News and New Product Briefs (12/2/97)

NEC launches AuraLine Java Multimedia Creation Kit

NEC Systems Laboratory introduced the AuraLine Java Multimedia Creation Kit at Comdex. This low-end Java tool adds multimedia effects to Web sites and graphic presentations.

The AuraLine Kit lets users who have little or no Java programming experience add simple graphics (animations, scrolling, hotspots) and audio effects to Web pages. Developers use a simple timeline interface to add effects. The timeline can be saved in an HTML or script file that can be uploaded to a Web server to place in a Web page. The media objects can be converted into ActiveX controls, if you decide you want them to show up in a PowerPoint presentation.

AuraLine is not “targeting the high-end Adobe and Macromedia user, nor the developer who uses Visual Caf,” said Susanna Pool, NEC marketing consultant.

The AuraLine Kit includes a 5,000-item (clips, and so on) media library and is available for 0. The next version promises to offer full interactive video and multimedia-management capabilities (due early 1998 for less than 00).

https://www.auraline.com/

Finjan Java Security Alliance enrolls Data Fellows anti-virus company

Finjan announced that Finnish company Data Fellows, an anti-virus software manufacturer, has joined the ranks of Finjan’s Java Security Alliance. Data Fellows makes the F-PROT Professional anti-virus toolkit.

Data Fellows president and CEO Risto Siilasmaa said, “Data Fellows believes in sharing an API with the industry to offer enterprise customers an integrated, streamlined solution for network security. Our CounterSign technology and Finjan’s Content Inspection technology are perfect fits for any enterprise looking for best-of-breed security solutions.” And Finjan CEO Shlomo Touboul added, “This move marks a dramatic shift in the previously-held belief that anti-virus technology can prevent mobile code attacks.” Discrete mobile code security breaches, unlike virus attacks, do not necessarily follow patterns.

Data Fellows’ F-Secure Anti-Virus’ CounterSign technology, employed in its F-PROT Professional anti-virus toolkit, uses dual or multiple scanning engines for multi-layered virus protection, performing multiple simultaneous scans with different scanning engines and methods, including on-demand and real-time scans.

Data Fellows: https://www.datafellows.com/

NetAccent ships DART Mail Java e-mail software

NetAccent Inc. is shipping a Java-based e-mail suite called DART Mail 1.0 that is 100 percent Java. DART Mail supports the IMAP4 protocol to allow users to store e-mail on the ISP’s server, so someone using more than one computer never has to worry about synchronizing e-mail directories between various machines. NetAccent considers airport and trade show kiosks, hotel guests, and eventually public “smart” telephones as targets for DART Mail.

NetAccent president Ketan Kotak said, “With DART Mail, a person could use a computer at work, a different one at home, access e-mail via a hotel’s computers, check messages with a PDA, and never worry about copying messages from one system to another.” He added, “ISPs will be able to charge incremental fees for storing these messages and providing users with this flexibility.”

Also, Kotak sees network computers as a perfect environment for DART Mail, because it supports a healthy variety of e-mail protocols (IMAP4, POP3, SMTP, MIME) and Java, and takes up only a small amount of processing power. He commented, “NC manufacturers will be attracted to DART Mail due to the small footprint; since we work with virtually any mail server, NCs bundled with our client will fit perfectly within the customer’s environment.”

DART Mail offers ISPs support for Windows, Mac, and Unix.

https://www.netaccent.com/

Activerse offers Ding! and Ding! Switchboard for live collaboration

Activerse Inc. announced Ding! and Ding! Switchboard, an all-Java, Internet/intranet instant collaboration system.

The Ding! portion is an instant-messaging client application that lets users know instantly who’s online. Through Ding!, the user can “reach out and touch someone” through instant HTML messaging, chat, file/URL transfer, and live status bulletins. And users can control their own availability, even limiting who can contact them.

Ding! Switchboards is the online access manager’s portion that resides on public or private servers. Multiple Switchboards coordinate just like Web servers, using a common protocol to create a seamless distributed network with no single point of failure. With Switchboards, clients can authenticate users and connect them to their groups regardless of location, through peer-to-peer connections.

HP’s Medical Products Group, the Trammell Crow Company, GE Mortgage, Andersen Consulting, Ernst&Young, First Union Banking, Bank of Boston, Credit Suisse, and L-3 Communications Telemetry & Instrumentation have started (or plan to) a beta installation of the Ding! products. L-3 systems administrator Gregory Blake said, “Ding!’s peer-to-peer architecture is especially important. Most, if not all, of the other instant-messaging products rely on a central server. If that server goes down, you lose communication. This doesn’t happen with Ding!.”

