iAnywhere Solutions, a subsidiary of Sybase, today announced a beta program for its new UltraLite Component Suite for creating handheld database applications that leverage the SQL Anywhere Studio UltraLite deployment technology on some popular development environments.

Supporting AppForge, the Insignia Jeode Java VM, Microsoft Visual Basic and Microsoft eMbedded Visual Basic, the company said the UltraLite Component Suite helps bring handheld enterprise applications to market more quickly, by allowing developers to leverage their favorite development tools.

The company is also introducing a new pricing option for free-of-charge deployment of UltraLite applications that do not require synchronization. iAnywhere Solutions said the new UltraLite deployment pricing is designed to provide an easy, cost effective way for customers to extend their SQL Anywhere Studio laptop or embedded applications to smaller devices.

The UltraLite Component Suite includes the following elements: AppForge control - to be used with the AppForge add-in to Visual Basic, a Rapid Application Development (RAD) tool. Developers use AppForge to create cross-platform applications to use on Palm, Pocket PC and Symbian- based devices; ActiveX control - for use with eMbedded Visual Basic; and Java class library support - developed for the Insignia Jeode Java VM running on Pocket PC.