Text item: Sun's Java announcement....


  FYI: from today's Wall Street Journal.
  Hi gang, thought we might be able to leverage Java.. or possibly Silicon
  Graphics's Virtual Reality Modeling Language.

  Technology: Sun to Unveil Hot Java and Sunscreen To Make Internet
  Zippier, More Secure ---- By Jared Sandberg
  
    Sun Microsystems Inc., hoping to cash in on businesses eager to conduct
  commerce on the Internet, is poised to unveil two products -- Hot Java
  and Sunscreen.

    The new wares, which are expected to be announced on Tuesday, aim to
  make the global network more colorful and safer for corporate use. Hot
  Java is designed to let businesses put up snazzier "home pages" on the
  World Wide Web, the multimedia portion of the Internet that can be a
  frustratingly static and passive medium.
  
    Sunscreen promises to allow companies to set up their own private
  global networks for data sharing by piggybacking on the Internet itself.
  Such networks typically require businesses to lease dedicated and costly
  high-capacity phone lines.
  
    Together, Hot Java and Sunscreen could help make the Internet ready for
  prime time, gussying up the electronic storefronts dotting the Web while
  securing the back offices. "They're going to bring the ability for
  electronic commerce on the Internet to the next level," said Stephen
  Franco, an analyst at Yankee Group.

    Sun Microsystems, a Mountain View, Calif., maker of high-power
  workstations, has ridden the wave of interest in surfing the Internet. It
  makes one of the most widely used Unix operating systems employed on the
  Internet and claims a 56% share of the "servers" that offer up
  information to the millions of people browsing the network. "Anything
  that grows the network helps Sun," said Eric Schmidt, Sun's chief
  technical officer.

    With Hot Java, Sun hopes to answer the complaints held by many Internet
  users and designers that the Web is boring to look at -- in effect,
  "caffeinating" it. "This is the difference between black-and-white and
  color television," said Mr. Schmidt. "You can see the difference because
  things come alive." Jerry Michalski, editor of newsletter Release 1.0,
  added that the new software enables "much more interactivity than the Web
  allows you to do right now."

    Currently, users download a snapshot of a still screen, then click on a
  highlighted word to pull down yet another snapshot of a different static
  screen. With Hot Java, the still page can become a moving picture,
  receiving a stream of information.

    Some surfers of the World Wide Web have already taken up the program,
  which Sun released free of charge over the Internet to encourage
  widespread adoption. One Java user programmed an animated tutorial on how
  to juggle, while another provides audio clips of proper Pig Latin
  pronunciation.

    Advertising agency Foote, Cone & Belding Inc., a unit of True North
  Communications, is using it to develop Internet ads with animated logos
  and characters, and with three-dimensional spaces representing
  storefronts and supermarkets. Starwave Corp., which is creating a sports
  information service on the Web with the ESPN sports channel, will allow
  users to view the changing scores of football games and chat with each
  other.

    The Sun program, using a new programming language dubbed Java, makes
  such efforts possible by sending users miniature programs called
  "applets." The applets run on the user's machine, allowing for an endless
  array of functionality, from electronic stock tickers to mortgage
  calculators and multiplayer games.

    Elsewhere, rival Silicon Graphics Inc. is one of several companies
  working to develop the Web into a more compelling 3-D environment. They
  are pushing a standard known as Virtual Reality Modeling Language, though
  Sun executives contend it is complementary to Java.

    Sun's new Sunscreen product includes hardware, known as SPF-100, and
  software that handles "firewall" security measures to try to thwart
  invasion by criminal hackers. The company claims Sunscreen will allow a
  business to turn the existing public Internet into its own virtual
  private network. Company offices in two different cities can each
  purchase Sunscreen for a hefty $25,000 and create, in essence, a tunnel
  of encrypted data between them, using the Internet. Typically, companies
  spend roughly $10,000 a month to lease private data lines to communicate
  among offices.

    "It's a very good alternative to a private network," said Stan Lepeak,
  senior analyst at the META Group. Still, he cautioned, despite the
  antihacker features, "it leaves you open anytime you have to go over the
  Internet."

   Copyright (c) 1995 Dow Jones and Company, Inc.
   Received via NewsEDGE from Desktop Data, Inc.: 5/19/95 2:27
  Regards,
  Sherri

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