calypso:
This Mobile Applications Link Forum formation is, IMO, very significant for the future positioning of AETH , CIC, PUMA etc in the wireless Revolution in the near to middle future. AETH is at the heart of the infrastructure systems for this group . Great!
It (the announcement) comes out of a west coast-Santa Clara, I think, Conference starting today--Palm Source?
Tom D.
Press Releases
Leading Mobile Computing Companies Form Industry Association
Puma, Aether Systems, Attachmate, AvantGo, Certicom, Globalware, ePocrates and the Windward Group Establish Mobile Application Link Forum to Advance and Promote Open Source Communications Protocol for Networked Applications
SANTA CLARA, Calif., October 19, 1999 - Puma Technology, Inc., Aether Systems, Inc., Attachmate Corporation, AvantGo, Inc., Certicom, Globalware Computing, Inc., The Windward Group and ePocrates today announced the establishment of the Mobile Application Link Forum, an independent organization dedicated to standardizing the manner in which network-based applications communicate with Palm Computing platform, Windows CE operating system and other mobile computing devices. The Mobile Application Link Forum promotes an open, secure communications protocol linking networked applications for handheld computers. Developers benefit by having a common, existing communication solution that links their applications to handheld devices over a variety of connectivity alternatives. End-users benefit from a single, one-click approach to exchanging information between their handheld devices and network-based business applications.
Mobile Application Link is an open software protocol for connecting mobile devices to server-based applications and is designed for a variety of connectivity alternatives, including synchronization cradles and dialup or wireless modems. Today, Mobile Application Link software is bundled with handheld devices from leading manufacturers, including Hewlett-Packard Company, Casio, Palm Computing, IBM and Symbol. With Mobile Application Link's widespread availability, developers can accelerate delivery of new applications by embracing the existing connectivity software and communication protocol.
"Microsoft appreciates the effort by the Mobile Application Link initiative and the progress that compliant vendors have made with their efforts to integrate Microsoft BackOffice with Palm-size PCs and Handheld PCs powered by Windows CE," said Rogers Weed, Director of Marketing, at Microsoft Corp. "Mobile Application Link provides a flexible approach for data synchronization and data management for enterprises deploying Windows CE-based devices. We believe that Mobile Application Link is a crucial technology for speeding the adoption of handheld computers by consumers and corporate users."
"Industry initiatives such as Mobile Application Link help to expand the Palm economy by providing developers with open source access to a common network protocol," said Mark Bonine, Enterprise Group Product Manager at Palm Computing. "Mobile Application Link makes it easy for developers to create server-connected applications for handheld devices, without having to create new networking code."
Keith Kanneg, Director of Software Marketing at Symbol Technologies, added: "Customers and integrators want a common handheld connectivity solution that provides a standard approach to exchanging data in mobile devices. Once users understand the technology, we expect developers to incorporate it into their vertical solutions."
Mobile Application Link Benefits
The Mobile Application Link protocol provides a variety of benefits to those working with mobile computing and communications devices.
Developers - Developers save precious production time by adopting the protocol and communication software libraries, instantly gaining access to the Palm Computing platform and Windows CE operating system. Using Mobile Application Link developers can instantly integrate server-based applications with handheld computers via wireless or dialup connections or via desktop synchronization with Windows, Linux and soon Mac OS desktop computers.
End Users - Mobile Application Link offers easy and secure access to relevant Internet and intranet information and other services for mobile devices - realizing one-touch connectivity to a wide range of backend resources. Today, hundreds of thousands of individuals and mobile professionals use the protocol to synchronize their mobile devices. Mobile Application Link is bundled with major mobile computing devices for easier consumer access.
Device Manufacturers - Mobile Application Link is available royalty-free as an open source standard that simplifies the manner in which end users gain access to a wide variety of network-based applications.
Content Providers - Mobile Application Link enables content providers to create feature-rich applications and services for deployment on the broadest array of handheld models and platforms while minimizing development and deployment costs.
Platform Providers - By extending their existing platforms, providers can use Mobile Application Link to accelerate the growth of the mobile computing market.
