And Lucent will bring Java to net telephony
San Francisco — Sun Microsystems opened its JavaOne developer conference by announcing JavaOS and a host of licensees that will offer the Java operating system on a range of systems from desktop computers to pagers and network appliances within a year.
Touting the operating system as the smallest and fastest to run the Java object-oriented programming environment, executives gave a demonstration of a JavaOS-based prototype terminal running on a MicroSPARC II processor. JavaOS can run with as little as 512 kilobytes of ROM and 128 kilobytes of RAM and fit in embedded controllers, said Alan Baratz, president of JavaSoft, a Sun subsidiary.
Licensees will tap JavaOS in the following ways:
- Oracle Corp., in forthcoming network computers
- Acer Inc., in consumer devices
- Toshiba Corp., in Internet terminals
- Nokia, in telephones
Also, the Taiwanese government, Taiwan’s Institute for Information Industry, and Taiwan’s Industrial Research Institute are endorsing JavaOS for use in the country’s network appliances industry, Baratz said.
Despite the similarity of functions between Netscape Communications Corp.’s Navigator and Sun’s duo of JavaOS and HotJava, JavaSoft executives said Navigator will remain the top browser.
“We’re not going head to head in the browser-on-the-desktop space,” said Jon Kannegaard, vice president of products at JavaSoft. “If you just want a browser, they’re going to out-browser anybody on earth. You can build things in HotJava that are very different [such as custom interfaces] … and that’s what it’s for.”
JavaSoft also announced a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that will be added to Java, as well as a set of Java Standard Extension APIs. New APIs will allow for better multimedia development; connectivity to databases and legacy applications; electronic purchasing and payment processing; security features such as digital signatures, encryption, and authentication; better network management of applets; and embedded APIs that will provide minimal interfaces for applications targeting small footprint devices.
New Java Servlet APIs will allow developers to create customized server applications and “servlets,” or small executable programs that users can upload to run on networks or servers.
JavaSoft also announced a Java Beans project that will allow developers to use Java components in other object-oriented environments such as OpenDoc, Microsoft Corp.’s ActiveX, and Netscape Communications Corp.’s LiveConnect. A wrapper around the Java component will allow it to behave as component native to the new environment, said James Gosling, senior fellow at JavaSoft. However, non-Java components are not transferable to the Java environment, executives said.
Meanwhile, JavaSoft is documenting the HotJava API and extending its components for applications beyond just browsing the World Wide Web. The new HotJava is expected to be available in the fourth quarter and will include HotJava class libraries and a new HotJava Browser. The HotJava Browser is available now in early access at https://java.sun.com. JavaSoft will license the HotJava class libraries and HotJava Browser source to developers, but the HotJava Browser binary will remain free for individual noncommercial use.
Other companies that plan to license JavaOS include Alcatel Business Systems, Axil Computers, Eten Information Systems Co., Hua-Hsing Information Corp., Hyundai Electronics, Lite-On Technology Corp., LG Electronics, Mitac Inc., Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Nestor Technology, Omron Corp., Proton, Sun Moon Star, SunRiver Data Systems, Tatung Co., Thomson Multimedia S.A., Umax, Visionetics Internationalities Technology, and Xerox Corp.
Borland International Inc., Corel Corp., Metrowerks, and Symantec Corp. will build tools or applications for the platform.
Companies that plan to implement JavaOS on their microprocessors include ARM Ltd., Cirrus Logic, Fujitsu Microelectronics Inc., LSI Logic, National Semiconductor, and Sun Microelectronics.
JavaSoft expects the operating system to run on chips including ARM, CompactRISC, Intel X86, NS486, PowerPC, microJava, microSPARC, picoJava, and SPARClite.
In other JavaOne news…
Telecommunications company Lucent Technologies has teamed up with Sun Microsystems Inc. to develop specifications intended to enable integration of the Internet and telephony technology using Sun’s Java language.
The Java telephony object specification allows software developers to write applications that jointly manage voice and data connections. Using this specification, applications will be able to integrate World Wide Web applications with existing call-control software, including applications compatible with Novell Inc.’s Telephony Services API (TSAPI) and Microsoft Corp.’s Telephony API (TAPI).
Applications based on the specification will allow users to make analog voice calls and manage conference calls while browsing the Internet.
“The new Java specification will allow analog voice to enter the Internet,” said Jerry Prestinario, vice president of computer telephony applications at Lucent.
The specification is currently in its infancy and will probably be used mostly by call centers to interact with callers from a company’s Web site, Prestinario said.
For example, he said, users may exercise control over their computer- initiated voice calls in a Java conference call. By downloading a Java applet, users could establish and manage conference calls on the voice network from their computer, such as adding or deleting callers with the click of a mouse.
Barring bandwidth constraints, the specifications could allow users to transmit video over an analog voice line using their PC’s telephony systems, according to Prestinario.
