Sun Delivers Robust Java API Platform; JavaSoft Enhances Platform APIs; Significant Additions In Java Media, Java Transaction Services.MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 11, 1996--Sun Microsystems, Inc.'s JavaSoft business unit today announced major feature enhancements to the Java (TM) platform application programming interfaces (APIs). As part of the ongoing development of the Java platform Running Java programs under the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). Java "platform" refers to the running of Java programs versus Java itself, which is a programming language. Java programs are machine independent and run intact on any hardware platform that has a Java interpreter (JVM). , JavaSoft unveiled two important new API New API (also referred to as NAPI) is an interface to use interrupt mitigation techniques for networking devices in the Linux kernel. Such an approach is intended to reduce the overhead of packet receiving. initiatives at Internet World: Java Transaction Services The Java Transaction Service (JTS) is an implementation of the JTA Transaction Manager, AKA TP monitor, that maps onto the OMG Object transaction service used in the CORBA architecture. It uses IIOP to propagate the transactions between multiple JTS transaction managers. API (Application Programming Interface) A language and message format used by an application program to communicate with the operating system or some other control program such as a database management system (DBMS) or communications protocol. , part of the Java (TM) Enterprise API family and Java Speech API The Java Speech API specifies a cross-platform interface to support command and control recognizers, dictation systems and speech synthesizers. Although JSAPI defines an interface only there are several implementations created third parties, for example FreeTTS. , part of the Java (TM) Media API family. In addition, JavaSoft announced the Java Media Framework The Java Media Framework (JMF) is a Java Library that enables audio, video and other time-based media to be added to Java applications and applets. This optional package, which can capture, playback, stream, and transcode multiple media formats, extends the Java Platform, Standard API specification. upport, the Java APIs There are three types of Java Programming Language Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) :
Extending the Power of Java At JavaOne in May 1996, JavaSoft defined the API families that comprise the Java Platform. They include JavaBeans ly. The APIs announced today extend the current capabilities of the platform, providing functionality Java developers have requested. The Java Transaction Services API is the basis for Java enterprise transaction services to facilitate on-line transaction processing (database) On-Line Transaction Processing - (OLTP) The processing of transactions by computers in real time. . IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) and Tandem Computers (company) Tandem Computers - A US computer manufacturer. Quarterly sales $544M, profits $49M (Aug 1994). , Inc. made significant contributions to the API, which is based on the Object Management Group (OMG (1) See Object Management Group. (2) "Oh my God!" See digispeak. OMG - Object Management Group )'s Object Transaction Services Standard and provides a low-level interface A programming interface (API) that is the most detailed and enables the programmer to manipulate the functions within the software module or hardware at their most granular level. Contrast with high-level interface. to transaction-resources. "On-line transaction processing is critical functionality for an enterprise that needs to offer truly networked, real time service to its customers," said Kannegaard. "We are very pleased to have worked with industry leaders to build this functionality in Java -- platform-independence brings new meaning to networked transaction processing Updating the appropriate database records as soon as a transaction (order, payment, etc.) is entered into the computer. It may also imply that confirmations are sent at the same time. Transaction processing systems are the backbone of an organization because they update constantly. ." The Java Speech API is a new member of the Java Media API family that gives developers the based capability to incorporate speech recognition and speech synthesis speech synthesis Generation of speech by artificial means, usually by computer. Production of sound to simulate human speech is referred to as low-level synthesis. High-level synthesis deals with the conversion of written text or symbols into an abstract representation of into their Java applications A Java program that is run stand alone. The Java Virtual Machine in the client or server is interpreting the instructions. Contrast with Java applet. See servlet. . Speech recognition converts spoken words to text. Speech synthesis, also known as "text-to-speech," creates synthetic speech synthetic speech n. Speech that is produced by an electronic synthesizer activated by a keyboard, enabling individuals who are incapable of speech to communicate. from text. The goal of the Java Speech API is to evolve a new standard that leverages existing speech technology, and is compact and fully portable. The Java Speech API is being developed in partnership with leading speech technology companies, including Apple Computer, Inc., Dragon Systems Dragon Systems, Inc., was the company that created DragonDictate and Dragon NaturallySpeaking. It was founded in 1982 by Drs. James and Janet Baker and bought by Lernout & Hauspie in 2000. , Inc., IBM, Novell, Inc., Philips Electronics, BV, Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA[3]) is an American vendor of computers, computer components, computer software, and information-technology services, founded on 24 February 1982. , Inc. and Texas Instruments See TI. (company) Texas Instruments - (TI) A US electronics company. A TI engineer, Jack Kilby invented the integrated circuit in 1958. Three TI employees left the company in 1982 to start Compaq. , Inc. "Speech capabilities are becoming an increasingly important means for interfacing with computers," explained Kannegaard. "Java developers have asked us to build this rich new capability into the Java platform, and we've worked with the leading companies in the industry to define this new API." JavaSoft also announced today that the Java Media Framework specification will be published in three parts. The Java Media Framework includes the playback, capture, and conferencing See teleconferencing. of timed media types. The Java Media Player draft specification, jointly developed with Intel and Silicon Graphics, Inc., will be published first, for public review by January 15, 1996. The Java Media Player is an API for the synchronization (1) See synchronous and synchronous transmission. (2) Ensuring that two sets of data are always the same. See data synchronization. (3) Keeping time-of-day clocks in two devices set to the same time. See NTP. , control, processing, and playback of streaming and stored timed media types such as audio and video. The Java Media Capture and Java Media Conference APIs will be published subsequently. "As has become a tradition at JavaSoft, we sought out the industry's leaders to work with us on building our specialized APIs," said Kannegaard. "We're very pleased to and have worked with Intel and SGI (SGI, Sunnyvale, CA, www.sgi.com) A manufacturer of workstations and servers, founded in 1982 by Jim Clark. The company was founded as Silicon Graphics, Inc., but changed to its acronym in 1999. to develop the Java Media Player." Each Java Media Framework API and specification will be published and made available for industry review and feedback before it is finalized See finalization. . The JavaBeans beta and JavaBeans Development Kit were also announced today (See press release: Sun Microsystems, Inc. Announces JavaBeans Beta, Development Kit, December 11, 1996) Sun at Internet World Visit Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Booth no. 219, Level Three) at Fall Internet World `97, taking place at Javits Convention Center, New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , December 11-13. Plan to attend Java Day, December 11, and stop by Sun Microsystems Java Pavilion (Booth no. 3304, Level One) where more than 50 companies will be on hand to demonstrate their Java based tools and applications. JavaSoft, headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., is a business unit of Sun Microsystems, Inc. The company's mission is to develop, market and support the Java (TM) technology and products based on it. Java supports networked applications and enables developers to write applications once that will run on any Java enabled machine. JavaSoft develops applications, tools and systems platforms to further enhance Java as the programming standard for complex networks such as the Internet and corporate intranets. Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network Is The Computer (TM)," has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on "SUNW SUNW Sun Microsystems, Inc (former stock symbol; now JAVA) SUNW Stanford University Network Workstation (Sun Microsystems, Inc) ") to its position as a leading provider of hardware, software and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $7 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com
SUN DELIVERS ROBUST JAVA API PLATFORM
December 11, 1996
Quotes From Java Transaction Services Endorsers
BEA Systems, Inc.
"As Java percolates through the enterprise, it will become more and
more important to the critical IS applications that run businesses.
BEA is a very strong supporter of Java, through our release of BEA
Jolt - which provides Java support for BEA TUXEDO - and our
cooperation with JavaSoft. We are pleased to have worked closely
with JavaSoft to help define how Java will handle transactions in
enterprise computing environments. We look forward to continuing our
close working relationship with JavaSoft to make Java ready for
mission-critical applications." Jeri Edwards, vice president,
Product Planning and Strategy, BEA Systems, Inc.
Contact: Jay Fry
BEA Systems, Inc.
E-Mail: jay.fry@beasys.com
IBM Corp.
"The wide scope of the Java platform APIs creates additional
opportunities for IBM and other solution providers to put Java to
work on behalf of our customers. IBM is very pleased to contribute
our expertise to JavaSoft to further evolve the rich set of Java
programming interfaces in the areas of transaction services and speed
capabilities," said Patricia Sueltz, vice president Internet
Software, IBM Internet Division.
Contact: Judy Radlinsky
IBM
617-693-8577
E-Mail: jradlinsky@vnet.ibm.com
Object Management Group
"Java is an attractive and natural environment for building
transaction processing and enterprise applications. We are pleased
that JavaSoft is using CORBA and its services as part of their
architecture," said Chris Stone, president of OMG.
Contact: Chris Stone
Object Management Group
E-Mail: stone@omg.org
Oracle Corp.
"Java Transaction Services will enable the development of
mission-critical enterprise applications," said Beatriz Infante,
senior vice president of Oracle's Internet division. "We applaud
JavaSoft's accomplishment with the Java Transaction Services API."
Contact: Paige O'Neill
Oracle Corp.
415-506-3429
E-Mail: PONEILL@us.oracle.com
Tandem Computer, Inc.
Roger Harvey, Vice President of Distributed Object Technology at
Tandem said, "We believe that the Java Transaction Services will
enable users to take advantage of the powerful Java language to
develop and implement transaction oriented applications on the
Internet or the Intranet, such as those envisioned in Tandems
Internet Transaction Processing (ITP) strategy."
