DaveNet: Wednesday, February 19, 1997; by Dave Winer.
Be News from Tokyo
From Mark Gonzales, markg@be.com: "Three Be related press releases for Macworld Tokyo, all to be released tomorrow. But since it's Wednesday in Tokyo....here they are."
MOTOROLA COMPUTER GROUP ANNOUNCES INTENT TO LICENSE THE BEOS AND JOINS BE, INC. IN TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCEBeOS to Ship with MCG's StarMax PowerPC Systems
MACWORLD EXPO, TOKYO, Japan (19 February 1997) -- Motorola Computer Group (MCG) and Be, Inc. announced today their intent to enter into a licensing agreement under which the Be Operating System (BeOS) will be bundled with MCG's successful StarMax line of personal computers. The companies are also working together in a technology alliance to ensure that the BeOS will take full advantage of future PowerPC systems.
Under the planned agreement, the two companies intend to work together to ensure that the BeOS will run on all MCG StarMax systems, which include the current StarMax 3000 and 4000 series of computers. In addition, the companies are studying BeOS support for MCG's PowerStack line of high-performance servers and workstations.
The companies will disclose product plans to each other involving the BeOS, MCG's computer systems, and PowerPC designs, strengthening a relationship that will deliver a new level of digital design and multimedia capability and performance.
"We're very pleased to have Motorola, one of the core partners in building the PowerPC and a rising force in delivering PowerPC-based personal computers, as a partner in creating and proliferating the BeOS." said Jean-Louis Gassee, president and CEO of Be, Inc. "Motorola has a unique perspective as both a microprocessor and systems manufacturer that we think will be of great help in making the BeOS the premier digital media design platform."
"We are extremely pleased to have formed this alliance with Be, Inc.," commented Dennis Schneider, vice president and general manager Commercial Products Division, Motorola Computer Group. "By bundling the BeOS with our MacOS-compatible StarMax systems, we will be providing our customers with the best two operating systems to meet the needs of the multimedia, publishing and enterprise markets."
The BeOS is a new operating system designed for media-rich, interactive content design applications that will characterize the next generation of computing. It is a full symmetric multiprocessing system (the ability to make use of multiple processors in a single system) that offers full preemptive multitasking, multithreaded operation, protected memory, and an object-oriented design. Thousands of developers already have advance copies of the operating system and are creating new applications in image processing, web design and serving, digital audio editing and digital video design.
Since shipments began in mid-November 1997, over 56,000 StarMax systems have shipped. According to a recent Dataquest alert, the MacOS compatible market grew 348% in the last quarter (Q4) of 1996, rising from 2.4% to 13.9% marketshare.
Under the planned agreement, BeOS will be bundled as a bootable CD-ROM with MCG's StarMax systems at no additional cost to the end-user. The companies plan to release more details on the bundling arrangements before the end of the first quarter.
Be plans to release the first publically available version of the BeOS, the "Preview Release" at the end of the first quarter of 1997. More information on the BeOS can be found at http://www.be.com. More information about the Motorola Computer Group and StarMax systems can be found at http://www.mot.com/computer.
About Motorola Computer Group
The Motorola Computer Group is a worldwide hardware and software platform supplier to companies that provide computer solutions. MCG's strategy is to deliver high-performance PowerPC platforms and solutions for Mac OS, BeOS and AIX operating systems targeting areas such as graphics-intensive applications, multimedia and the Internet.
MCG corporate headquarters, along with regional headquarters for Pan America, are located in Tempe, Ariz. Regional European headquarters are located in Maidenhead, United Kingdom. European channel headquarters are located in Paris, France. Headquarters for MCG's Asia Pacific region are located in Hong Kong. Eastern Europe and Mediterranean headquarters are located in Tel Aviv, Israel. Information about MCG's products is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.mot.com/computer.
Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) is one of the world's leading providers of wireless communications, semiconductors and advanced electronic systems, components and services. Major equipment businesses include cellular telephone, two-way radio, paging and data communications, personal communications, automotive, defense and space electronics, and computers. Motorola semiconductors power communication devices, computers and millions of other products. Motorola's 1996 sales were $28 billion.
About Be, Inc.
Be, Inc. was founded by Jean-Louis Gassee in 1990 to overcome the limitations of existing computer architectures. With a team of industry-leading engineers and business executives in the United States and Europe, the company has positioned itself to become a key player in fast-growing application markets. Be, Inc. is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.
DAYSTAR ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR BEOS ON nPOWER MULTIPROCESSING SYSTEMSFirst Ever Demonstrations of Full Symmetric BeOS on Four Processors
Macworld Tokyo - February 19, 1997 - Today, DayStar Digital, the inventor of multiprocessing on the Mac OS and the leader in multiprocessing performance solutions for Mac OS professionals, demonstrated Jean-Louis Gassee's BeOS, with support for symmetric multiprocessing on DayStarÕs exclusive quad processor Genesis MP workstation.
Be, Inc. the creator of the media-rich Be Operating System (BeOS), is incorporating nPOWER multiprocessing support into the version of the BeOS that is designed to run on Mac OS based systems. DayStar's nPOWER is the multiprocessing technology licensed by Apple Computer, UMAX Computer Corp. and Newer Technology for their own dual-processing implementations.
