News and New Product Briefs (4/15/98)

J.B. Hunt uses IBM Java suite to manage trucking

J.B. Hunt Transport Services is managing more than two million truck shipments a year with the IBM-developed, Java-based Internet Carrier Suite — designed to improve communications, reduce routing turnaround time, and lower the network costs of J.B. Hunt’s third-party carriers.

The Internet Carrier Suite consists of four Java-based applications, one each to:

• track carrier availability
• schedule truck loads
• track shipment status
• enter freight invoices via the Internet

The company intends to deploy the suite to 300 of the third-party carriers it contracts. Nashville-based Star Transportation is testing the shipment status application. With it, Star should find it easier to report load progress to J.B. Hunt.

The suite was developed with IBM’s VisualAge for Java; DB2 is used to store all information for communication between J.B. Hunt and third-party carriers.

Update from Progress: The “Ultimate Java Junkie”

The results of Progress Software’s “Ultimate Java Junkie” survey, conducted at the recent JavaOne conference, are in. And here’s the profile of 500 Java programmers who responded to the survey.

Of those 500:

• Almost 70 percent think Java will be ubiquitous on the Web (and they’re working hard to make it so).

• 80 percent work an extra 20 hours a week, on their own, writing enterprise or business applications.

• Coke and coffee is the programming drink of choice. Sorry Pepsi — you’re not the choice of this new generation.

• Pizza is the programming food of choice.

• Wearing jeans is the norm; wearing a tie is almost unheard of.

• Choice of program viewing: Star Trek and Seinfeld.

Progress’s “Java George” Kassabgi, also the author of the “Ask Java George” column in Java Report Online, said, “As businesses seek to move their most important software applications to Java in the coming years, they will become increasingly reliant on a new breed of developer — the Java Junkie” who will “drive the largest corporate software migration since DOS was replaced by Windows.”

REAL and XCaret gang up

REAL Applications has signed a joint marketing agreement with XCaret Research to deliver Java applications to REAL’s installed base of AS/400 customers.

XCaret develops and markets Java-based applications for the AS/400. Its job in the agreement is to provide REAL AS/400 customers with object-oriented development, Java programming, object and relational databases, e-commerce/Web development, and training and education. XCaret president Ralph Barhydt noted, “Java delivers the advantages of object-oriented development that AS/400 was designed for.”

REAL VP/GM Hal Barlow echoed Barhydt: “REAL’s strategic partnership with XCaret will allow our companies to speed implementation of Java, which is the first computer language written with network mobility as a basic.”

• REAL Applications: https://www.realapps.com/
• XCaret Research: https://www.xcaret.com/

MapInfo buys into Object/FX

MapInfo Corp. bought into Java by investing in Object/FX Corp. MapInfo offers Windows-based clients, servers, and a data engine for storing spatial information. Object/FX develops and markets object-oriented geographic and spatial visualization software components. The company’s SpatialX is a suite of Java components for creating mapping solutions.

BellSouth, US West, the U.S. Postal Service, the Department of Defense, TRW, and Federal Express are among the companies using SpatialX to add visualization capabilities to their key applications.

With its minor equity investment (with an option to acquire a majority stake in three years), MapInfo plans to integrate Object/FX products into its products, then offer the new Java-enabled servers to customers. The companies have also entered a worldwide marketing agreement.

• SpatialX: https://www.objectfx.com/products/spatx.html
• MapInfo: https://www.mapinfo.com/

PowerTV adds PersonalJava to its OS

PowerTV, a company that specializes in set-top operating systems and graphics-, video-, and audio-enhancing hardware, will port PersonalJava to its PowerTV OS. With PersonalJava, PowerTV makes it easy for third-party developers to craft Java applets for its OS, which can run on such two-way interactive set-top boxes as the Scientific-Atlanta Explorer 2000.

PowerTV COO Bow Rodgers said, “Porting Sun’s PersonalJava environment to our OS makes the development of information and entertainment applications for television much easier. The nine major cable operators that have stated their intent to deploy set-tops using the PowerTV OS can now have the option of taking advantage of Java technology-based TV applications and applets.”