Some Ding! features include

• User management of Net presence
• User privacy protection by being able to see who’s watching you
• Reliable, scalable peer-to-peer communication that works just like the Web
• Simple file-transfer management
• Embedded HTML for quick Web access
• LDAP interface for directory searches

Shipping later in 1997, Ding! Switchboard and Ding! PowerPak bundles will be priced at 95 for a Ding! Switchboard and a 25-client pack. The Ding! client is free for non-business use, and costs 0 per user if you’re using it for business. Current versions support Windows 95 and NT, with major Java-platform support planned before the end of 1997.

https://www.activerse.com/

Paralogic licenses ParaChat 2.0 chat server to The Mining Company

Paralogic Corp. has licensed its ParaChat 2.0 chat server to The Mining Company, which intends to use ParaChat on its 500 GuideSites.

The Mining Company business affairs VP Eric Bingham commented, “All of our GuideSites share a clean, consistent design, and we were able to quickly and seamlessly integrate ParaChat into the Mining Company environment on all our sites.”

With the ParaChat server, each of The Mining Company’s Guides get full access to ParaChat’s high-traffic, highly scalable, single-hookup chat engine. ParaChat 2.0 uses MuxSock, a new optimization module that utilizes socket multiplexing to deliver more than 1,000 simultaneous connections on a single server (and an uncountable number of simultaneous connections across multiple servers). The ParaChat server is written in Java and runs on any machine supporting the Java virtual machine. The Java client starts up after a download of only 45 kilobytes of code, and no plug-ins are required.

According to Paralogic president and founder Vijay Vaidyanathan, “ParaChat has been licensed for use on over 75,000 Web-based chat rooms.”

Pricing for a ParaChat 2.0 license depends on the number of simultaneous users. It starts at ,450 for a 1,000-user license. MuxSock is offered as an option and is priced based on the number of simultaneous users.

MuxSock is highly recommended for sites with more than 500 simultaneous users to optimize performance.

The Mining Company: https://www.miningco.com/

Paralogic: https://www.paralogic.com/

Vision releases Vision JADE 3.0 development environment

Vision Software officials say their success with JADE 2.0 made it easy for the company to decide to develop JADE 3.0.

Enhancements to JADE 3.0 include:

• Applications templates — for time-tracking, medical systems, order entry, and phone books — for customers to use out-of-the-box
• An integrated point-and-click deployment manager that automates transmittal of secure JADE 3.0 applications
• Dual support for JDK 2.1 and 1.1
• Integrated Crystal Reports for improved reporting/printing capabilities
• JLINK facilities, which allow you to work with other packaged applications
• Full e-mail integration, including agent-based e-mail (automatically sends out e-mail if an event occurs)

JADE 3.0 will be in beta this month and is expected to ship in early 1998.

https://www.vision-soft.com/

Novell and MindQ teach Java to 2,000 software engineers

Novell Inc. is using courseware developed by MindQ Publishing to teach Java to 2,000 of its software engineers in 33 countries.

The Novell-internal developers’ courseware, called “Novell Java Developer Training,” will help the company reach its goal: to have all Novell products and services be written in or accessible through Java.

The course is an “electronic workbook” and is distributed across Novell’s intranet directly to the desktop of each engineer. Novell Java Tech Group product manager Jim Colburn said, “Novell assessed all types of traditional and desktop training. MindQ’s training features built-in assessments that help students and managers test and reinforce what they are learning, and provides the most flexibility to achieve rapid learning. Novell Java experts worked with MindQ to develop this ‘real world’ training solution, implemented and completed in six months.”

The Java courseware covers Java language fundamentals, visual development tools, JavaBeans and component theory, JDK1.1, class libraries, and security.

Iona to support CORBA integration in Borland development tools

Iona Technologies announces support for Borland’s C++Builder, which means that Iona’s CORBA product, Orbix, now supports it as well as Borland C++ and Borland Delphi. (Iona has plans to add JBuilder support in the next release of its Java-based OrbixWeb.) Borland C++Builder Client/Server Suite is a suite of developer tools and C++ compilers.

Orbix supports platforms including mainframes, Unix, Windows, and OS/2. It also supports a wide range of languages, including C++, Java, COBOL, and Smalltalk, and tools such as Visual Basic, PowerBuilder, and Delphi.

