtime for OpenLaszlo that takes the DHTML from OpenLaszlo 4.0 and makes it available to Java ME devices. More information is available on the OpenLaszlo Project Blog as well as the official page for the project.
I'm not sure exactly what this means for JavaFX because mobile was one area where JavaFX was going to be focused on. It seems like there might be a lot of synergies with JavaFX and OpenLaszlo, so I think this aspect of the partnership is worth watching. In fact, from the project blog, I got this quote about the project:
There is a lot of low-hanging fruit here - integration with the OpenLaszlo developer’s console (a Java radio button), and tighter integration with the OpenLaszlo compiler come to mind. This is a community effort - Sun and OpenLaszlo are relying on folks to pitch in and help move the project forward. If you’re looking to contribute to a very cool, forward looking project, here’s your chance!
Aside from any future partnerships, Project Orbit gives OpenLaszlo a device footprint right now. There are lot of JavaME phones out there and now OpenLaszlo has a fairly competitive offering. As some of the news and commentary around JavaFX showed, devices are going to be a significant battleground for RIAs. Java has the lead right now in number of devices, but I think Flash Lite has a lot of momentum behind it and a better overall story. Now OpenLaszlo can jump into that and give its developers the option to deploy on JavaME.
Ryan Stewart, a Rich Internet Application developer and industry analyst, recently joined Adobe's Platform Team as a Rich Internet Application Evangelist. full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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