• https://www.powertv.com/

First JavaPOS draft offered by coalition

Sun and a coalition of manufacturers, developers, and retailers debuted the first draft standard for Java-based point-of-sale applications, the JavaPOS (JPOS).

JPOS is a set of peripheral interface standards, designed to deliver the platform-independence of Java to point-of-sale systems, allowing developers to write a single application that can run on cash registers, handheld devices, kiosks, and Web browsers.

Coalition member Telxon Corp.’s VP Jim Traxler noted, “JavaPOS came along in order to not develop yet another standard, but to take the OPOS standard and make it appropriate for Java environments.” OPOS is the OLE for Retail POS standard, the object-based standard that JPOS grew from, developed by Microsoft, Epson America, NCR, and Fujitsu division ICL.

Retailers involved in the JPOS initiative include JCPenney, Sears, Roebuck and Co., Home Depot, and KMart. OPOS supporter NCR has also decided to support JPOS, but only in Windows environments.

BioElectroMech offers free Java JPG encoder

BioElectroMech, a low-cost Web design service company specializing in Java design, is offering a free Java-based JPEG encoder.

The JpegEncoder is an implementation of the baseline JPEG specification and saves files in the JFIF format. To use it in your Java applications, you create a JpegEncoder object, specify an image, quality, and OutputStream then call that object’s Compress method.

The JpegEncoder object has its own MediaTracker, so you can just create an image object and initialize it to get an image. The JPEG’s quality can be set as an integer from 0 (maximum compression) to 100 (no compression). The JpegEncoder can accept any OutputStream, and it can create a BufferedOutputStream.

This release includes Jpeg.java, a command-line interface that allows the user to create a JPEG file from any of the image formats that the Java VM can read.

• https://www.obrador.com/essentialjpeg/jpeg.htm

LESCO licenses Jacada for Java-client access

LESCO, a golf course/commercial turf care manufacturer and distributor, has licensed CST’s Jacada to deliver Java-based graphical client access to link six production locations, sixteen distribution centers, more than 320 store locations, and its direct sales force.

With an integrated Jacada, LESCO’s AS/400 information system gets easy-to-use graphical access for its distributed sales locations.

LESCO VP/CIO Wayne Murawski said, “Jacada permits LESCO to gain greater enterprise access to information residing on our existing AS/400 without major disruptions to our business. We can then more easily re-engineer our processes, organization assignments, and computer systems.”

• LESCO: https://www.lesco.com/
• Jacado: https://www.cst.com/Products/jacada.html

Mentor Graphics offers PowerPC-focused Java tools

Mentor Graphics Microtec division announced a set of Java tools designed for Motorola’s PowerPC microprocessors. The toolkit includes a Microtec Java Compiler, an XRAY Debugger, and a high-performance Java runtime system.

The compiler, which delivers better performance than a runtime interpreter, allows more Java apps to be available to embedded systems.

The XRAY Debugger supports multithreading. XRAY offers embedded debug options, including a PowerPC instruction-set simulator, a PowerPC Background Debug Mode connection, and the Hewlett-Packard PowerPC Processor Probe.

The Java runtime environment, based on the company’s POSIX-compliant VRTX 5.0 real-time OS, includes multithreading, memory-management, and garbage-collection features.

Microtec engineer Ray O’Farrell noted, “One of the most common concerns expressed to us by embedded developers is the impact of garbage collection on real-time performance. As a result, we have invested significant development resources ensuring that Java applications built on our runtime can provide a predictable real-time response.”

Beta versions for Windows 95/NT and Solaris should be available in Q298. Pricing will start at ,300 for a single-user license.

• https://www.mentorg.com/microtec/

Sun offers free Java software for education

Sun has decided to offer free software licenses for Java application development products to education organizations (from grammar through university levels) for teaching and research.

Products available through this program include:

• Java Workshop 2.0
• JavaStudio 1.0
• JavaWeb Server 1.1
• JavaPureCheck
• JavaStar
• JavaSpec
• JavaScope

The products will be available for an initial 12 months, expiring on March 31, 1999.

