TOKYO (12-08-95) - Sun Microsystems Inc. is trying to woo General Magic Inc. to its Java Internet programming language and believes the startup may license the technology in an effort to restart its stalling business, a Sun official said today.
Although General Magic president Marc Porat "has not fully decided" to license Java, the company is considering rewriting its Magic Cap operating system and Telescript using Java as a way to add features such as improved security, said John Gage, director of the science office at Sun.
"They could rewrite in Java and get all the advantages of the Java security stuff and have exactly the same functionality that they've sold to [their backers]," Gage said, referring to companies including Japan's Toshiba Corp., Fujitsu Ltd. and Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd.
General Magic has big-name backing, but its plans to create an army of electronic agents that travel a network to perform tasks for users seems to have stalled recently due to a money shortage, said sources close to the company.
"We're going to subsume General Magic into all of this [the Java movement]. We are trying to save General Magic," Gage said.
Gage could not comment on when a deal might be announced but said Eric Schmidt, Sun's chief technical officer and CEO, is handling the negotiations.
Sun, of Mountain View, Calif., can be reached at +1 (415) 786-8199.
General Magic, of Sunnyvale, Calif., is at +1 (408) 774-4000.
[Copyright 1995 IDG News Service, International Data Group Inc. All rights reserved.]