The expanded initiative provides incentives for members that have demonstrated full support of the NetBeans IDE and have met the business and technical requirements for invitation to the program. As part of the program, business partners receive technical support, exclusive roadmap and planning briefings with the NetBeans team, as well as unique co-marketing opportunities with the Sun developer community including sponsorship and participation in NetBeans developer events, including NetBeans Day, webinars for the community, and promotion on Sun and NetBeans web properties. Members of the NetBeans Strategic Partner Program will be identifiable by a special logo.

"NetBeans has been a great partner for Sony Ericsson in enabling Java ME developers to bring compelling applications to market for our device portfolio," said Mikael Nerde, head of Sony Ericsson Developer and Accessory Programs & Content Planning Product and Application Planning. "Joining the Strategic Partner Program furthers our ability to deliver solutions for our current developers and expand our reach among the larger community."

The NetBeans Strategic Partner Program recognizes the strength that partners bring to the overall NetBeans value proposition as well as the value in reaching one of the largest communities of software developers in the world. These companies are adding cutting-edge value to the NetBeans platform and are making it a key part of their strategy. For more information, see http://www.netbeans.org/community/partners/