“Sun is doing its part to help fill the exploding demand for Java technology-savvy programmers. This initiative will help both educators and students develop the next generation of Java application-enabled solutions and technology,” said Ed Zander, Sun COO.

• https://www.sun.com/edu/java/free

Oracle “componentizes” its applications

Using its Designer/2000 modeling tool, Oracle has plans to rewrite its entire application suite as a collection of Java components.

Designer/2000 2.1 (coming out this month) lets developers generate 100 percent of an application’s source code from an object model (the current modeling tool only allows for the generation of 70 percent of code).

Larry Ellison said, “We think apps should be developed through data models and process models, not through coding of any kind, including Java.”

Look for a detailed list of the retooling plans at next month’s Oracle Applications User Group conference in San Diego.

• Designer/2000: https://www.oracle.com/products/tools/des2k/index.html
• Original article: https://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19980406S0023

PlusFactor delivers Office Pack info management tools

PlusFactor Software introduced the Office Pack suite of Java-based small-office information tools.

The Office Pack suite is constructed on a proprietary database, and it comes with seven integrated applications:

• In-out board — Allows employees to leave messages and inform others of their whereabouts

• Employee information — Provides users ways of contacting each employee, accessible from the office or remotely

• While you were out — Notifies you of missed calls and visits. Even looks like a pink slip (not the bad kind)

• Room scheduler — Schedules conference rooms from your desk or from home

• Ticker tape — Sends out broadcast messages to the entire staff

• Quick notes — Provides a forum space for discussing important topics, eliminating messy e-mail exchanges

• Company calendar — Taps into a company-wide calendar while at the same time maintaining a personal calendar

Office Pack runs on NT 4.0, NetWare 4.1/5.0, and Windows 95 servers. Any Java-enabled desktop makes a good client. It should be available by the end of the second quarter of this year. Pricing has not been set.

• https://www.plusfactor.com/product.html

Microsoft “relaxes” rival ad contract provision

In the supposed wake of future rulings, Microsoft revised its contracts with two dozen media/entertainment companies to eliminate exclusivity provisions.

Under the original contracts, content providers featured on the “Channel Bar” of Internet Explorer (IE) were required to promote IE exclusively on their main Web pages. According to COO Bob Herbold, those provisions have been relaxed. Microsoft also eliminated a requirement that the companies under contract include IE exclusively along with any content shipped to consumers on CD-ROMs.

Herbold commented that although the provisions “were frankly legal and common in many types of agreements,” Microsoft wanted to “move ahead and resolve the central issue in this case, which is protecting the freedom to innovate.”

Among the content providers affected were technical trade publisher Ziff Davis and Time Warner.

IBM and SunSoft announce joint JavaOS for Business

IBM and SunSoft announced they are jointly developing JavaOS for Business, which is intended to replace JavaOS for network computers.

This will deliver a single development platform for ISVs and IHVs (the H is for hardware), not to mention the boost it should give to enterprise Java usage and the adoption of Java-based network computers.

JavaOS for Business should be available to network computer OEMs, ISVs, and distributors by the middle of 1998, but the companies will not ship their own NCs (IBM’s NetworkStation and Sun’s JavaStation) with the new OS until early 1999. Without going into much detail, SunSoft and IBM officials did say the the new OS will include enhanced server-based NC management features.

Prime Equipment technology development manager Travis Singleton noted that “These types of partnerships are almost always a good thing because, as managers, we don’t have to choose between two sets of standards.” Prime Equipment has already deployed about 700 non-Java thin clients to access its AS/400/Notes environment.

Communicator 4.05 lacks Java support

Despite the bug fixes, new features, and improved messaging added to Netscape Communicator 4.05, it still lacks good support for Java.

Communicator 4.05 doesn’t fully support the JDK 1.1: It cannot run applets that use the Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT) 1.1. For AWT 1.1 support, you have to download a special version that you install yourself. No easy patch here. Why? The company is upgrading Navigator support to the latest version of the JDK — JDK 1.1.5 — so the old patches won’t work with the new release.

