Sony and others support Sun’s Jini

January 19, 1999 — Backers of a specification for easily connecting future generations of home appliances to a network announce today that they will combine their technology with Sun Microsystems Inc.’s Jini platform. This is according to those familiar with the companies’ plan, who asked not to be identified.

Backers of the Home Audio/Video Interoperability (HAVI) specification will make their technology interoperate with Sun’s Jini so that HAVI-compliant electronics gear can access services over a Jini-based network, the people said.

The HAVI specification defines key elements and functions of middleware, communications protocols, and application programming interfaces that will enable appliances such as televisions and camcorders to work together over a network in a home. Announced in May of last year, HAVI is backed by Grundig AG, Hitachi Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., Philips Electronics NV, Sharp Electronics Corp., Sony Corp., Thomson Multimedia SA, and Toshiba Corp.

Jini, meanwhile, is a broad set of Java-based technologies that Sun says will enable disparate devices connected to a network to act in concert when performing a task. The technology describes hardware and software connected to a network as +ACI-services+ACI- that can be used by any entity connected to the same network.

Sun is expected to unveil more backers of the Jini technology at a Jini promotional event next week in San Francisco.

Under the agreement, Philips, Sony, and Sun will create a +ACI-bridge+ACI- that allows HAVI products in the home to communicate and interact with Jini-compliant products elsewhere. One central goal is to enable users to easily access their home, HAVI-based networks from remote locations, sources said. In addition, the bridge will allow HAVI products in a home to access Jini-based services elsewhere, they said. A user at the office, for example, could access a newspaper service that could offer daily news directly to the user’s home printer.

While it is unclear how the companies specifically will marry the two platforms, the joint work does address a lingering question of whether the two similar technologies would compete or cooperate. Officials at Matsushita, the day the company licensed Java from Sun last December, privately acknowledged that the Jini and HAVI platforms were shooting for the same goal and that they were unsure how to resolve any potential conflict.