Sun Inks Agreement With Hewlett-Packard; Brings Java 3D API One Step Closer to Platform Ubiquity - Company Business and Marketing

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, August 16, 1999

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) signed a licensing agreement with Hewlett-Packard Company to port Java 3D technology to HP-UX, bringing the API one step closer to platform ubiquity. The Java 3D API, released in December '98 and gaining widespread acceptance and adoption in the market, includes easy-to-use 3D programming features and cross-platform functionality. The Java 3D API is used by application developers in fields as diverse as MCAD, scientific visualization and gaming.

In inking the deal, Hewlett-Packard will make the Java 3D API available on the HP-UX platform for cross-platform, 3D graphics application development and deployment. With Sun and HP the top two UNIX workstation vendors worldwide (1), this deal significantly expands the installed-base of workstation users who will be able to collaborate over the network using Java 3D API-based applications.

"HP is committed to helping its customers effectively harness the promise and power of Internet-based engineering across a range of technical markets," said Jim Zafarana, worldwide marketing manager for HP's Workstation Systems Division. "Licensing the Java 3D API is another step in providing the broadest, most advanced set of visualization tools to our technical customers worldwide."

The Java 3D API is already available for the Solaris (SPARC Platform Edition) operating environment, Windows '95, Windows '98 and Windows NT platforms and will soon be available for SGI's IRIX and the HP-UX operating environment and for Linux through the Linux Blackdown Porting Team. The Java 3D API is licensed for development and deployment on 95 percent of the world's workstation market (2).

"The Java 3D API has gained considerable momentum in the marketplace as a cross-platform 3D visualization tool for the networked, collaborative enterprise, as evidenced by the API's adoption for the Linux and IRIX platforms and now for HP-UX," said Ken Okin, vice president and general manager of Workstation Products at Sun Microsystems, Inc. "Developers and end users working on HP's enterprise-class UNIX workstations will now be able to natively access this emerging standard."

The Java 3D API in Detail

The Java 3D API extends the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition, by allowing application developers to add 3D capabilities to their Java technology-based applications, while leveraging the speed, stability, security and completeness of the core Java platform.

The Java 3D API, a network-centric, scene graph-based API, has been implemented in a variety of third-party applications, from design and scientific visualizations to gaming and educational software programs.

In addition, because the Java 3D API is based on the network-centric Java platform, this 3D programming tool allows users to do high-end 3D visualization over the network, regardless of the target platform. This network-centric design is increasingly important as development environments are becoming more collaborative and more dependent on graphics. To reduce the impact of potential bottlenecks caused by this new computing environment, the Java 3D API incorporates geometry compression which shrinks very large 3D models to a tenth of their original size, enabling them to be rapidly downloaded over the network for remote viewing and manipulation.

Since the Java 3D API was made available in December 1998, there have been more than 50,000 downloads. The Java 3D API is available for free download at http://java.sun.com/products/java-media/3D/ . For more information on the Java 3D API, visit http://sun.com/desktop/java3d .

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network Is The Computer ," has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. to its position as a leading provider of high quality hardware, software and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $11.5 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com .

* (1) UNIX workstation shipment marketshare: In 1998 worldwide shipments, Sun took 54.5 percent; HP took 16 percent (International Data Corporation, 1999)

* (2) Worldwide client workstation shipments by processor, 1998: 73.9 percent Intel, 13.9 percent SPARC, 4.1 percent PA-RISC, 3.2 percent MIPS (International Data Corporation, 1999)