Steve On Java

I was the very first person to buy an HTC Diamond at JavaOne.  (Jacob Lehrbaum probably thought he was about to be mugged as I stalked him into the Java Store.)  It worked out great for my presentations, but I had to tip-toe around some issues that showed up only on applications deployed to the phone.

However, the latest JavaFX 1.2 EA release is ready for primetime!  The installation was a breeze and all of the JavaFX applications I have tried on it so far have worked great.  This includes:

• Hello Earthrise – Starter application from the Pro JavaFX book
• DrawJFX – Draw on your phone using the touchscreen, also from the Pro JavaFX book
• Nabaztag widget – I demonstrated this at JavaOne; now is your chance to impress your co-workers with silly bunny tricks

Hello Earthrise on the HTC Diamond

Here is what to like about the latest JavaFX Mobile release running on the HTC Diamond:

• Excellent resolution – It takes advantage of the native 480×640 resolution of the Diamond HTC device, allowing for some very detailed graphics.
• Improved performance – Startup time and application performance are orders of magnitude faster than with JavaFX 1.1.
• Some cool demo apps – TwitterFX Mobile takes the cake as the most interesting and useful app, and is bundled with the JavaFX 1.2 EA Release. Kudos to Liang Zhu and Jungeun Woo on the port and Steven Herod on inventing TwitterFX!
• Available for download – Unlike previous JavaFX Mobile releases, which were Sun internal or pre-installed on a device, this is a free download from the JavaFX website.  While it is only officially supported on the HTC Diamond and LG Incite, it reportedly works on other Windows Mobile devices, such as the XPeria X1.

If you have a Windows Mobile 6 or 6.1 device available, it is definitely worth giving this early access release a try.  Who knows, your JavaFX applications may already be mobile ready!