MindSlate puts Java knowledgeware at your fingertips

MindSlate is offering “Java knowledgeware,” a seminar-type event that strategically presents the overall Java platform for enterprises that want to implement the Java platform.

The seminar includes the fundamental constituents of Java, plus a reduction of incorrect or dated information. MindSlate delivers this repository of Java information at your company site, targeted for a group of 5 to 15 persons.

The courseware is divided into nine modules, and more advanced users can skip to the appropriate level. Clients can also choose from a preset series of classes: a one-day introduction, two-day standard, three-day extended, or special one-day enterprise class. Each module takes about two hours to present.

“Java Knowledgeware” presenters will demonstrate:

• JavaStudio
• JavaWorkshop
• Java Web Server
• HotJava
• JavaStar
• JavaSpec
• JavaHelp
• Swing components
• JavaBlend
• Java Wallet

The seminar costs ,500 per day, which doesn’t include travel expenses.

• https://www.mindSlate.com/

Rubric debuts EMA marketing automation software

Rubric announces Rubric EMA 1.0, a Java-based software system that allows businesses to automate marketing campaigns and integrate sales forces and prospects.

Rubric EMA uses a workflow scheme to automate multistep, multichannel campaigns, handling inbound and outbound leads, regardless of the source or format. It provides data validation and eliminates lead duplication.

The system uses a graphical interface that lets marketeers change the parameters of the campaign as the situation changes.

At the core of the system is the Rubric Application Server, which contains configurable workflow, object-casting, and rules engines. And it comes equipped with a caching layer to minimize database input/output. Rubric EMA supports most major RDBMS. At half a million lines of pure Java code, it is a very complex and robust app.

It runs on NT, Solaris, MS SQL Server, Microsoft IIS, Netscape Web Server, or SMTP mail server. The client can be any machine with a Java-enabled browser. It should be generally available by the time you read this, starting at 50,000.

• https://www.rubricsoft.com/ema/ema.htm

HP saying Sun’s Java VM not good for embedded systems

Hewlett-Packard will not guarantee that its embedded systems Java VM will be compatible with the upcoming EmbeddedJava, according to HP marketing director Byron Rono.

HP officials claim that its JVM contains no Sun technology, citing the reasons for the development split as a dislike of Sun’s licensing fees and that the standards process it uses to develop Java gives Sun too much control.

Rono said that Sun should allow companies to make changes to the licensed technology so they can develop JVMs to suit each set of needs. He added, “We have to be able to subset for those embedded device categories that have special requirements.”

Despite disagreements, both companies have restarted discussions over Sun’s standards process.

• Original article: /cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?98049.whjavaembed.htm

Citrix to call “pICAsso” MetaFrame

At the recent Citrix Solutions Network Worldwide Conference, Citrix Systems president Mark Templeton announced the new product name for its thin-client server software pICAsso — MetaFrame.

Templeton commented: “Over the years, Citrix has enjoyed tremendous support from its customers, channel, and business partners. We wanted the name for our ‘pICAsso’ project to signify the support we plan to provide these important groups with our newest thin-client/server software. ‘Meta’ symbolizes change or transformation. We believe that MetaFrame will provide our customers and partners a competitive edge, helping them stay ahead in this information age.”

• https://www.citrix.com/products/metaframe.asp

With or without DOJ, states to probe MS antitrust

Eleven states are readying their own antitrust action against Microsoft, with state attorneys general and staffs combining resources and working with federal antitrust officials. And they plan to launch their probe whether the Department of Justice does or not.

Currently, a draft complaint is circulating among the states and may be filed by the end of April before U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson.

EnterpriseSoft offers ERW Java report writer

EnterpriseSoft announced EnterpriseSoft Report Writer for Java (ERWJ), a compact Java-based report writer software designed for Internet and corporate intranet use.

The Java 1.1 ERWJ is about 350K and is data-source independent, so it can generate reports from any database using JDBC. Users can save reports as HTML and ASCII, and the software supports formulas, nested grouping, and multiple image formats (GIF, JPG, BMP).

ERWJ has an auto-query generator, a GUI-based template designer, and can be used through Internet Explorer 4.0, Netscape Navigator 4.04, and HotJava browsers.

