> Sun To Buy Chorus Systemes
> (09/09/97; 5:00 p.m. EDT)
> By Deborah Gage & Mary Jo Foley, Computer Reseller News
>
> MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Sun Microsystems Inc. is expected to
> announce tomorrow that it has purchased Chorus Systemes S.A., which is
> headquartered in France.
>
> Chorus makes a Java-enabled realtime operating system, Chorus/Jazz, that
> runs on Intel.
>
> Sun also is expected to announce a new business unit to drive the JavaOS
> into the embedded systems market and is advertising for JavaOS engineers.
>
> Industry sources said Sun purchased Chorus' kernel after negotiating with
> several kernel vendors. One source called JavaOS, as it exists today,
> "view-ware" because it has lacked its own kernel.
>
> Sun would not comment on the Chorus deal. Chorus did not return calls
> seeking comment.
>
> Chorus offers products for the telecommunications market and realtime
> embedded systems manufacturers, and already has a close relationship with
> Sun. It is privately held and claims revenue of $10 million. The company
> originally developed Unix microkernel implementations, but this year
> refocused its business on Java and the Object Management Group's
> Common Object Request Broker Architecture.
>
> Chorus/Jazz combines Chorus' realtime embedded microkernel with Sun's
> JavaOS. It lets developers combine Java with embedded software in
> networked equipment, such as line cards in telephone switches, so Java can
> run anywhere on a network.
>
> Chorus also makes an embedded Object Request Broker that is
> CORBA-compliant.
>
> "Sun is pushing Java everywhere and will figure out how to make money
> later," said Phil Rueppel, an analyst with BT Alex Brown Inc., San Francisco.
> "To the extent that they need pieces of an embedded OS to make a realtime
> JavaOS run on an embedded controller chip, that's what they shot for and
> apparently found, although it's unclear how much continued engineering will
> be needed." |
