The Reuters coverage...
TORONTO, Aug 19 (Reuter) - Corel Corp (NASDAQ:COSFF) said on
Tuesday that it refined its development of Java products to include a new one, called Remagen, which can be used to across many computers to run Corel's Word-Perfect software.
"It's a continuation of what we're doing," Cowpland told
reporters in a conference call on Tuesday.
Corel is developing this technology to allow users to run
its WordPerfect office software product, a rival to giant Microsoft Corp's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Word.
Corel officials said they were refining their strategy to
emphasize research and development in Java, which has been called the next wave in computing. Java allows applications run across any platform.
Of Corel's C$80 million annual expenditure on research and
development, up to 30 percent will be spent on Java, Cowpland said.
The new Java-based product Remagen is a layer of software
which runs on Microsoft's Windows NT and lets WordPerfect run on top across many computer platforms, said one analyst who declined to be identified.
It also allows companies with old software and
lower-powered desktop and other computers to run Corel's software while Microsoft is shoved aside.
"The end result is the same for users; WordPerfect gets to
go on desktops that Microsoft's abandoned," the analyst said.
Corel officials said that they expected some revenue will
start rolling in as soon as the first quarter of 1998.
"The work that they've put into Java is not completely
wasted," the analyst said. "It's an extension of their whole Java strategy."
Corel also said it plans to ship cheaper network computers
(NC), which do not have disc drives but can surf the Net and do other things, before the end of December.
The news "does not affect our financial model, which
includes only minimal revenue from new Java and NC products," wrote analyst David Kramer from RBC Dominion Securities in his morning commentary.
The anonymous analyst forecast that Corel's 1998 financial
results would produce at most C$5 million in revenue, or less than one percent, from all new products.
Corel shares fell 0.60 to 8.40 in moderate trading on the
Toronto Stock Exchange and slipped 0.44 to 6 on Nasdaq. lydia.zajc@reuters.com))
Copyright 1997, Reuters News Service
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