HP Continues to Drive Intelligent Device Communication Standards by Supporting Jini Technology; HP's Successful JetSend Technology to Complement Sun's Jini

Business Wire, Jan 26, 1999

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 26, 1999--Further strengthening its push toward universal device and information sharing, Hewlett-Packard Company, a leader in intelligent device communication and network printing, today announced that it will support Sun Microsystem's Jini technology.

HP is exploring ways to incorporate Jini into its JetSend device-to-device communications technology. Technology initiatives such as HP's JetSend, HP's Chai, Microsoft(R)'s Universal Plug and Play, and Sun's Jini enhance simplicity and ease of use for customers.

Simple, Intelligent Communication

HP believes that the co-existence of JetSend and Jini will enable the development of more meaningful, richer solutions for customers. To achieve this mutually beneficial goal, HP is exploring areas of synergy between Jini and JetSend.

In a JetSend/Jini environment, users can send information from their JetSend/Jini-enabled devices to any other JetSend/Jini-enabled device on the network without having to worry about drivers, location or compatibility. For example, users could send an image directly from a digital camera to a remotely located printer -- Jini would locate registered devices and JetSend would ensure that the devices could share the information.

"These complementary technologies are key elements of the 'new' network, which will include a broad collection of intelligent information appliances communicating directly with one another," said John Stedman, general manager of HP's Appliance and Scanner Business Unit. "HP's vision is to enable devices such as personal digital assistants, cell phones and office peripherals to seamlessly exchange information."

HP JetSend Technology

JetSend is the industry's first technology aimed to simplify interaction between information appliances. There are nearly 3 million JetSend-enabled solutions in the marketplace today. Industry-leading companies already have begun to embrace HP's JetSend technology, introduced nearly two years ago.

JetSend is a device-to-device communications protocol that enables simple, flexible and direct interaction between devices. JetSend is transport-independent and can support IP, IR, RF, IEEE 1394 and so on. The open industry technology is also platform-independent (that is, Microsoft Windows(R) to Sun Sparc to Palm Pilot).

About HP

Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global provider of computing, Internet and intranet solutions, services, communications products and measurement solutions, all of which are recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 124,600 employees and had revenue of $47.1 billion in its 1998 fiscal year.

Information about HP, its products and the company's Year 2000 program can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.

Note to Editors: Microsoft and Windows are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp.