Oracle's efforts to enable developers to run JavaFX software on Apple iOS devices could run afoul of Apple, if Apple's past rejections of Java on iOS are any guide. But a potential showdown could be a ways off, as it remains to be seen exactly how far Oracle goes with its plan and whether the arrangement will actually ruffle any feathers at Apple.

JavaFX 2.0, an upgrade to the Java-based rich client application environment started by Sun Microsystems, is due to move to a public beta phase this spring with general availability planned for later in the year, Oracle said on Friday.

JavaFX, the rich Internet application platform launched in 2007 by Sun Microsystems, will be refreshed next year, although the mobile version of the technology apparently has been placed on the back burner.

Although Java founder James Gosling has left Oracle apparently under less-than-cordial circumstances, he still can be found championing Java technologies now sponsored by Oracle.

Listening to Sun Microsystems heap accolades on its JavaFX multimedia application technology Wednesday evening almost obscured the fact that JavaFX faces quite a battle in the space against the established Adobe Flash and AJAX platforms and Microsoft's up-and-coming Silverlight platform.

Reassuring the Java community, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison pledged a commitment to Java technologies, including the budding JavaFX rich media extension to Java, on Tuesday morning at the JavaOne conference in San Francisco.

Sun Microsystems is making a game out of promoting its JavaFX rich media application technology.

Sun Microsystems Thursday rolled out the first version of its JavaFX runtime and tools, which support the development of Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) that can run on desktops, in browsers, in mobile devices and on televisions. Sun said that JavaFX 1.0 is aimed at providing a unified development and deployment model for developers and Web designers to build RIAs with audio, video, rich text, advanced graphics, animation and Web services.