If you want to try a beta of the Orbix 2.3 Borland C++ Builder, send e-mail to the address listed below.

beta@iona.com

Through a legal move, Sun asks Microsoft to stop using Java logo

On November 18, 1997, Sun Microsystems formally asked a U.S. District Court to bar Microsoft from using its Java-compatible logo in promoting and distributing Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 and related products.

Sun’s filing is in response to Microsoft’s countersuit over allegations of breach of contract, failure to operate in good faith and fair dealing, and unfair competition. Microsoft’s suit alleges that Sun failed to live up to the agreements of its 1996 contract. Sun’s suit claims that Microsoft is trying to break Java’s cross-platform compatibility and instead develop a Microsoft-only version of the product. The Java-compatible logo already appears on packaging and promotional materials for some Microsoft products.

Sun general counsel Michael H. Morris said, “We take very seriously our stewardship of this remarkable technology, which includes keeping the promise of cross-platform compatibility that our logo stands for. Today’s filing signals that we will act to protect both that technology and the trademark.” He added, “A significant part of the value of the Java technology depends on the acceptance by the public of the promise that Sun will stand behind that technology and do everything possible to enable the products with the Java logo to be capable of delivering ‘Write Once, Run Anywhere’ performance.”

Microsoft platform marketing director Cornelius Willis countered with, “We think we have the right to use the logo and will continue to do so, and will argue that in front of the judge.”

Netscape to release Java-only browser

Netscape officials plan to release a Java-only version of its Navigator software, code-named Javagator, sometime in the first or second quarter of 1998.

Javagator will run on network computers and PCs, and will work with Java applets. It will let users execute Web programs on local machines instead of waiting for the client to retrieve data from Web servers after the users type in a URL. Javagator will support DHTML and JavaScript technologies, giving users access to animated objects, as well as other interactive content.

Javagator will be available as a download product from the Web.

Dataquest survey says IE cutting Navigator market lead

A Dataquest survey says that Netscape browsers still hold 57.6 percent of the market (third quarter ’97), while Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) share of the market has increased to 39.4 percent (up from 20 percent at the end of fourth quarter ’96).

Dataquest principle analyst Kathryn Hale said, “If Microsoft’s growth in browser share continues, Dataquest projects Internet Explorer to reach parity with Netscape Navigator as early as the second quarter of 1998. What will be really interesting is next quarter’s data.” She pointed out that the data was collected when the latest version of the Microsoft browser, IE 4.0, started shipping.

The Dataquest survey data reflects a seven-day period at the end of each quarter, using about 60 million daily query points in data supplied by Digital’s Alta Vista search engine group.

Sun licenses Brio Enterprise tools

Sun Microsystems has licensed Brio Technology Inc.’s Enterprise product family of client/server and Web query and reporting tools. The companies also are jointly developing a full Java client to deliver Brio query, reporting, and analysis functionality to extranet users.

Sun currently is implementing the following Brio tools in Solaris:

• BrioQuery — an integrated query, analysis (OLAP), and reporting tool
• BrioQuery.Server — a server that automatically processes queries and distributes reports
• Brio.Insight — for OLAP analysis and reporting through a Web browser
• Brio.Quickview — lets a user view reports via the Web

Sun plans to incorporate Java versions of Brio products beginning in February 1998. Sun also will use the Java-based Brio Enterprise Server (and Broadcast Server) to send queries and reports to desktop and mobile computers from its own Oracle-enabled data warehouse.

https://www.brio.com/

JavaStations delayed

Sun announced that the commercial shipment deadline for the JavaStation has been moved to the first quarter ’98.

Sun officials stated that the delay is caused by Sun’s insistence on further testing and the need to choose a feature set. The company wants to be certain that customer complaints (from using pilot program units) of hardware/software synchronization problems have been addressed before it becomes commercially available.

Sun officials also acknowledge that it was tougher than it originally thought to create an all-Java solution. Sun announced the JavaStation in October 1996.

The pilot program JavaStations will continue to go out. Also, Sun recently announced a SunClient Support program for JavaStations and the release of the JavaOS for NCs.

A cup of Java to go: NCs on wheels?

Talk about your mobile computing. At the recent Comdex in Las Vegas, Netscape, IBM, Sun, and Delco Electronics announced they have come together to create a Java-based network computer system with wheels.