Contact: Maripat Wilkins
Tandem Computer, Inc.
408-285-5121
E-Mail: wilkins_maripat@tandem.com
Quotes For Java Media Framework
Intel Corp.
"The majority of people accessing the Internet today use Intel
architecture PCs. Our goal is to enable the richest possible
multimedia experience on the Net," said Gerry Holzhammer, director
of Intel Architecture Labs. "We're pleased to be playing a key role
in bringing the exceptional performance and interactivity of IA PCs
to the Web, games and connected CDs."
Contact: Donna Loveland
Intel Corp.
503-264-6281
E-Mail: Donna_Loveland@ccm.jf.intel.com
Silicon Graphics, Inc.
"The promise of Java is to liberate applications from the operating
system," said Kai-Fu Lee, vice president and general manager, Web
Products Division, Silicon Graphics, Inc. "Our goal in co-developing
the Java Media Framework was to extend that freedom to a wide variety
of networked multimedia applications, particularly in the areas of
streaming viseo and audio. Our Cosmo Mediabase software, the
industry's first Web-based, scalable video server, will leverage this
important new standard to enable the delivery of high-quality viseo
streams to all computers, regardless of their operating system."
Contact: Alexandrea Todd
Silicon Graphics, Inc.
415-933-6765
E-Mail: atodd@corp.sgi.com
Quotes From Java Speech Endorsers
Apple Computer, Inc.
"Speech is an inevitable part of future of human-computer
interaction, as the industry is reaching the limits of the GUI and as
devices become smaller and the more portable. Java's Speech API will
make speech much more pervasive, and raise awareness about the power
of speech interfaces," said Kim Silverman, principal research
scientist for Apple Computer, Inc.
Contact: Nathalie Welch
Apple Computer, Inc.
408-974-5430
E-Mail: WELCH.N@applelink.apple.com
Dragon Systems
"The new Java Speech API will enable developers to easily add speech
to their applications which will make their applications easier to
use. Dragon Systems plans to work closely with Sun to offer industry
leading companies cross-platform, high performance speech recognition
solutions based on Java," said Roger Matus, director of marketing
for Dragon Systems.
Contact: Roger Matus
Dragon Systems
617-965-5200
E-Mail: rogerm@dragonsys.com
IBM Corporation
"IBM is very pleased to participate in the Java Speech API
initiative. Adding speech recognition and synthesis technologies to
network computing will enable exciting new, interactive applications
with natural interfaces," said De Gennaro, manager of speech systems
and applications, IBM Research Division.
Contact: Judy Radlinsky
IBM Corporation
617-693-8577
E-Mail: jradlinsky@vnet.ibm.com
Novell, Inc.
"We are excited to be working on the Java Speech API with Javasoft.
Novell has a significant history in working with the open speech API
world and especially SRAPI (http://www.srapi.com). We think this
experience will help Java speech be a complete and compelling
solution," said Glenn Ricart, CTO, Novell. "Novell is committed to
making Java solutions, including Speech, accessible to Novell
developers and partners."
Contact: Pamela Laurence
Novell, Inc.
408-434-2300
E-Mail: plaurence@novell.com
Philips Electronics, BV
"Speech is the most natural way to communicate. The availability of
a standardized speech API for Java will allow application developers
to supply a user friendly interface which simplifies substantially
the Internet and Intranet access. This will be a major step towards
keyboard-less computing," said Werner Hoellerbauer, CTO of Philips
Speech Processing.
Contact: Werner Hoellerbauer
Philips Electronics BV
E-Mail: whoeller@austria.cp.philips.com
Progress Software Corporation
"Progress Software has made a practice of embracing industry
standards throughout its history and is pleased to offer its support
to the Java API initiative," said Robert Bristol, Director of
Business Development, Progress Software.
Contact: Cynthia Marchi
Strategic Relations
Progress Software Corporation
415/610-0828
-0- Note to Editors: Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, Solaris, "The Network Is The Computer," the Java Coffee Java coffee is a coffee produced on the island of Java. In the United States, the term "Java" by itself is slang for coffee generally. The Indonesian phrase Kopi Jawa Cup logo, Java, JavaSoft, JDBC (Java DataBase Connectivity) A programming interface that lets Java applications access a database via the SQL language. Since Java interpreters (Java Virtual Machines) are available for all major client platforms, this allows a platform-independent database , JavaBeans, JavaTel and JavaOne are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and in other countries. CONTACT: JavaSoft Elizabeth McNichols, 408/343-1684 elizabeth.mcnichols@eng.sun.com http://java.sun.com |
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