"Be Inc.(BEOS) is to
debut their BeIA dubbed operating system for Internet
Appliances today at the DEMO 2000 in California.
According to Heise, BeIA will support Real's G2 and Macromedia's Flash.
Another nice thing is the file system of BeIA, which will be database like, and
allows the users to create their own file types with special attributes. This,
and the ability to search for specifically search for these attributes, the
system will be suited very well for technical/scientifical applications..."......................................Older news--Be Unveils BeIA, New Software Platform for Internet Appliances
and Entertainment Devices
BeIA Delivers Superior Performance and Flexibility for Next-Generation
Post-PC Lifestyle Devices
Demo 2000 Conference, Indian Wells, Calif. - February 7, 2000 - Be
Incorporated (Nasdaq: BEOS) today formally announced BeIA™,
previously known by the code name Stinger, its software platform for
appliances that deliver information and entertainment over the
Internet. At the basis of these devices is the need for a simple,
intuitive means of accessing the Internet without the cost,
complexity and hassles often associated with personal computers.
Characterized by exceptional media handling, unfaltering stability, and
broad application flexibility, devices based on the BeIA platform will
deliver the richest possible web experience to consumers at a low
cost and with the ease of use typical of popular consumer electronics
appliances.
BeIA: Software Platform for the Post-PC Era
BeIA is a device-independent software platform for post-PC era
Internet appliances focused on the personalization of multimedia and
information-rich products that enhance a user's lifestyle. The design
flexibility of BeIA allows Internet appliances to be configured as
information devices such as personal online portals or financial
management monitors. The adaptive configuration of BeIA also
extends into entertainment devices such as movie or music download
and playback systems.
"Today, consumers predominantly use general-purpose PCs to access
the Internet, send and receive e-mail and conduct e-commerce
transactions, but this is changing rapidly. While PCs have become an
accepted tool for both work and play, for many people PCs are still
viewed as complex, intimidating and unstable. They lack the 'instant
on' gratification and media handling capabilities consumers have
grown to expect from their home appliances such as televisions and
other audio and stereo equipment," said Jean-Louis Gassée, chairman
and chief executive officer of Be. "To truly make computing
technology pervasive in the home, a new model for lifestyle devices is
required. Our new BeIA platform is a foundation for that model." "The
utility and pervasiveness of the Internet has created a need for a
variety of targeted, affordable and easy-to-use devices other than
the PC," said IDC consumer device analyst Bryan Ma. "IDC believes
that Information Appliances (IAs) will address the needs of not only
the technophobe, but also the PC user who will use IAs in an adjunct
role in a number of different usage scenarios." A just-finished IDC
report forecasts the worldwide information appliance market to grow
from 11 million units and $2.4 billion in 1999 to a market of 89 million
units and $17.8 billion in 2004.
Support from Technology Leaders
Be has already announced partnerships in support of the BeIA
platform with leading hardware and system manufacturers including
Compaq, National Semiconductor, Qubit and leading motherboard
manufacturer First International Computer (FIC) of Taiwan.
Additionally, Be has developed relationships with technology partners
to provide the most complete, robust and media-rich experience,
including Opera Software and RealNetworks.
Internet Appliances - The Requirements for Success
The Internet appliance is a new paradigm in computing without a
required or established cartel of hardware reference designs or chip
sets. The openness and flexibility of this new computing model more
closely resembles the "consumer electronics" market than the
"computing electronics" market, with a broader set of players and
consumer choices. To be a player in the Internet appliance space,
vendors need to deliver the user experience of high-quality, advanced
technology with the operational simplicity of basic consumer
electronics. BeIA delivers these characteristics for both consumers
and appliance vendors:
Ultra stable environment with minimal boot times
BeIA delivers instant-on and fail-safe reliability that consumers have
grown to expect from consumer technology devices such as television
and cell phones.
Small footprint with highly scalable, modular environment
BeIA's small footprint allows vendors to take advantage of this
powerful platform with popular mobile and personal Internet
appliances. Vendors can leverage their design investments with BeIA
across multiple devices and multiple architectures. As a complete
platform, featuring the Opera browser, RealPlayer and a
comprehensive set of media services, BeIA consumes less than eight
megabytes of persistent storage.
Media savvy
Internet appliance content is inherently media-rich and highly
interactive in nature, both of which are core attributes of BeIA's
architecture.
Branded Internet access BeIA enables channel branding similar to
what cable television has done with popular news programming such
as CNN. Service providers can brand an Internet appliance as a
transparent extension of their website or portal to increase customer
traffic and brand affinity by using the Internet to deliver their own
Internet channel.
Rich set of de facto standards
Internet appliances need to be standards-rich to protect consumer
hardware investments as well as reducing developer's implementation
cost and speeding time-to-market.
Devices Designed for Form and Function
Unlike PCs, which offer a generic set of features for virtually every
application, lifestyle devices will more commonly serve as single
function devices that excel in a specific area of focus. Therefore, an
entertainment device will have a different look and feel and set of
functions than a device from a financial services company that is
designed to support online investing. To exploit the capabilities and
form factor of the device, BeIA offers a powerful and configurable
interface and the ability to offer custom application services,
regardless of the chipset, motherboard or hardware OEM.
Architected for Performance and Portability
BeIA is a robust, multi-layered architecture designed to offer
application developers maximum design flexibility and to minimize the
porting effort for hardware manufacturers to deliver a full-featured
lifestyle experience. At the foundation of BeIA are a core set of
system functions, leveraged from BeOS, which talk directly to the
individual hardware designs. These functions perform tasks such as
low-level I/O, memory and media management. Coupled with these
core functions is a rich API development layer allowing ultimate
control over look and feel. As customization of Internet appliances is
key to their popularity, Be offers a developer design kit that requires
no more programming experience than HTML yet allows full control
over look and feel, buttons, logos and other elements of product
branding.
Layered above the core functions are an integrated Internet browser
and a Java virtual machine, respectively. These applications can
easily and efficiently interface with the Internet appliance through
HTML, Java and JavaScript. The user interface is fully configurable at
these levels and offers transparent access to the Internet.
At the heart of most Internet appliances is the reliance on audio and
video multimedia. The next level of the BeIA platform focuses on
streaming media services. Working in concert with the core system
functions, these media services handle conversion, buffering, special
I/O and presentation. This level also supports downloadable codecs
to take advantage of the latest multimedia technology standards.
At the highest level of the BeIA architecture lie application services
and integration services. The application services capitalize on either
client-side or host-side services to complement the tailored offering
of the Internet appliance. These services can include, among other
things, e-mail support, file viewing and a personal information
manager. By offering these services, BeIA frees the vendor from
developing applications outside their area of expertise and help
expedite time to market. The integration services allow all of the
product's capabilities to appear unified and work in concert. The
services also enable updates and upgrades as well as information
synchronization. |