ERWJ costs 95 per developer seat. Redistribution of bytecode is royalty-free.

• https://www.EnterpriseSoft.com/Products/ReportWriter.html

Orga signs Java license for smart card integration

German-based Orga signed a Java Card licensing agreement with Sun, so the operating systems developer can evaluate using Java for some of its products.

Orga officials see Java as a good fit for the mobile computing and banking industries. Orga’s product management director Andreas Driessen said that the company is looking to support standardized systems, but first it has to demonstrate true added value to customers and the industry.

Recently, Orga has been extending the company into new areas of smart card development with a second release of a 16K E2PROM subscriber identity module application toolkit.

• https://www.orga.com/

ObjectShare upgrades PARTS for Java Pro 2.5

ObjectShare announced PARTS for Java Professional 2.5, a component-based development environment designed to support several teams working on one project.

This release adds enhanced team-development support, automated database support, and an enhanced visual environment to assemble JavaBean object components.

Also, the new release features support for integration with JavaBeans for JDBC and Sun’s recently released Swing. It includes OracleLite 3.0, allowing developers to test apps for the Oracle8 database and to create stored procedures in Java. It also comes bundled with such Java tools as OrbixWeb, PVCS, and jKit/Grid. The company promises support and integration with ClearCase in the third quarter of ’98.

Available for Windows 95/NT, PARTS for Java Pro 2.5 lists for ,495.

• https://www.objectshare.com/pr/r-p4jpro.htm

Sun higher-ups speak out against detractors

Several Sun Microsystems officials recently had some comments on Java/thin client detractors.

Sun COO Ed Zander: “Go back to ’80 and ’81 and see what demand you had for PCs and workstations. The media called them toys.”

He sees thin clients as being an inevitable move, but cautioned users to remember that the first new thing on the block has to hang in for a while to be successful. He added that thin clients are the “version 1.0, 2.0 thing. Newton was the version 1.0 of the PalmPilot. Apple should have stuck with it.”

“We’ve had more demand for NCs than we imagined. We just have to get the product out the door. There is demand for thinness at the desktop, whether it’s an NC or a Winterm [Windows Terminal] solution.” He thinks that the recent Winterm hallelujas coming from PC zealots are occurring because the NC is the right concept.

Sun corporate marketing VP Anil Gadre: “You have to bank on the long-term play. We are betting on the paradigm shift.”

Gadre had nothing but compliments for the resellers that were willing to disrupt their current businesses to accommodate the new paradigm. As for the dearth of Java-based applications, Gadre commented, “We’re just a year away from real personal productivity applications,” pointing out Star Division’s StarOffice suite as a pioneer.

Both think that the Internet is transforming the way companies do business, and that Java and NCs fit that way of doing business.

• https://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19980410S0007

JavaPC available in beta

The JavaPC software, which allows PCs running DOS and Windows 3.x to run JDK 1.1-compatible Java applications, is available in beta.

With JavaPC, the JavaPC software can be stored locally on each PC or on the network, and network configurations can be dynamically managed from a central server or locally on each PC. And IT managers can move their networks to a network-computing architecture at their own speeds, making use of the “obsolete” PC systems already attached to the existing network.

One of the most important aspects: The JavaPC software doesn’t overwrite current files or applications. It can coexist with 16-bit DOS and Windows applications, and third-party software lets users access 32-bit Windows, Unix, and SNA applications running on remote servers.

Expect the JavaPC Software in the first half of 1998 for less than 00.

JavaReel shows off apps and applets

Sun’s JavaReel is a Java application and applet showcase, a repository of applications developed by ISVs that represent a wide range of Java products.

You can view the complete list of products, select from the 100% Pure Java products only, or cut a slice of products based on a specific market category. Many of the featured products are demonstration versions.

The JavaReel is also looking for developer’s products to display.

• https://www.javasoft.com/javareel/allproducts.html

150 certified 100% Pure Java products

In a recent announcement, Sun announced that more than 150 Java applications, applets, and components have received all-Java certification in the 100% Pure Java certification program.

