(June 19, 2003) - Palm, Inc. has licensed IBM's WebSphere Micro Environment (WME) J2ME certified runtime environment for inclusion in future Palm Tungsten( handhelds, in an agreement attesting to the growing importance of embedded Java solutions in an era of pervasive computing. Palm Solutions Group and IBM will offer an open-standards-based and cost-effective development environment for mobile computing.

Palm Solutions Group chose IBM WME because it delivers the most powerful and flexible J2ME runtime environment available today and is compliant with the latest standards defined by the JCP. This is the first time Palm Solutions Group has licensed a JVM for comprehensive distribution with its handhelds. Palm's developer community will have access to a J2ME runtime that will be developed and fine-tuned for optimized performance on Palm Tungsten handhelds. The more than 3 million members of the Java development community will be able to develop and deploy business applications for mobile workforces and consumer applications for gaming and information on the go, using the language and tools in which they already have invested. The IBM WME will enable the support of the industry standards for the Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) and MIDP, in compliance with the Sun Technology Compatibility Kits (TCK), allowing Palm Tungsten handhelds to seamlessly execute J2ME-compliant MIDlet Suite applications.

Palm Solutions Group also will make available a free standalone developer toolkit for use with any J2ME-compatible development environment. IBM's WebSphere Studio Device Developer (WSDD) will now be optimized for creating Palm handheld-based Java applications. The Eclipse-based WSDD can integrate with the other WebSphere Studio tools to provide an end-to-end Java development solution. WME's flexibility also provides access to enterprise-oriented components such as DB2 Everyplace and MQ Series Everyplace.

Products are expected to ship worldwide in the fall of 2003.