Wireless Carriers - Mobile Application Link speeds the time-to-market for new applications developed for deployment over wireless data services.
Companies Develop Solutions with New Open Communications Protocol
Synchronization server, wireless services, security and integration services companies have also announced support for the Mobile Application Link protocol. Puma Technology is incorporating Mobile Application Link into its Intellisync Anywhere server-based solution, uniquely providing integrated desktop, LAN and remote synchronization of leading handheld devices to corporate standards, including Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes.
"Having long been a proponent of working with dynamic organizations within the mobile computing industry to effect change and build the category, we are excited about helping to advance open industry standards," said Tom Hunt, Puma Technology's Vice President of Marketing.
Aether Systems plans to work with the MAL Forum to enable Aether Intelligent Messaging (AIM) wirelessware to provide wireless connectivity to Mobile Application Link applications. This effort will enable customers to use Aether's Enterprise Wireless Data Center (EDWC) hosting facility and call center so that nationwide wireless solutions can be successfully deployed and serviced. Additionally customers can use Aether's flat-rate nationwide wireless solutions that integrate multiple carrier networks, and multiple wireless transports such as CDPD, Mobitex, and 802.11 and can be deployed across-mobile platforms like Palm OS, Windows CE, and RIM pagers.
AvantGo is including Mobile Application Link with all of its products to help organizations extend Web-based applications beyond desktop computers. Attachmate Corporation uses the Mobile Application Link Protocol as part of the PalmFrame solution to securely bring enterprise data and applications residing on mainframes to handheld devices. As an active member, Attachmate Corporation fully supports the effort of the Mobile Application Link Forum and continues to develop the technology as a key component of PalmFrame.
Globalware will integrate Mobile Application Link's vast breadth of synchronization options into Pylon ServerSync, a scalable, easy to manage tool for migrating custom Lotus Domino applications to handhelds. ePocrates will deliver its medical application through both Microsoft Windows and Mac OS desktop platforms using Mobile Application Link technology.
Security experts at Certicom are working with the Mobile Application Link Forum to design and implement a standard, which permits secure communications with little effort by platform, device, or software vendors. Certicom encryption technology is presently used in commercial products from a variety of Mobile Application Link members, including AvantGo, Puma Technology and Aether Systems.
"Certicom encryption helps enable the explosive trend of handheld computing devices connecting to enterprise data," said Rick Dalmazzi, president of Certicom. "We're enthusiastic about the Mobile Application Link standard, and are pleased to announce that Mobile Application Link is now 'Certicom-ready'."
Additionally, The Windward Group, a leading provider of hardware, software and communications integration services for mobile computing platforms, stands ready to help vendors and enterprises rapidly incorporate Mobile Application Link technology into products and applications.
Mobile Application Link Forum Encourages Developer Collaboration
The goal of the Mobile Application Link Forum is to continue to refine the specification behind this royalty-free communications protocol. The Forum is built upon software originally released in December 1998 and now used on hundreds of thousands of Palm Computing and Windows CE mobile computers.
The Mobile Application Link Forum is also charged with overseeing the development of the protocol's open source. All of the source code is publicly available for developers to observe, download, modify and/or include in their own software with no fee, according to the open source licensing agreement included with the software. Further, developers' changes and additions may be rolled back into the public collection for others to use and build upon. The result will be innovative information access and applications for a new generation of mobile applications.
The Mobile Application Link Forum will soon be announcing its annual conference and a series of training sessions on its Website. Organizations wishing to join the Mobile Application Link Forum or obtain a version of the Mobile Application Link software, which to date has more than 1,000 downloads, should visit mobilelink.org.
About the Mobile Application Link Forum
The Mobile Application Link Forum, Inc. was created to facilitate the adoption of centrally connected mobile devices for both consumer and enterprise applications. An independent, non-profit association with participation from major handheld and mobile device companies, the Mobile Application Link Forum provides training, discussion groups, conferences, and marketing activities in the course of supporting its underlying technology, the Mobile Application Link communications protocol.
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