• The compete list of products: https://www.javasoft.com/100percent/latestlist.html

Building the all-Java Navigator

Now that Netscape Navigator source code is freely available, all kinds of ports to exotic environments are showing up, including ports to Linux, BeOS, and IBM OS/2. And groups are forming to add implementation features such as eXtensible Markup Language (XML), Cascading Style Sheet, and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption.

A core group of 17 developers, who range from professional to amateur, has decided to resurrect the all-Java version of Navigator using the Communicator 5.0 source code. (An all-Java version of Navigator, Javagator, was all but abandoned by Netscape.)

The goal of the group is to produce “Jazilla,” replacing the original C/C++ code with pure Java.

Lew Tucker, Sun’s director of strategic relations, loved the idea. “I would like to see a great Java browser out of this effort,” he said, “It’s an affirmation of the strength and vibrancy of the Java development community that they are taking on a project of this scope.”

The group’s numbers are still growing; as of now, it hasn’t set a release timeline.

• Additional information:
  • https://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?CRN19980413S0033
  • https://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19980409S0022

Sun subpoenas Java ISVs and publisher

Sun has subpoenaed two Java ISVs (Seagate Software and Object Design) and Visual J++ magazine publisher (Informant Communications Group). The three parties have come out in support of Microsoft’s newest Visual J++ tool, and Sun is seeking information on their correspondence with Microsoft.

Sun’s reason: Visual J++ is essential to its argument that Microsoft’s SDK for Java 2.0 is not 100 percent Java-compatible. Sun lawyer James Batchelder said, “Visual J++ is the most recent incarnation of the [Software Developer’s Kit for Java] 2.0 and the issues are the same.”

Microsoft court documents claimed that Sun was trying to “intimidate third-party developers and others by suggesting that if they show support for Microsoft’s products, they can expect Sun to make their lives more difficult and expensive.” Microsoft lawyers also want to limit depositions to five third-party vendors, while Sun lawyers say there should be no limit.

The next court date for the Java suit is September 4, 1998.

• Original article: https://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?CRN19980413S0012

Sun offers Java Web Server 1.1

Sun is debuting the Java Web Server 1.1, designed to help developers and administrators deploy server-side Java options.

The server (which runs on any JDK 1.1 platform) is based on the Java Servlet API and is mostly servlets — servlets that serve pages, maintain sessions, analyze logs — doing basically everything you’d want a Web server to do. Java Web Server 1.1 supports JDBC database connections and JavaBeans.

It sports such features as:

• page compilation, which lets developers embed Java code directly into HTML pages, after which the code compiles into servlets on the fly

• servlet-based presentation templates, which allow developers to specify the look and feel of a site in template files

• administrative applet viewer as a controller console, which allows the administrator to affect most site characteristics

• the ability to set up multiple hosts on separate IP addresses or a shared address

Java Web Server also supports servlet aliasing, so URLs can be mapped directly to servlets.

The Java Web Server 1.1 lists for 95.

• https://www.sun.com/980310/javawebserver/

MS antitrust update: DOJ may focus on Java in antitrust suit

Java could become the focus of the proposed wider Department of Justice probe into alleged Microsoft antitrust activities since it seems to be the central stumbling block to Microsoft’s OS monopoly.

DOJ lawyers noted in original filings of the legal action to make Microsoft refrain from bundling its Internet Explorer browser software from it Windows 95 operating system that Microsoft’s actions went beyond just maintaining its monopoly, to extending its hold on the operating system market. Here is a comment from the filing: “Unfettered competition among Internet browser products could lead to development of a computer environment in which business and consumer applications would work regardless of which operating system was installed on the PC.” (DOJ Oct. 20, 1997.)

Microsoft has been appealing, left and right. One appeal focused on the court’s appointment of Special Master Lawrence Lessig, calling it illegal and irresponsible, based on Lessig’s alleged bias against Microsoft.

A separate appeal asked for relief from a temporary settlement under which Microsoft was required to offer the Internet Explorer software separately from the operating system.