The “Network Vehicle” prototype auto will have voice recognition, transparent windshield displays, global positioning/GIS systems, and, of course, access to the Internet. And there may also be passenger video monitors.

Leveraging each company’s expertise,

• Delco would supply the transparent windshield displays
• IBM would be responsible for the voice recognition software and the wireless networking
• Netscape would add the Internet software
• Sun would put the Java in the tank

IBM global embedded solutions VP Pat Toole said that some of the features could be available in 18 months. It sounds good — as long as the car doesn’t drive to Starbucks whenever an applet fails!

Novera integrates VisiBroker for Java into EPIC

Novera has licensed Visigenic’s VisiBroker for Java ORB technology to integrate into its EPIC Java Enterprise Platform, giving EPIC CORBA and IIOP support so the platform can deploy distributed objects.

Novera will license and distribute fully functional VisiBroker for Java runtime versions with Novera EPIC 2.0. EPIC 2.0 (a standards-based platform that lets corporations build, deploy, and manage enterprise Java applications) will use VisiBroker for Java as its underlying transport protocol, enabling Novera customers to interoperate with other Novera EPIC components and with other major platforms at an enterprise level.

Novera president and CEO Herb Rush said, “Visigenic’s VisiBroker for Java offers the most flexibility to integrate thin-client applications with existing system infrastructures, as well as emerging thin-client frameworks. Visigenic offers excellent IIOP/CORBA technologies to facilitate the development and deployment of enterprise applications.”

Novera: https://www.novera.com/

Visigenic: https://www.visigenic.com/

Dates announced for Iona’s CORBA and IIOP World Objects seminar

Iona Technologies announced the following dates and locations for the next sessions of the company’s one-day CORBA & IIOP World Objects seminars. The previous seminars were sold out.

In the seminars, Iona consultants present the latest in CORBA technology from a generic viewpoint, instead of focusing on particular products.

The upcoming seminar locations and dates are

• Durham, NC — December 3
• St. Louis, MO — December 5
• Dallas — December 8
• San Diego — December 10
• Santa Clara — December 12
• Vancouver, BC — December 15

The fee for the seminar is 00 (bookings/payments must be received on or before November 28th). Students and academics get a reduced rate of 00, and a 10% corporate discount applies to groups of three or more from the same company.

https://www.iona.com/Events/

Group alleges Microsoft flexed its “muscle”

Edward Black, head of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, has alleged that Microsoft was using “extortion” by telling computer manufacturers that they must install Internet Explorer “or else” (lose access to the Windows OS), in order to wrestle browser dominance from Netscape.

The computer and telephone companies group also filed a brief supporting the Justice Department’s current suit, complaining that Microsoft uses its near-monopoly market position to “gain an unfair competitive advantage against other providers of Internet browsers.”

Microsoft spokesman Mark Murray dismissed the group’s claims, saying the group’s views were not surprising. Murray claims, “When you look at their membership, it includes Sun Microsystems and many other companies that have lined up against Microsoft on various issues in the past.”

Acer XC appliance: A glimpse of the future?

The Acer Group is developing new appliances called XCs, low-cost computer devices that will each have very specific uses.

Some XCs, according to Acer Group chairman and CEO Stan Shih at the Asia Pacific Information Technology Summit, will have software and modems for Internet access; some will be one-use appliances, like toasters. Acer plans an XC learning device for children, a video game, a home banking device, a set-top box, and an Internet-access device. None of the devices will cost more than ,000; some will start at 00. (Acer has also produced an under-,000 PC for the Asian markets.)

Shih said, “Now is the time to move to the X Computer.” He also noted that the XC is not necessarily an NC — it is oriented toward the single application.

Acer plans for the first XC to ship early in 1998, but whether it will run with an Intel, AMD, or Cyrix chip is not known. This Internet device will use a television as a monitor, at a cost of 99. Later in 1998, Acer plans to deliver the home-banking XCs for the Asian, U.S., and Latin American markets.

Why a concept like the limited XC? Shih said many customers don’t have a need for a costly, full-function PC. And he added, “They don’t have time to learn it.”

Final JDK 1.1.4 for OS/2 available

Developers can get the final version of IBM’s JDK 1.1.4 for OS/2 in different language versions.

/ftp://service.boulder.ibm.com/software/asd/java114/

Netscape offers preview release 3 of JDK 1.1 Win32 support

Netscape is now offering its preview release version 3 of the JDK 1.1 that supports the Win32 platforms versions 4.04 and 4.03.

https://developer.netscape.com/software/index.html?content=jdk/download.html

Musical by-products of the Java/Microsoft wars now abound

If you think you may have heard a song about Java (the language, not the beverage) over the airwaves, both radio and television, you may be right.

