ALAMEDA, Calif., June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Wind River Systems, Inc.
(NASDAQ:WIND), the leader in embedded development software for the post-PC
era, today announced that MAC UK has developed an innovative, all-Java(TM)
set-top box prototype based on Wind River's industry-leading embedded solution
for the Java market. Built upon Wind River's proven VxWorks(R) real-time
operating system and Personal JWorks(TM) virtual machine (VM), MAC UK's Blue
Horizon(TM) is the first set-top box that will run any PersonalJava(TM)-based
applications, including digital TV and broadband networking.
The growing market for set-top boxes, which give non-technical users
home-based entertainment services including easy access to the Internet,
requires access to advanced functionality without excessive cost, maintenance
or complexity of use. Wind River's Java technology, which is used in over
200 Java-based embedded applications, met these criteria and allowed MAC UK to
easily create a set-top box that gives original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)
and developers a flexible Java platform that can reliably deliver
home-oriented applications. The development cost savings and cross-platform
benefits of Java have led to the creation of hundreds of Java-based
applications that can run on a set-top box designed for PersonalJava. This in
turn creates new potential revenue, product and development options for the
entire Java industry.
Wind River's Java solution, which is optimized for embedding Java, enabled
MAC UK to develop a prototype in only four and a half months. Wind River's
development software includes the Tornado(TM) development tools, the reliable
VxWorks operating system, upon which the Java code resides, and the
small-footprint Personal JWorks Java VM which allows applications to combine
the real-time behavior of VxWorks with the advantages of Java.
"Set-top software development is complex and expensive, but Java
technologies allow new applications to be developed and deployed easily," said
Curtis Sasaki, director of consumer and embedded at Sun Microsystems, Inc.
"The MAC UK/Wind River solution shows how a reliable, flexible and
cost-effective Java home entertainment product can be created. With this
breakthrough, we anticipate that OEMs and service providers will find
Java-based set-top boxes a strong option for building their products which
will in turn help grow the embedded Java industry."
"As a leader in development tools for both the embedded Java and Internet
appliance markets, MAC UK's success in creating an all-Java set-top box was
particularly gratifying for us," said Curt Schacker, vice president of
marketing of Wind River Systems. "With Blue Horizon, the convergence of these
two markets and the viability of Java for the home-based consumer market is
clearly established.
"We are proud to have been MAC UK's choice for a safe and robust platform
for its Java implementation," Schacker added. "Powerful development tools
will be the key to delivering new products to this emerging market and we are
looking forward to a whole new group of customers following MAC UK's lead in
developing cutting-edge Java Internet appliances."
"A set-top box which runs Java has been the Holy Grail for designers for
some years," said Bill Ray, technology manager of MAC UK. "By using Wind
River's Java solution, we were able to build a product that opens the doors to
an entirely new market while being sure that our Java code was built on a
reliable operating system designed specifically for embedded devices. We
believe that with the flexibility and rich feature set we were able to build
into the product with Wind River technology, our Blue Horizon set-top box will
become a key path for implementing Java services in the home environment."
Blue Horizon Functionality
MAC UK's Blue Horizon is the most powerful set-top box currently available
thanks to a fast (233MHz) StrongARM processor, stable Wind River VxWorks
operating system and small-footprint Wind River Personal JWorks Java VM
(2.5 megabyte). Even at the prototype stage, MAC UK was able to build in the
ability to run word processors, games, multimedia applications and networking
tools. Blue Horizon utilizes standard PC components for most functions to
allow easy multi-source or feature enhancement. In future versions of Blue
Horizon, MAC UK plans to build on top of the Wind River Java solution to take
advantage of JavaTV class libraries and downloadable Java applications.
Wind River Systems, Inc. |