U.S. Court of Appeals (DC) judge Laurence Silberman has been replaced by Patricia Wald, a judge who has a history of demonstrating a favorable view of antitrust laws.

• Lawsuit information from Sun: https://java.sun.com/aboutJava/info/index.html

Sun and Maxim I/T debut Mission-PDM

Sun and ISV Maxim I/T announced Mission-PDM, Java-based product data management software designed to speed development of distributed Java applications that embrace both client- and server-side components.

Maxim I/T product development VP Steve Selfors said, “A complete Java client/server architecture was an easy decision for us. Our customers want to reduce design time and product cost through real-time collaboration with their partners and suppliers.”

Among other features, Mission-PDM:

• incorporates a revision engine that stores updates in a single compact file, offering a simpler method of file management and lowering storage costs

• uses a “pull” approach in which information is pulled from applications and then used to build data structures and relationships

• delivers a set of automation tools to help developers migrate legacy data

Pricing depends on configuration, so check with the company.

• https://www.maxim-it.com/mission.html

Patriot Scientific to deliver Java engine

Patriot Scientific has entered into a contract to provide its Java engine processor, the PSC1000, as a multimedia-controller module for Olea Exhibits DVD drives. Olea, a multimedia kiosk and interactive pavilion producer, uses DVD drives for exhibition systems.

Patriot will build the multimedia-controller modules using the Java PSC1000 microprocessor, delivering a controller that will run an application written in Java and C. (Patriot also is developing the application.) The company expects to deliver a prototype in May 1998.

Most of the contract terms (initially worth million plus) will be delivered beginning in the third quarter of this year. The contract also calls for long-term development and manufacturing of the DVD multimedia controllers.

Olea president Mark Olea noted that “We chose to work with Patriot in part because of their ability to develop the necessary software and multimedia controllers, but mainly because of the PSC1000’s processor capabilities, low cost, and high performance.” He continued: “We selected Patriot’s unique, versatile microprocessor because it satisfies our need for C language as well as Java applications.”

Olea will be using the device to replace the NT PC-based systems it is currently using.

• Olea Exhibits: https://www.olea.com/
• Patriot Scientific’s PSC1000 Microprocessor: https://www.ptsc.com/PSC1000/indexshboom.html

Bull updates OpenMaster management software

Bull Information Systems is updating its secure enterprise-management software suite with the release of OpenMaster 5.0.

OpenMaster 5.0 includes such enhancements as:

• a Web/Java/CORBA-based architecture
• better configuration-management capabilities
• service-level business-process management
• integration of the LDAP protocol
• support for public key infrastructure

OpenMaster 5.0 offers security management for such areas as service-level reporting, security policy management, configuration management, and application deployment. And the new Web/Java interface makes it easier to manage system-wide security in the above areas.

The suite will be available in phases starting in the third quarter of this year (for the U.S. only), beginning with the Web/Java user interface, improved alarm correlation, and configuration-management capabilities

Later in the year, the suite will be available worldwide, and it will add support for LDAP, public key infrastructure, and service-quality reporting. Core services start at 0,000.

• https://www.openmaster.com/

NetObjects adds EJB support to Fusion 3.0

NetObjects announced that it is adding immediate support for Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) to its NetObjects Fusion 3.0 Web site building application.

NetObjects engineering VP Martin Frid-Nielsen said, “Our support of EJB demonstrates NetObjects’ belief that . . . we expect EJB to become a prevalent standard.”

NetObjects Fusion implements EJB support through the use of a Java server-side applets (servlet) interface. Users can build a servlet in Fusion, drop it on their site, then continue to customize its properties. When the servlet is deployed to a server, it causes a similar action that delivers back-office data access to users through EJB.

Developers can build and customize their own EJBs or use pre-built ones — either will integrate easily with the Fusion servlets. And NetObjects’ Java-based NFX API technology lets developers write plug-in components that make an EJB a page-layout object.

• https://www.netobjects.com/products/html/nof3.html

Software Development ’98 East showcases Java knowledge

Miller Freeman’s Software Development ’98 East ISV developer conference, scheduled for August 17 to 21 in nation’s capital, is showcasing several Java events:

• Sun, Netscape, and Microsoft officials will be on hand to present their technology roadmaps.

