To the growing menu of operating systems for TV set-top boxes and handheld devices, Sun has just added a new one: the JavaOS for Consumers, an operating system optimized for interactive TV, "Web phones," car-navigation computers, and handheld computers.
Sun is focusing on the product's integrated Java capability, touting it as the only operating system for consumer devices with an "end-to-end," Java-enabled design.
"Our RTOS [real-time operating system] is completely focused on making it possible to build devices that run Java applications very efficiently," Jim Hebert, general manager of Sun's Embedded Software Group.
The move digs Sun deeper into the consumer and set-top device market and pitches it against existing vendors in the category - most notably Microsoft and its Windows CE operating system. Sun is already providing PersonalJava, which, like Java Virtual Machines on personal computers, lets various device operating systems run Java applications. But that offering is complementary, not competitive, to operating systems like Windows CE.
The new product, on the other hand, is a full-fledged, stand-alone operating system, of which PersonalJava is an integrated component. "It's a complete stack of system components - including PersonalJava - designed to work together," Hebert explained.
The company said it already has "tens" of licensees for the OS, which is delivered by Sun's SunSoft division, but Hebert said he could only list two by name. One is telecom manufacturer Alcatel, which is incorporating the operating system into a Web-enabled telephone. The other is Texlon, maker of handheld devices for commercial applications, such as rental car checkout - one area in which it will use Sun's new OS.
Hebert would not reveal whether any set-top box manufacturers were among the unnamed licensees. He did say that cable giant Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI) - whose set-top orders will determine the design of millions of set-top boxes - has expressed interest in JavaOS for Consumers.
The real-time operating system underlying the new offering is already available separately from Sun as Chorus - the technology Sun acquired with the company of the same name in October of last year.
But it's the Java hook - added to Chorus by sewing in Sun's PersonalJava - that is the keystone for JavaOS for Consumers.
In a market still relatively up for grabs, it's not yet clear that Java is going to be a priority to device makers. "There may be a contingency of customers [device manufacturers] that believe that Java consistency is important to maintain," said Zona Research analyst Ron Rappaport. "But how large that contingency is, I can't tell you."
Sun's Hebert thinks he can guess. "I believe one of the things that will drive the market for consumer devices is the availability of interesting services for consumers delivered over the network," he said. "And Java plays a major role in making that possible."
Vendors will want to add functions to their boxes incrementally, Hebert said, and Java applications delivered through the network will provide an easy way to do that. The technology's "sandbox" security model will help ensure that those applications don't disturb memory and other underlying functions, he said.
Sun is taking JavaOS for Consumers into a field already populated with vendors including Microsoft and established set-top OS providers like PowerTV.
"This is a space where nobody has the upper hand," said Zona's Rappaport. "[JavaOS for Consumers] looks like the torch that Sun will march into this space with."
The company's existing software entry in the set-top arena, PersonalJava, doesn't compete at the more critical operating system level. In that category, Microsoft already has a firm deal with TCI, which has said it will buy at least five million CE-based set-top boxes from manufacturer General Instrument.
TCI chose Sun Microsystems' PersonalJava to run atop the OS on TCI's boxes, letting them run Java-based applications over the network. The company didn't commit to firm numbers in its deal with Sun, however, and since an operating system is critical while PersonalJava's layer is not, Microsoft came away with the bigger bouquet in that romance.
But while TCI committed to putting Windows CE on five million boxes, it plans to deploy at least 11 million boxes in total. It is on the remaining boxes that Sun hopes to compete for TCI's attention with JavaOS for Consumers, Hebert said.
"If they're not interested in a pure Java world, then they'll choose an OS that delivers the technology they need," Rappaport said. In a small enough footprint, such an OS has to offer as much functionality as it can in a "thin" device.
Sun thinks it's got that in the new system. In Chorus, "we've leveraged an operating system that is designed to support the needs of consumer devices," Hebert said, "which typically means a small footprint."
And Rappaport said such factors are more likely to be the deciding factor in the device OS market Sun has just entered, where Java doesn't yet mean anything concrete.
"Religion can substitute for value in many cases today, but that shouldn't be the case."