Sun has a hired legal eagle, Bruce Kerr, who is also known as songster “Loose Bruce” Kerr. Kerr is a musical parody artist who has performed on Rush Limbaugh’s program. He recently released a parody of the Java wars, based on the tune “Ja-da.”

One repeating line in the original that goes “Ja-da, ja-da, ja-da, ja-da, jing, jing, jing” has been replaced with “Ja-va, Ja-va, Ja-va, Ja-va, jing, jing, jing.” And the “jing’s” have been replaced with cash register bells.

Here’s a taste of the pun-filled lyrics.

It’s not a cup of coffee, but it’s hot as can be, Came pourin’ through the Gates, on a “Big Mac” Nealy Singin’, [chorus]

It’s like a cup of coffee, ’cause it’s tasty and fresh, But it’s not really Java, if the flavors don’t mesh, [chorus]

Bill said, “Hey, my recipe is richer than yours,” Scott said, “I own the coffee shop, sit down and I’ll pour,” [chorus]

Other “Loose Bruce” Kerr parodies include “You Picked a Fine Time to Lead Us, Dan Quayle” and “Walk Like a Deukmejian.”

You can hear “Java” at https://www.slip.net/~jomini/

Andover.net offers free code

Andover.net is offering developers free source code on its new site, FreeCode.com.

The FreeCode site has archived the source code for more than 300 Windows and Unix Web applications, written in C/C++, Java, Perl, and Visual Basic. And developers can download, learn from, and use the code at no cost.

FreeCode software includes such categories as

• CGI programming
• Web hosting tools
• HTML authoring
• database management
• graphics
• online applications
• user interface components

The collection is growing daily.

https://www.andover.net/

https://www.FreeCode.com/

Sideware introduces Dr. Bean Java customer service system

Sideware Systems is showing the alpha version of Java-based Dr. Bean, software that offers suppliers and customers the ability to communicate interactively with real-time messages associated with electronic business Web pages.

When a customer is e-shopping at an e-business site, Dr. Bean personalizes the customer/supplier interaction by using the customer’s pre-existing profile and the context of the customer’s current interaction with the site. Then Dr. Bean pushes customized content back to the customer.

Dr. Bean makes it easy for online retailers to data-mine its customer base, and gather information on site visits and buying patterns. Sideware Systems president Owen Jones said, “Dr. Bean is really the next step in the evolution of the e-business marketplace.”

For more information, check with Sideware Systems. Currently, the site doesn’t offer much information on Dr. Bean.

https://www.sideware.com/

Goldmine’s workgroup contact manager gets a Java thin client

Goldmine Software is preparing a Java-based thin client for its workgroup contact manager. The GoldMine Java client will let users access calendars, contacts, activity lists, and e-mail in a secure environment. The client is based on a three-tier structure consisting of a 300-kilobyte Java client, an object-based GoldMine NetServer, and a GoldMine database fileserver, with transactions occurring on the NetServer.

The Java client uses 128-bit encryption and a proprietary protocol, which means that only the encrypted data is exposed outside the company’s firewall. It requires a Java 1.1-compatible browser, and the NetServer runs on Windows 95 and NT. Pricing will be based on server-client licenses.

The beta should be ready by the first quarter ’98.

https://www.goldminesw.com/

Windows CE won’t support Java now

Microsoft has delayed Java support for Windows CE until 1998. Group product manager Doug Dedo said Microsoft’s Java virtual machine for CE is nowhere near ready.

Dedo said, “It’s not stalled; it’s just not ready to go out the door. We won’t put it out until the functionality and performance are appropriate.” He added that a beta of the VM (and a Java development tool plug-in for Visual J++) should be ready in the first quarter ’98. He couldn’t say, though, whether the CE’s VM will call the Windows API.

In September, Microsoft promised Java support this year. But Dedo said the delay is about dealing with technology. Microsoft considers Java one of the languages (along with VB and Visual C++) it must support on Windows CE.

Another group asks for Microsoft investigation

The Triangle Java Users Group petitioned the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office to investigate Microsoft for anti-competitive behavior.

