FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 11, 1998--
OEM Licensees Include Hewlett-Packard Medical Products Group,
Philips Electronics, Symbol Technologies, WebSonic, QNX
and Bryant Computers
Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) today announced definitive
licensing agreements with six leading hardware and software
manufacturers - Hewlett-Packard Medical Products Group, Philips
Electronics, Websonic, QNX Software Systems, Bryant Computers and
Symbol Technologies - for its Independent Computing Architecture
(ICA)(R) protocol. ICA is an emerging industry standard for
thin-client/server computing that enables efficient deployment of
Windows(R)-based applications throughout the enterprise, regardless
of available bandwidth, type of client hardware or operating
platform.
Under the licensing agreements, Citrix has granted these
organizations the right to embed its ICA technology into a range of
products, including embedded operating systems (QNX), Windows-based
terminals (Bryant Computers), medical equipment (HP), and a broad
range of wireless, handheld devices (Philips Electronics, Websonic,
Symbol Technologies).
"The addition of these six computer equipment manufacturers to
our family of distinguished ICA licensees furthers our strategy for
making business-critical Windows applications accessible to the
broadest range of users, regardless of user location, type of client
device, operating platform or available bandwidth," said Edward
Iacobucci, Citrix chairman and chief technical officer.
"Standardization is the key to widespread adoption of any new
technology, and it's clear our ICA protocol is rapidly gaining
popularity as the de facto industry standard for thin-client/server
computing."
ICA has been licensed for incorporation into the following OEM
products:
Hewlett-Packard: HP's Medical Products Group will use Citrix's
ICA thin-client/server technology to enable deployment of
applications to mobile healthcare workers.
Philips Electronics: Philips Mobile Computing Group will make the
ICA thin-client technology available for the Velo 500 handheld PC,
running Windows CE, to provide Windows-based application access to
remote and mobile users.
QNX: The company will port the ICA thin-client software to its
real-time operating system, which is used extensively in devices such
as network computers, point-of-sale terminals and set-top boxes.
Although such "information appliances" typically have limited memory
and are diskless, they can, using ICA and QNX, provide the same
access to mission-critical, Windows-based applications as a desktop
PC.
Websonic: An independent subsidiary of ViewSonic, the company
will incorporate Citrix's ICA technology into its portable and
desktop "universal communicators." These convergence devices combine
computing and communications to provide Windows-based application
access as well as H.323-based IP telephony and video conferencing for
mobile and remote corporate employees.
Symbol Technologies: The Citrix agreement enables Symbol to
incorporate ICA into any of its handheld client devices. Currently,
Symbol's PPT 4300 Portable Pen Terminal for the healthcare market
feature ICA, and the company plans to extend its use to other product
lines. The PPT 4300 enables mobile healthcare professionals to
access Windows-based applications from any location for more
effective patient care.
Bryant Computers: The first South African company to manufacture
a thin-client device, Bryant is integrating Citrix's ICA client
software into its new Sunnix 2000 Windows-based terminal to deliver
thin-client/server computing capabilities: server-based application
management, access to Windows-based applications and reduced cost of
ownership. The Sunnix 2000 has a street price of less than $500.
About Citrix ICA
With over one million concurrent user licenses since its
introduction in 1995, the Citrix Independent Computing Architecture
(ICA) is an emerging industry standard for thin-client computing.
ICA is a Citrix-developed distributed presentation services protocol
that provides the foundation for turning any client device -- thin or
fat -- into the ultimate thin client. Citrix's ICA
thin-client/server technology includes a server software component, a
network protocol component, and a client software component. On the
server, ICA separates application logic from the user interface and
executes 100% of the application on the server. The ICA network
protocol transports keystrokes, mouse clicks and screen updates over
standard protocols to the client, consuming less than 20
kilobits-per-second of network bandwidth. On the client, users see
and work only with the application's interface.
Citrix's ICA protocol is being broadly adopted by industry
leading vendors -- including Microsoft, HP, IBM, Sun Microsystems,
Sharp and others -- for inclusion in new and future hardware and
software products that extend the reach of enterprise applications
into new markets. Citrix's open licensing strategy for ICA enables
OEMs to deliver the benefits of thin-client/server computing to users
of low-cost Windows-based terminals, network computers, wireless
devices and a new range of low-cost, lightweight information
appliances.
Does anyone have clue as to what kind of revenue ICA licenses
generate? |