"For the first time, the BeOS will operate on four-processors," said Andrew Lewis, CEO of DayStar. "Running at 800 MHz on DayStar's exclusive four-processor Genesis MP systems, the BeOS will be unparalleled in multimedia capabilities."
nPOWER Multiprocessing Technology
nPOWER is DayStar's proprietary hardware implementation of multiprocessing on PowerPC based systems. Through nPOWER, users are assured of compatible, transparent performance. DayStar's nPOWER multiprocessing technology is widely used in DayStar's Genesis MP, Apple's Power Macintosh, and UMAX A.S.P.D. based systems. It is also used in DayStar's nPOWER upgrade cards and Newer's future multiprocessing upgrades. nPOWER fully supports System 7.5.x up, and it will be fully supported within Be and Apple's planned future software releases.
Over forty multiprocessing applications are either shipping or in development. Many are available today, including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere, Deneba Canvas, Strata Studio Pro Blitz, Apple QuickTime¨ 2.5, MetaTools Studio Effects, Metrowerks CodeWarrior, PCC Professional, AutoTrapper and Kodak Color/Photo CD plug-ins. DayStar has also prepared numerous multiprocessing extensions, allowing users to maximize their overall speed and productivity. Other applications soon to arrive with MP support, include Electric Image, MetaTools Final Effects, MetaTools Bryce, Live Picture, Apple's ColorSync, and many more. DayStar maintains a complete list at www.daystar.com.
To Infinity and Beyond -- with nPOWER!
nPOWER is designed to work today and expand tomorrow. Its fully scaleable implementation allows it to support a virtually unlimited number of processors. Working hand in hand with Apple and Be, DayStar is continually engineering the state of the art in multiprocessing - providing greater performance and more multitasking options to nPOWER based solutions.
About DayStar
Digital DayStar Digital, Inc. develops, manufactures and markets high performance multiprocessing Mac OS-based workstations for professionals engaged in media-publishing. DayStar is the only company to offer industrial strength, four-processor Mac OS-based systems. DayStar developed multiprocessing for the Mac OS in collaboration with Apple Computer. Additionally, DayStar offers a full line of performance upgrade products for Apple Macintosh computers. DayStar Digital, Inc., is headquartered in Flowery Branch, Georgia, 45 minutes north of Atlanta.
DayStar maintains a Home Page on the Internet at: www.daystar.com Contact DayStar Marketing via email at: marketing@daystar.com. DayStar currently manufactures Genesis MP a four processor Mac OS workstation, Genesis LT a two processor Mac OS system, and nPOWER dual processor upgrades for Genesis, Power Macintosh and SuperMac Computers.
STARCODE SOFTWARE ANNOUNCES BEDEPOT, AN INTERNET MALL FOR BEOS SOFTWAREBeDepot will enter service early in Q2 1997
REDWOOD CITY, California (February 19, 1997) -- StarCode Software announced today that it will establish BeDepot, a central location on the Internet for BeOS developers to promote, sell and distribute their software. In addition, the company said the BeDepot will be fully integrated with the company's Package Builder (TM) installer software and newly announced Software Valet (TM) utility for software management. StarCode Software can now provide developers a complete solution to distributing, installing, registering and building customer relationships over the Internet.
"BeDepot provides a way for developers to shorten the time between software development and into customer's hands," said StarCode Software's CEO Carlin Wiegner. "BeDepot, along with StarCode's other products, provides continuing evidence that the Be platform is maturing on schedule."
BeDepot's services will include an on-line product catalog, on-line payment processing of a wide variety of credit cards, distribution of trialware or commercial versions of software and automated software registration and updating.
To perform the actual financial transaction, BeDepot will make use of the latest, secure technology to provide developers and users with a safe and pleasant on-line shopping experience. To address potential concerns about moving financial information across the Internet, BeDepot will incorporate secure transactions, real-time credit card authorizations, and off-line storage of financial information.
Although users will actually browse and purchase software from BeDepot via a secure web browser, other steps like downloading, registration and updating will be accomplished via the Software Valet. The Valet provides a level of abstraction from the file system that allows users to better manage their software without spending countless hours doing so. This free utility will provide BeOS users with the easiest to use software management tools available for any platform.
BeDepot will be launched simultaneously with the Preview Release of the BeOS. The Software Valet will be made available at that time, as well.
Developers or users who wish to learn more about BeDepot are encouraged to visit StarCode's Web Site at http://www.StarCode.Com. The site holds detailed information on all of StarCode's products and services including BeDepot.
About StarCode Software
StarCode Software, Inc. was founded by Carlin Wiegner and Michael Klingbeil in 1996 to create new tools for software distribution and management. In addition to running the BeDepot Internet software mall, StarCode Software also builds two products, the Package Builder and the Software Valet. StarCode Software is headquartered in Redwood City, California.
Corporate Offices:
StarCode Software, Inc.
Redwood City, CA 94063
Tel: (415)297-4517
Internet: http://www.StarCode.Com/
e-mail: info@StarCode.ComStarCode Software, Package Builder, Software Valet, and BeDepot are trademarks of StarCode Software, Inc. Be is a registered trademark and BeOS is a trademark of Be, Inc.