Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : All About Sun Microsystems -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kris who wrote (6630)	1/9/1998 5:19:00 PM
From: DiViT	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 64865

Doesn't sound like the whole story is out yet... TCI is playing both sides... TCI Confirms It Will Use Sun Micro's Java In Set-Top Boxes 01/09/98 Dow Jones Online News (Copyright (c) 1998, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Cable-television giant Tele-Communications Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc. late Friday said Sun's Java software will be used in a new generation of digital set-top boxes, a deal Microsoft Corp. had been trying to block. The Wall Street Journal Friday reported that Microsoft is close to an agreement with TCI to supply the operating system for the devices, but that TCI is taking steps to contain Microsoft's influence by bringing in rival software companies as well. Sun struck a deal with TCI to include its Java software to control some software applications in the set-top devices. Microsoft and Sun have been trying to gain an edge over each other in discussions with TCI . But both companies are expected to wind up with a piece of TCI 's business. A deal to install a version of Microsoft's Windows operating system on the millions of digital set-top systems TCI plans to purchase during the next several years would be a significant boost to Microsoft's ambitions to extend its reach beyond the 40% of the nation's households that have personal computers. But Microsoft has been frustrated by TCI 's reluctance to allow it to play a larger role in defining the technology for the new boxes, which could set standards for all digital television. In small, inexpensive devices such as set-top boxes, the operating system's role is generally smaller than it is in a full-fledged PC. Microsoft executives did not want TCI to use Sun's PersonalJava software in addition to Microsoft's Windows CE. The deal is a major coup for Sun, which has been seeking to establish Java as an alternative to Windows as a foundation for new software applications. To prevent any single supplier from gaining a lock on the new market, TCI and the rest of the cable industry have decided to employ different vendors for different layers of the box's technology, and to insist that components for one layer be interoperable with the others. Picking Sun's Java software as a standard would theoretically prevent Microsoft from using its control over the operating system to gain a significant competitive advantage in application development, as it does in the personal-computer industry. Microsoft and TCI were said to still be negotiating final terms for TCI 's use of Windows CE, which Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates hopes to announce in his speech at a trade show in Las Vegas on Saturday. In addition, Microsoft apparently had given up its earlier notion that it would receive transaction fees for the use of its software and had agreed to sell its products on a per-unit royalty basis, the people said. Playing Sun and Microsoft against each other could be a master stroke because of the intense and often personal rivalry between the two companies. Sun has filed suit against Microsoft in federal court, alleging that Microsoft violated the terms of its licensing agreement for Java by releasing a version of the software that doesn't pass Sun's compatibility tests. Sun claims Microsoft is seeking to disrupt development of a software platform that could compete with Windows. The discussions come as Microsoft's business practices and market power are under intense scrutiny and are the subject of an antitrust lawsuit by the Justice Department. Steve Ballmer, Microsoft says it is taking steps to soften the company's harsh image but has declined to comment on whether the current controversy affected the negotiations with TCI . Winning a piece of TCI 's order is crucial to both Microsoft and Sun, as well as other technology companies, such as Intel Corp. and Oracle Corp. Cable companies, led by TCI , recently agreed to buy at least 15 million advanced set-top boxes from NextLevel Systems Inc., and the number could increase to 25 million or more. TCI has yet to select suppliers for the computer chips and graphics capabilities for the new boxes. Copyright (c) 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.