Insignia Marries Java and Pocket IE

By Michael Foley
iApplianceWeb
(05/31/01, 01:34:56 PM EDT)

Insignia Solutions is putting Java into Pocket PCs by integrating its Java virtual machine (JVM) into the Microsoft Pocket Internet Explorer. The Jeode EVM is a small footprint JVM that enables information appliances and embedded systems to run Java applications and applets. It can be incorporated into Windows-powered Pocket PCs as a plug-in.

Insignia's JVM allows Pocket PC users to run Java applications, play Java-based games, and execute Java applets within the Pocket IE browser environment. The Jeode platform is an implementation of the Sun Microsystems' PersonalJava and EmbeddedJava specifications tailored for information appliances. At the core of the Jeode platform is the Jeode Embedded Virtual Machine (EVM), a Java runtime engine with a small memory footprint. Using a proprietary technique called dynamic adaptive compilation (DAC), the Jeode EVM can execute Java applications faster than interpretive JVMs in roughly the same amount of memory.

Other features include:

• Efficient memory utilization
• Configurability and tunability to meet the diverse needs of information appliance developers
• A turn-key software solution already ported and tested on popular RTOS/processor combinations

The Jeode platform is designed to run with a wide range of operating systems and target processors. It currently supports operating systems such as Windows CE, Windows NT 4, VxWorks, Linux, ITRON, Nucleus, BSDI Unix, and pSOS; and processors such as MIPS, ARM, Intel x86, PowerPC, and Hitachi SH-3 and SH-4.