Father of Java, James Gosling, Celebrates "Innovation Everywhere" with Java Technology

JavaOne Attendees Introduced To Future of Java Technology - From Local Roads To Mars

SAN FRANCISCO, JavaOne(sm) 2003 Developer Conference -- June 11, 2003 -- Today at the JavaOne 2003 Developer Conference James Gosling applauded the community of more than three million developers worldwide for eight years of making Java the universal platform for end-to-end computing. The powerful combination of leadership from Sun and the Java community, together with its tremendous momentum throughout the computing landscape, has made Java a pervasive technology. Java technology can truly be found everywhere, from toasters and phones to cars and mission critical systems that control the Mars Rover.

"Since the release of Java in 1995, seeing what people are doing with it blows my mind," said James Gosling, vice president of Sun Labs and Sun Fellow. "After eight short years, the Java Community is millions strong, with the best and brightest minds collaborating and contributing to the cool technologies of the future. So where will Java be in the next eight years? That can only be answered by the developers who have made it what it is today and wherever the road takes us will be an exciting ride."

Java Technology Everywhere

Java technology is everywhere in huge volumes, with more than 300 million Java Card deployments worldwide and 267 million Java enabled phones slated to ship by year end. In today's keynote address Gosling showcased:

The Mars Rover -- James was joined on stage by Dan Dvorak, deputy architect of the Mission Data System with Jet Propulsion Labs (JPL) to demo a Mars Rover exploration prototype, using RTSJ (Real Time Specification for Java technology) to control rover mobility. This is part of a joint initiative between Sun Labs, JPL and Carnegie Mellon University to implement RTSJ technology in future spacecraft. "The thought of Java technology on other planets is just too cool," said Gosling.

Java Technology Automation -- Jim Wright, Solutions Architect with Sun, then demonstrated with James how industrial Java technology, an initiative developed by aJile Systems, Cyberonix, Mitsubishi Electric Automation, and Sun Microsystems, powers robots, sensors and other manufacturing operations with Java technology. This initiative extends Sun's Smart Station technology to the factory. With radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and readers, industrial Java technology increases efficiencies and cuts costs by connecting multiple factory automation devices and virtually monitoring the supply chain.

Jentro GPS -- Ansgar Hempel, Vice President with Jentro, joined James to demo Jentro's end-to-end cell phone-based navigation system giving access to Global Positioning System (GPS) data through a Java enabled cell phone. In addition, James introduced a concept demo using JXTA, a peer-to-peer technology, to dynamically update GPS systems and alert drivers to current traffic flow situations.

Announced Today

In concert with the launch of java.net, the Java Research License has been newly simplified to help spur innovation among universities and researchers. java.net and the CollabNet SourceCast software can support the use of any Open Source Initiative (OSI)-approved license for projects developing source code. java.net is pre-configured to support the BSD, Apache, SISSL, GPL, LGPL and MPL licenses, in addition to Java source code SCSL. java.net also supports a variety of document licenses.

James announced the launch of his personal weblog located at today.java.net/jag where people can read comments from James and contribute thoughts of their own surrounding Java technology.

In addition, James announced a contest inviting JavaOne attendees to submit creative ways to distribute next year's JavaOne t-shirt from stage. Ideas will be reviewed between now and next June and the winning suggestion will be implemented on stage with James at JavaOne 2004.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, Java Card, and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc., in the United States and other countries.