The group claimed in a letter to the attorney general that Microsoft wanted to leverage its operating system “monopoly” to dominate browsers now, and ultimately, content. They cited Microsoft’s acquisition of WebTV and its billion-dollar investment in Comcast. The groups claims that by investing in Comcast, Microsoft purchased the right to use Windows CE in Comcast’s set-top boxes.

The group’s letter stated, “With a monopoly on the means to distribute content, Microsoft could be in a position to use proprietary standards and formats to take the third domino, content itself, completing a virtual Berlin Wall around cyberspace.”

Microsoft and the North Carolina Attorney General’s office had not commented by press time.

Applix debuts Jaccas Java OS and browser for appliances

Applix Corp. is readying a Java-based system (consisting of a Java OS and a Web browser), code-named Jaccas, to control home electric appliances and office information equipment.

Jaccas (which stands for Java Controllable Consumer Appliances System) controls the Java applet that resides on each appliance. A Java-specific execution environment and communications facility allows a remote controller to receive each appliance’s applet, then use the applet to control the device. So the controller can always handle a new appliance. Current company plans include using power lines and the IEEE 1394 protocol as the communication path.

With the Jaccas system, the home electric products will be capable of sending only the applets, so a complex Web protocol is not necessary to control the devices.

Applix also intends to develop a remote controller that integrates the company’s JBlend Java OS and the software required to implement Jaccas.

Intel licenses media framework for Java

Intel has started licensing a Media Framework for Java (MFJ) to ISVs; it includes JavaBeans components for video, 3D surround sound, and animation.

The three MFJ components are called the Intel Simple Video Bean for Java, the Intel Spatial Audio for Java, and the Intel Animation for Java. The MFJ allows Microsoft, Netscape, and Sun Java-execution environments to run applets that contain audio and video media natively on Intel machines. The MFJ is an implementation of the Java Media Framework.

The Intel media Beans come in two forms — as an SDK and in a runtime version, and currently they are free. It supports .AVI, .WAV, .MOV, .AU, and .MPEG file formats.

IBM ships Java Network Station 1000

IBM is now shipping the Network Station Series 1000 Java-enabled network computer.

IBM NC division GM Bob Dies said that network computers are “serious business computers, able to run a wide range of Java applications, provide easy access to the Web, and connect with corporate intranets.”

IBM intends to bundle Lotus’ eSuite Java apps suite with the Network Station 1000 when eSuite is available (first quarter ’98). The Network Station 1000 will cost an estimated 99.

Cloudscape introduces JBMS embeddable Java database

Cloudscape is announcing a beta version of JBMS, its lightweight Java-based relational data-management system.

JBMS, built into applications, allows users to manage distributed applications, such as sales-force automation, smart catalogs, e-commerce, e-mail, PIMs, computer-based training, and push technology. It also allows developers to use Java class libraries to handle new types of data from within an SQL framework. JBMS is designed to be deployed at every level in the application structure.

JBMS requires no on-site administration; in fact, the database management system can be upgraded invisibly across the network. It features built-in, bi-directional replication to make it easy to guarantee database consistency across disconnected users.

JBMS is designed to be the local data manager for applications running on any platform that supports a Java virtual machine. It uses standard SQL as its query language and JDBC as its connectivity protocol. Stored procedures and triggers are written in Java.

Using Java class libraries to extend JBMS enables support (through the SQL language) for any Java data structure and logic. The memory size is less than 1.5 megabytes, and the executable can be compressed for transmission to as small as 600 kilobytes. And for mobile users, JBMS introduces the concept of Tear-Off Databases: An application is able to package a subset of the corporate data and the logic that manages it and the JBMS platform to run on, then this package can be distributed on media or over a network as a self-contained application that can be used locally, refreshed from the corporate data server, and replicate new information back to the corporate server.

JBMS is currently shipping to beta customers; it’s expected to ship to general customers first quarter ’98. It will cost 95 per seat. In first quarter ’98, developers should be able to download a free evaluation kit.

https://www.cloudscape.com/fs-prod.html

JavaWorld announces Volano release of Volano Mark Java benchmark tool

JavaWorld has revealed the release by Volano LLC of its VolanoMark server-side Java benchmarking tool that allows developers to assess the performance and stability of any Java virtual machine.

VolanoMark is based on Volano’s Java communications engine. The company developed VolanoMark to evaluate the performance of its own multi-user, multi-threaded, server-side Java applications, the VolanoChat chat products. (Pendragon Software’s CaffeineMark is an excellent benchmark for Java performance in browsers, but not as good an evaluation tool for server-side Java apps.)

