Everypoint is launching a mobile application platform Monday called Nemo, which is intended to give Java-based phones iPhone-like visual capabilities.
Nemo enables development and distribution of interactive graphical mobile applications for use on Java devices from companies such as Nokia, Samsung, LG, and Motorola. Everypoint hosts applications built on its platform.
Keys to the product are high-performance vector graphics and “push-sync” capabilities, Everypoint said. Nemo is available in a preview beta release, with general release anticipated for early-2009.
Companies are bringing the iPhone to Java in part because Java as well as Flash are still shut out from the iPhone.
“The visual look and feel has parity with the iPhone,” said Allan MacKinnon, president, founder and CTO at Everypoint. Nemo applications do not add touch capabilities similar to iPhone but can leverage touch capabilities if these already exists on a particular phone.
An embedded graphics vector graphics engine provides a rich look and feel to applications, the company said. “It’s a vector graphics engine so that we can draw applications, we can display applications that look very polished, and that was a feature that was never before available on mass-market devices,” MacKinnon said.
Also featured are a runtime scripting language, compiler, and a software development environment. “You can use your existing editors if you want,” such as NetBeans or Eclipse, said MacKinnon.
Cloud deployment services are highlighted as well. The Nemo runtime and applications are delivered over the air without the need for a PC.
A push and sync database is featured in the Nemo runtime for delivering data to Nemo-enabled phones in real time. Data updates are provided via Everypoint cloud servers on the Internet. An example of an application enabled by the database would be a stock-checking system in which only data that has changed is delivered.
Applications developed using Nemo sit on top of the Everypoint runtime, which links to the Everypoint cloud system. Applications are free to download and hosted by Everypoint.
Developers who want to distribute applications commercially enter into an agreement with Everypoint, which takes 10 cents per copy of each application sold or 10 percent of the sale price of the application, whichever figure is higher.
So far, Everypoint has developed a stock application for Nemo and 23 snippets—or parts—of other applications.