Java never was a very popular platform for Palm OS development, neither Palm -> Palm Source -> Palm Inc promoted its use very much. The distributed JVM was actually a licensed version of IBM's J9. The latest version (released in 2005) supports MIDP 2.0 with some optional JSRs: JSR-75 (PDA Optional Packages) and JSR-172 (J2ME Web Services). It didn't come pre-installed with your device (at least it didn't in my Zire 72) or available in the installation CD; you had to manually register and download it from Palm support website.

While its competitors support Java ME out-of-the-box, Palm never cared about taking advantage of its superior PDA UI against the limited phone UI from its concurrents, and it took very long for developers to have available at least a descent JVM supporting the lowest common denominator of mobile widget toolkits which is the MIDP.

Some people may complain about the relevance of this fact, arguing about the relevance of Java ME itself, which may be somewhat true regarding its limitations and the amount of very cool MIDP applications versus very cool native applications available on market. But I believe it can have its niche, maybe quick-and-dirty internal corporate applications, for example. And I still believe strongly that the power of a platform is directly proportional to the amount of developer support you provide (developer diversity included).

So, apparently now you are on your own. If you downloaded it before January 12, congratulations. If you didn't, it's time to look for alternatives. I don't know if it's possible to license it directly from IBM. But looking at Palm's strategy over the last few years, perhaps it's time to search for a platform alternative…

A photo taken with a Palm Zire 72 camera ( 1.2 megapixels , 640×480):

The same photo taken with a Nokia 6230 camera ( VGA camera , 640×480):

One picture can say more than a thousand words…

Before:

After:

Now, it turned into a Zire 72 “Silver Edition”.

See the entire Extreme Makeover Slideshow.