• Panel discussions will include such current development topics as CORBA vs. COM, privacy and encryption, JavaBeans vs. ActiveX, and more.

• In the Java Super Bowl, development teams and tools will go head-to-head to build real-time applications, right before your eyes.

• Hundreds of Java/Internet tools vendors will be demonstrating their wares in the Java Pavilion.

• https://www.sd98.com/

Java smart card maker Gemplus investing in developing markets

Gemplus, a manufacturer of magnetic stripe and smart cards (including Java-based cards), is investing 0 million in the developing Singapore, India, and China markets.

Gemplus intends a 0 million investment in the Singapore region to build a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility with four production lines and embedding and personalization facilities. Target: Production of 40 million cards a year. This facility is expected to be in full swing later in 1998.

In the Indian market, Gemplus is investing 0 million over the next three years for R&D and business development, with plans to build a smart card manufacturing facility by the end of 1999. Gemplus has already established a research facility in Bangalore that has a five-year plan to develop the next generation of smart card operating systems and software support.

Gemplus also is investing 0 million in China, adding four production lines to existing manufacturing facilities in Tianjin and Zhuhai.

• https://www.gemplus.com/

Sun launches Java VAR Channel Accelerate program

Sun launched Channel Accelerate, a program designed to increase Sun resellers’ Java service capabilities, at the recent Channel Executive Conference.

With Channel Accelerate (and other initiatives announced at the conference), Sun expects its resellers to intensify their efforts to target new markets such as Java and desktop products (workstations and network computers), as well as middle-tier enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, workgroup servers, and services.

To help VARs reach these new, relatively untapped markets, there’s a revamped “Sun Express.” Sun Express used to be a VAR competitor, but it has been evolved into SX NAFO, an internal division designed to support Sun’s direct sales force and its outside reseller sales force. SX NAFO first initiative is to launch a lead-generation program for VARs.

• Original article: https://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?VAR19980413S0003

Java Lobby decides whether to wade into Java fray

After the Justice Department’s recent announcement that it is considering a broader antitrust action against Microsoft, Java Lobby president Rick Ross said that the Lobby has been “actively evaluating our third-party, antitrust litigation options.”

Ross defined the Lobby’s complaint succinctly: “We think Microsoft is denying us access to what we regard as essential facilities into the Windows interface.” The Java Lobby claims that Internet Explorer 4.0 is not Java-compliant because it doesn’t include both a Java virtual machine (JVM) and the core class libraries (JFC).

Ross’ contentions go deeper than that, though. He believes Microsoft’s ministrations violate the “essential facilities” part of antitrust law. The concept of “essential facilities” holds that a company with monopoly control of key goods cannot legally use that control to block competitors from markets. He said, “Microsoft has a product in the place where Java should fit that is blocking real Java, making it impossible for a large number of us to earn a livelihood as Java developers.” Ross added that the Lobby would file an amicus curiae if asked.

Microsoft officials denied the company is keeping Java developers from working with Windows 95 or Windows 98.

• Java Lobby: https://www.javalobby.org
• Original article: https://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?INW19980413S0013

Tune into Oracle’s Java Day

April 15 is tax day in the U.S. To turn your thoughts from your tax bill, Oracle is offering a Webcast outlining its Java strategy for its entire product line.

During the 9:00 am (Pacific Daylight Time) Webcast, called “Java Day,” Oracle will detail the new Java strategy for its development tools, application servers, packaged apps, and databases. The Java strategy: To provide cross-platform support and lower the cost of developing, deploying, and managing business applications.

Specifically, Oracle will introduce:

• AppBuilder for Java 1.0, which include the 3GL toolset based on Borland technology
• the Oracle8 database
• Application Server 4.0, which will ship with support for Enterprise JavaBeans

Oracle also will announce Java support for Oracle8.1, which ships later in 1998.

If you have to miss it to finish your taxes, you can catch up at Oracle’s “Java Day” Web site.

• https://www.oracle.com/html/javaday.html