SAN MATEO (11-08-95) - Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Java object-oriented Internet programming language will be integrated in Spyglass Inc.'s Mosaic World Wide Web browser and an application development tool from Borland International, the companies announced today.
Spyglass and Borland are the latest licensees of Java, which Sun announced in May. Netscape Communications Corp., which sells the popular Navigator Web browser, was the first to license the technology, followed by Toshiba Corp. and Macromedia Inc. Also planning to use Java in their products are Lotus Development Corp. and Intuit Inc., according to Sun, and Oracle Corp. is working on a Web browser that supports Java.
Java appears to be taking the online world by storm and will likely become the standard for distributing applications over the Internet, according to analysts.
"Reality is that if you want to play at all in the browser market (licensing Java or similar technology) is a requirement," said Ted Julian, analyst at International Data Corp. based in Framingham, Mass.
"It's an important trend, but the caveat there is we have to wait until the security is in place," said Melinda Ballou, analyst at META Group Inc., which is based in Stamford, Conn. "There are firewalls with Java, but it's not sufficient."
Future versions of Java will feature improved security, including possibly public key algorithms, said Eric Schmidt, chief technical officer at Sun.
Once Spyglass delivers its Java support in the first quarter of 1996, browsers built using Spyglass Mosaic technology will be able to view items developed with Java, including applications that are interactive and contain animation, sound and graphics.
Borland, meanwhile, plans to offer a visual rapid application development environment for creating Java applications, said Paul Gross, senior vice president of research and development. The product, code-named Latte, will be released in several phases with the first commercial release scheduled to ship in the first half of 1996, he said. A final product could be completed in 12 to 18 months, Gross said.
Latte, named after a coffee beverage comprised of espresso and steamed milk, will be different from Borland's current tools, including Delphi and C++ in that it will be written in Java, enabling cross-platform support and scalability, Gross said.
Sun has announced Workshop for Java, also an application development tool, but one aimed at high-end programmers. Borland's Latte will be "more Windows-volume focused," said Schmidt.
The deal between Sun and Borland "involves joint development on both sides," he said, after previously noting that Sun's biggest issue has been the lack of broadly available development tools.
"Sun gets access to Borland's development community that has Windows expertise," Schmidt said.
Neither company would discuss financial terms of the licensing agreement, but an analyst said he had been told by SunSoft Inc., Sun's software subsidiary, and other companies that Sun charges US$250,000 for a Java license.
"That keeps a lot of small players out," said the analyst, Paul Cubbage of Dataquest Inc. in San Jose, Calif.
The announcement is good news for Borland customers in that it shows that the once ailing company is "no longer retrenching," but rather investing in leading technology, Cubbage said.
"Java is making great strides of becoming the API (application programming interface) of the Internet and the significance is that there's nothing more important to Microsoft (Corp.) than owning APIs," he said.
Microsoft announced plans for its own online authoring tool, code named Blackbird, early this year but has yet to deliver it.
Spyglass, based in Naperville, Ill., can be reached at +1 (708) 505- 1010 or on the Web at http://www.spyglass.com.
Borland, headquartered in Scotts Valley, Calif., is at +1 (408) 431- 1000 or http://www.borland.com.
Sun, in Menlo Park, Calif., is at +1 (800) 821-4643, +1 (415) 786-7737 or http://www.sun.com.
[Copyright 1995 IDG News Service, International Data Group Inc. All rights reserved.]