Sorry in advance if this has been posted already.
BTW, Jim K. I hope you've covered your short. The train just left the station and we've heard reports that you were standing on the track. Hope you don't meet the same fate as Dale J.
SUN MICROSYSTEMS: Sun Microsystems and Telia to develop a '.com' home
environment in Europe
JAN 7, 2000, M2 Communications - LAS VEGAS -- Telia and Sun
Microsystems, Inc., today announced an agreement to jointly develop and
demonstrate home gateway software to deliver a constant Internet
connection into homes. Telia is currently working to roll-out the
concept to a small collection of homes in Europe and will conduct
initial field trials in select areas of Scandinavia during the year
2000. This connected home initiative involves collaborating on the
development of network-delivered services via networked devices in the
home using Sun's Java and Jini technologies. The initiative will
involve typical products and services for the home including kitchen
appliances, interactive entertainment center, home control and security
system and home office.
An example of this technology effort is being shown in Sun's '.com'
Home at the Consumer Electronics Show (Room N242, 2nd level, Las Vegas
Convention Center).
The collaborative effort between Telia and Sun demonstrates remote
access to interactive home security systems. Utilizing several
networked technologies, the demonstration illustrates how a homeowner
can see, talk to, and let a repairman or family member into their home
remotely via a cell phone. Telia plans to aggressively rollout
broadband services to the household market in Sweden. Telia plans to
reach 1 million homes in the next 2 years after investing 1.4 billion
SEK in the year 2000 alone. The connected home initiative needs to be
seen in this context as the entire infrastructure for delivering
services to the mass market will change radically both over the fixed
and mobile networks.
"The Scandinavian region of Europe is one of the most wired regions
in the world. A connected home is the next step in the European
continent's technology evolution," said Scott McNealy, chairman and
chief executive officer, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "This initiative is a
great way for companies, such as Telia and Sun, to bring affordable,
easy-to-use Internet connected services to the home, and allow
consumers to take advantage of the '.com' phenomena."
According to Stig-Arne Larsson, president of Telia AB, "With 60
percent of all Swedes having a PC and 50 percent of the entire
population having a mobile phone Swedes are almost always online.
Telia's connected home initiative is a way to leverage that fact as
broadband services are being rolled out en masse in the Scandinavian
marketplace. Working together with companies like Sun gives us an edge
on the competition."
About Telia
Telia is the leading supplier of telecom-based information services
in the Nordic/Baltic region. At the same time, "seamless" pan-European
and global services are being realized through powerful alliances and
partnerships in Europe and around the world. Annual turnover 1998
reached 51,240 MSEK and the number of employees amounted to approx. 30,
600.
telia.com About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- The Network Is The
Computer -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW), to its
position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware,
software and services that power the Internet and allow companies
worldwide to ".com" their businesses.
With $12.4 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than
170 countries and on the World Wide Web at sun.com.
Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, Java, Jini, HotJava and The
Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun
Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Netscape
Navigator is a trademark or registered trademark of Netscape
Communications Corporation in the United States and other countries.
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