Sony Ericsson is aiming to give wireless applications a boost with the release of developer tools that make it easier to combine elements of Flash Lite and Java ME technologies in a single application.

Codenamed Project Capuchin, the support will be delivered as extensions to the firm's existing developer tools sometime in the second half of 2008. It will enable business logic for an application to be coded in Java, while the user interface is designed using Flash.

"It's centred around the vision of creating more compelling user experience, " said Sony Ericsson's director of long-term platform planning, Christopher David. He added that while the firm had previously invested in Java development for applications, developers are crying out for better tools to build a richer user interface, and that Flash was a compelling technology to provide this.

"Capuchin is about building a bridge between two technologies and two separate developer communities, allowing better graphics to be built into applications" he said.

This will be provided through a set of application programming interface (API) extensions to Sony Ericsson's Java platform that link to Flash, according to David, plus a tool that can encapsulate the Flash content into a Java .JAR file to create a composite application.

"It inherits all the security mechanisms of Java, but the user will view pieces in Flash," he said.

One potential drawback of this approach is that a handset will need to have both the Flash Lite player as well as Java ME support. While Java is now almost universal in phones, Flash Lite is not so common.

David said that initially, applications will be packaged into versions that target specific handsets, but added that a long-term goal was to enable the handset to pull down the Flash Lite player if this was missing.

"This is only the starting point – we're trying to provide developers with freedom of choice, on as many handsets as possible" he said.