Sun announces 35 licences for
its Jini network software
New York Times
SAN FRANCISCO -- Hoping to herald the post-PC era, Sun
Microsystems Inc. plans to announce on Monday a group of nearly
three-dozen licensees for its Jini software -- a technology that is
meant to allow for networks of devices as diverse as computers,
cellular phones and kitchen appliances.
With 35 consumer electronics and appliance companies,
telecommunications manufacturers and computer makers endorsing
the Jini software standard -- including America Online, IBM and
Sony -- Sun executives plan to draw a picture of a new style of
computing that will not be dependent on the desktop personal
computer.
Jini is an extension of Sun's Java programming language, which
permits any kind of digital electronic devices to exchange information
and work together via wired or wireless networks. In a related move
last week, Sun, Sony and Royal Philips Electronics announced a
home computing alliance that will permit consumers to interconnect
their stereo and audio-visual gear.
''We can now build networks of computing devices that simply plug
together and work,'' said Edward J. Zander, Sun's chief operating
officer.
Other companies that intend to license Jini include makers of Internet
routing and switching gear, like Cisco Systems and 3Com
Communications. Those planning to demonstrate early prototypes of
Jini-enabled devices on Monday include Xerox, Epson, Motorola,
Nokia, Phillips, Sharp, Siemens, Sony and Toshiba.
Sun executives contend that Jini now has a demonstrable industry lead
over a similar network software initiative, known as Universal Plug
and Play, which Microsoft announced earlier this year. Unlike Jini,
which will work with a variety of software operating systems, the
Microsoft approach will run only on Microsoft operating systems.
The first Jini-enabled products will come to market at the end of
1999, according to Mike Clary, general manager of Sun's Jini
business.
While it is granting licenses for its Jini software, Sun is also hoping that
Jini will bring revenue from increased sale of the company's
network-server computers and microprocessor chips, Zander said.
He also said Sun is counting on the emergence of new Jini-related
service businesses.
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