The impending ubiquity of .NET in computing devices everywhere got a big boost this week with the unveiling of a new edition of its handheld and embedded device runtime, now capable of communicating with Web services.

As Java already proved, the ubiquity of a runtime platform depends on its ability to scale up to the data cluster level, and down to the handheld device level. Microsoft would like to one-up Java wherever it can, but in some respects, it has to play catch-up first. This week, the company may have caught up with Java in at least one more department, with the release of Web services support for the .NET Micro Framework, unveiled in its new 2.5 release.

The .NET Micro Framework, as we've covered previously in BetaNews, is Microsoft's extension of the general concepts of .NET functionality on the handheld device level. A developer can program for small devices using a high-level language like C# or Visual Basic -- something he'd expect to work with for PC applications. This is where the Micro Framework concept may have one native advantage over Java.

The eagerly anticipated 2.5 release of the Micro Framework adds eagerly awaited support for Web services, which will now give handheld applications the ability to contact resources in an enterprise network or over the Web, and exchange information securely. Imagine a handheld application that serves as a persistent heart monitor for a cardiac patient, or a digital camera that can exchange pictures immediately with colleagues or members of a social network, or that can send pictures to a photo lab for processing.

Technically speaking, what the 2.5 edition now makes available is called the Design Profile for Web Services (DPWS). While the communications ability of any two devices in a network -- be they university supercomputers or a child's wristwatch-based electronic pet -- using standard WS-* protocols is fairly unencumbered, profiles are required to enable communicants in such a network to determine what kind of devices they're communicating with. The DPWS enables a handheld device such as one that runs Windows Mobile to identify itself as a handheld, and enter into exchanges that only a handheld should be involved with.

"DPWS is based on existing Web Services standards, including XML, WSDL, XML Schema, SOAP, MTOM, and HTTP," reads a Microsoft white paper on the subject (PDF available here). "DPWS for the .NET Micro Framework also incorporates this supporting functionality, although not all of it is exposed in the APIs. For example, there are classes for reading and writing XML documents so that applications and service implementations can parse Web Services messages and build responses to them."

Java's counterpart to this toolset is J2ME Web Services, which has been available for several years now.

During his keynote address to the "Heroes Happen Here" launch event in Los Angeles yesterday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer recited recent statistics stating as many as 72% of the world's IT development teams have .NET programming skills.