At least someone must be reading this thread b/c they are stealing our lines ("Saganesque"):
JavaOS headed to consumer gear
By Alex Lash
Staff Writer, CNET NEWS.COM
March 25, 1998, 4:40 a.m. PT
URL: news.com
Sun Microsystems will ship a Java-based operating system to run on TVs,
telephones, karaoke machines, and other consumer devices, the company
announced today.
The company's SunSoft division is releasing a flavor of the JavaOS for
consumer devices that uses core Java technology from the JavaSoft
division. The operating system, which has followed a convoluted
development path, has been designed as the brains for Web phones,
television set-top boxes, handheld computers, and other devices that
need far less memory than a typical PC.
JavaOS for Consumers is a hybrid of PersonalJava, a slimmed-down version
of the Java that runs on desktop machines, in Web browsers, and on
Chorus, a real-time operating system that Sun purchased last year. By
adding Chorus--which on its own can run mission-critical systems such as
telephone networks--Sun gives JavaOS licensees a choice of running
applications directly on the Chorus kernel either with or without Java.
With the announcement, Sun jumps into the growing competition over such
devices, a market that is likely to boom in the next few years as more
and more devices gain networking capabilities.
But the announcement also underscores the delicate balancing act that
Sun must perform to maintain both its credibility as the Java standard
bearer and the happiness of its shareholders. By entering the real-time
operating system market, SunSoft actually competes with some of the
companies that license Java from JavaSoft. Whether Sun succeeds in that
market will ultimately come down to pricing, according to one analyst.
"In this space, price points are key," said Jeff Kinz, research manager
for analyst firm International Data Corporation. "We're talking
Sagan-esque volumes of processors per year. None of these companies can
afford to go to any luxury pricing model."
Having a company license Java from JavaSoft isn't necessarily a win for
SunSoft, either. Tele-Communications, Inc. and Ericsson, two recent
high-profile Java licensees, haven't licensed the JavaOS for Consumers,
according to James Hebert, general manager of SunSoft's embedded systems
software division.
"TCI licensed PersonalJava for use across a set of operating systems,
including Windows CE," Hebert said, but he declined to name other OSes.
Currently, the company's JavaSoft division develops the core Java
technologies and licenses them to third parties who then build operating
systems, applications, servers, and development tools. SunSoft is also a
licensee and is not proferred preferential treatment or access to Java
development secrets, Sun representatives insist.
If Sun is to build and to sell Java-based products that compete with
third parties such as Netscape and IBM--companies that are also close
collaborators in designing the core Java technologies--that duty usually
falls to SunSoft.
That split personality is one reason allies and foes alike are keeping
an eye on Sun's lead role in creating the Java specification and pushing
it as an international standard. So far, Sun has received approval as
the official submitter of Java to the International Organization for
Standardization, which will now decide if the technology will be a
standard.
The JavaOS is an interesting case study in Sun's delicate balance. It
originally grew up at JavaSoft, but about a year ago the company decided
to push it as a competitive product and shifted its responsibility to
SunSoft.
"[JavaSoft] started the JavaOS and decided they couldn't provide the
level playing field for other real-time OS vendors," Hebert said.
It now comes in three flavors: NC for network computers, Consumer, and
Embedded for processors that use no more than about 500K of memory.
Licensees of JavaOS products automatically receive the underlying Java
technology and do not need to license it separately. If they want to use
Java beyond the JavaOS, however, they must negotiate a separate license
with JavaSoft. For example, if Alcatel, which licenses JavaOS for
Consumers, wants to put Java into its networking equipment, the JavaOS
deal does not cover that use.
JavaOS for Consumers will be ready for devices using PowerPC and Sparc
processors on April 15. It will be available for ARM and Intel chips in
the next three months. |