VolanoChat-type applications are multithreaded, usually with at least one thread per connection and a high number of long-lasting socket connections. VolanoMark creates 10 groups of 20 connections, each with the server to test this type of Java application. Each client connection takes turns broadcasting 10 messages to its respective group. The score is the average number of messages transferred per second.

For JavaWorld‘s exclusive story on the Java benchmarking tool, see http://www.javaworld.com/jw-12-1997/jw-12-volanomark.html

https://www.volano.com/mark.html

ATG announces Dynamo Application Server 3.0

Art Technology Group is shipping the Dynamo Application Server 3.0 server-side Java platform, designed to make it easy to rapidly deploy dynamic, mission-critical Web applications, especially on large, heavily-trafficked sites.

Features for Dynamo 3.0 include

• Automatic load distribution for allocating load, user sessions, and management of user requests across several processors
• Automatic fail-over protection for re-directing new user sessions to alternate servers in the event of server failure
• The “Dynamometer” console for monitoring critical application statistics and tracking application performance
• Available core services required to build scalable enterprise applications, including scheduling and event logging

The company claims that Dynamo 3.0 offers performance gains of up to three times faster than previous versions. It supports the latest Java standards, such as the JavaBeans Component Model, the Java Servlet API, and Remote Method Invocation to allow for faster application deployment. It runs on Solaris 2.4 and 2.5, Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0, and IRIX 5.3. It supports Oracle 7.3, Sybase 11.x, Microsoft SQL 6.5 databases. For security, the Dynamo Application Server 3.0 comes with all standard HTTP server security mechanisms, including SSL and SHTTP.

Sony Corp. is currently running the largest server-side Java Web site on Dynamo. The site, https://www.station.sony.com/, gets more than 100 million hits per week and serves more than 1 million ads per day.

Dynamo Application Server 3.0 costs 0,000 for the first processor, ,000 for each additional processor. Dynamo 3.0 should be generally available sometime this month or in January 1998.

https://www.atg.com/develop/products/

Philosoft to license Innotech’s NetResults

Philosoft Inc., a Toronto-based, news-service-server Java app developer, has agreed to license Innotech’s Java-based NetResults search engine API toolkit.

Philosoft is the maker of JavaNews, a news and client/server Java application system that supports public NNTP standards and includes Web and mail servers and message-transaction servlets. The JavaNews server also goes beyond the NNTP standards to provide chat, moderation, authentication, searching, and applet serving.

NetResults will be integrated into JavaNews to add search functionality for news messages and e-mail. Along with baseline searching features, adding NetResults will also add more specific, advanced features, such as

• Meta Tags — tagged documents for specific reference
• Cascading Searches — searching various indexes confined to one server
• Field Searching — which uses fields and corresponding keywords

The beta release of JavaNews is scheduled for this month; the first general release is scheduled for February 1998.

Fuego announces two Java products to make and manage distributed apps

Fuego Technology has introduced FuegoENGINE and FuegoBUILDER, a Java-based system for managing distributed applications and a JavaBeans component-based development environment.

FuegoENGINE is a business-process management system designed to deploy JavaBeans components into a network built on any combination of legacy, client/server, and office applications. The software separates process logic from application code, making it easier to move to a component-based model. The high scalability of the software means that companies can process ever-larger number of transactions.

FuegoBUILDER is a Beans-based development environment.

FuegoENGINE and FuegoBUILDER (both of which have been certified 100 Percent Pure Java by Key Labs) are available through an early-adopter program. The products will be available commercially in early 1998.

https://www.fuegotech.com/framesets/products.html

ProtoView releases JSuite, 17 Beans for development

ProtoView announces the release of JSuite, the bundle of 17 individual JavaBeans components that provide developers user interface display and editing components for Java application development.

JSuite is composed of five smaller packages — CalendarJ, TabJ, DataTableJ, TreeViewJ, and WinJ Component Library. Each component has been designed to stand alone in an application if desired. The components range in size from 26 to 86 kilobytes.

The CalendarJ component is for calendar displays, and the TabJ component is for tabs.

