Whilst finding out a bit more about the Dalvik virtual machine on Wikipedia I found a link to this article by Stefano Mazzocchi.
Although it is a little tricky to read in parts it is very interesting to understand how Google (hopefully) have got around some of the potential licencing restrictions of using Java by creating their own VM. However, it does also contain a warning that could become more relevant if Sun sees Android as a real challenger to Java on mobile devices:
“This means that if Android does, in fact, use some of Sun’s IP, it is entirely possible for Sun to sue any hardware vendor that ships Android with their phones and prevent them from shipping.”
Hopefully that ‘if’ proves to be unsubstantiated and Android can carry on its merry way but otherwise it could spell a whole host of issues for the platform in the future…