The DataTableJ allows developers to write fast-loading applications whose data can be easily edited. DataTableJ supports

• thousands of rows of data
• in-cell editing
• column and row resizing
• setting individual column, row, or cell attributes
• putting graphics, buttons, and check boxes in cells
• defining multi-line cells
• defining multi-line column headings
• selecting Windows-style column, row, and cell styles

The TreeViewJ leverages the familiar Windows treeview API, providing editing and display features such as

• color highlighting of nodes
• font selection per node
• advanced sorting and searching capabilities

The WinJ Component Library editing components include

• Numeric Edit which supports

  • null values
  • thousand separators
  • decimal places
  • strings
  • upper/lower limits
  • e-power numbers

• Currency Component input component which supports

  • any currency symbol
  • strings
  • up to four decimal places
  • thousand separators
  • upper/lower limits

• Time Edit which can used to

  • display the current time or
  • operate a timer with start/stop functionality

• Mask Edit — allows developers to use any input string to create masked input fields for Social Security, phone, telephone, customer numbers, and so on

• The Static Text and Edit Text — allows developers to use the UI display features in the JSuite components for labels and text boxes in Java applications

• Date Edit — can

  • display the current month
  • be used as a date input that can display month or day first, show/hide year, show/hide century
  • support Year 2000 (Y2K) initiative
• Spin Buttons — can be attached to any WinJ Component Library editing Bean

JSuite should be shipping by the time you read this. It is available from ProtoView for 99 (source code is available for ,299). JSuite contains the above component groups, but they can be purchased separately.

https://www.protoview.com/jsuite/default.htm

SilverStream 1.0 app platform available

SilverStream Software announces SilverStream 1.0, a Java-based Web-application development and deployment platform. The company also has introduced a customer-driven pricing structure to make it easier for customers from all segments to purchase the product.

The SilverStream Web Application Platform 1.0 is designed for developers to build and deploy Java or HTML-based business applications for the Internet and intranets. It comes with a Designer (for building applications) and an Application Server (for distributing and maintaining the applications).

The company has also developed a customer-driven pricing scheme to make the product available to everyone.

If you already have an Application Server, additional Designers are free.

https://www.silverstream.com/products/main/main_f.htm

Java security company VeriSign files for IPO

VeriSign, an Internet commerce security company that uses Java in its confidential digital certificates security products, has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise up to 0 million in an initial public offering.

The document filed with the SEC said VeriSign plans to use million of the offering’s proceeds to fund 1998 capital spending. The rest of the proceeds will be used for general purposes, not to exclude acquisitions or investments. The number of shares and price target of shares were not mentioned in the document.

VeriSign has already raised 2.7 million in capital on a consolidated basis with its Japanese affiliate.

Sun takes Bitstream TrueDoc tech as JavaOS font subsystem

Sun has decided to adopt Bitstream’s TrueDoc technology and integrate it into JavaOS 1.1 for NCs as the font subsystem.

Bitstream has supplied Sun with a resident font set for incorporation into JavaOS.

The TrueDoc font technology is flexible enough to attend to electronic publishing needs, such as font portability, compact font storage, and scaleable, high-quality text rendering for small-memory environments. The main components (which are necessary to generate fonts at the system level) are

• character shape player — a 60-kilobyte component that rasterizes characters at the size/resolution required by the target device (screen, printer, PDA, TV, and so on) and provides anti-aliasing to make fonts legible on low-res devices

• portable font resources — the component that controls the shape player.

https://www.bitstream.com/

Two hardware vendors hedge bets by crafting their own Java apps

Playing it safe (and not quite believing that all Java can be “run everywhere”), Mitsubishi and Toshiba are developing Java applications for their own vertical business models.

Mitsubishi is developing Mobile Agent Framework (MAF) for Java. It is designed to let Java apps synchronize over mobile networks, making it easier for software vendors to build mobile Java applications and then integrate them with the Java Mobile Framework.

Toshiba is developing Event Centric for Java (ECJ), a high-speed asynchronous messaging architecture. It is designed to let Java browsers invoke objects over a network, useful for such vertical applications as factory monitoring and automation, point-of-sale terminals, and event-monitoring groupware. It will provide transparent event delivery, and support such transports as IP Multicast, TCP/IP, and UDP/IP. Toshiba hopes to deliver ECJ in early 1998.

Toshiba bundles Castanet with Confolio NCs

Toshiba has decided to bundle Marimba’s Castanet push technology in its upcoming Confolio NC desktops and notebooks by the end of 1997.

Toshiba will use Castanet to distribute applications and information over networks. Castanet will also be integrated into the existing network-maintenance system.

The Confolio300 notebook and Confolio700 desktop will use Castanet in combination with its operating system, StrongArm.

So far, the Confolio line is only available in Japan.