At the Web 2.0 Conference in San Francisco today, Adobe Systems announced that it has contributed source code for the ActionScript Virtual Machine, the standards-based scripting language engine in Adobe’s Flash Player, to the open-source Mozilla Foundation, which will host a new open-source project, called Tamarin, to accelerate the development of a standards-based approach for creating rich and engaging Web applications.
The Tamarin project will implement the final version of the ECMAScript Edition 4 standard language, which Mozilla will use within the next generation of SpiderMonkey, the core JavaScript engine embedded in Mozilla’s Firefox Web browser. The Tamarin-integrated version of Firefox is expected to reach market by the first half of 2008, according to Mozilla officials.
Said Kevin Lynch, Adobe’s chief software architect:
By working with the open-source community we are accelerating the adoption of a standard language for creating and delivering richer, more interactive experiences that work consistently across PCs and mobile devices
Even though Adobe’s Flash player will continue to work on Microsoft’s market-leading Internet Explorer browser, the seamless integration of Adobe’s ActionScript Virtual Machine into a forthcoming version of Firefox will test Microsoft’s commitment to web-based applications.
Microsoft’s Office franchise, which is about to get a refresh, represents an enormous cash cow for the company, and Microsoft probably would prefer any shift to rich, browser-based applications to occur as slowly as possible.
Categories: Adobe Systems · Microsoft · Open Source · Software as Service · Web 2.0
Check Point Software Technologies’ critics long have lamented the absence of security appliances in the company’s product portfolio. Today Check Point announced a security appliance, though it’s focused on the consumer market rather than on the enterprise space, where the company’s detractors — customers as well as investors — believe it should be placing its bets.
Check Point’s ZoneAlarm Secure Wireless Router Z100G includes a stateful inspection firewall, intrusion prevention, antivirus, parental controls, VPN remote access, wireless encryption, and secure remote desktop access.
It will be sold as a standalone appliance, or bundled with five copies of ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite software. Availability is expected in late November at www.zonelabs.com. List price for the standalone appliance will be $199.95, though a promotional offer priced at $149.95 will be available through December 31, 2006.
It’s a curious move, putting Check Point up against Netgear and Cisco’s Linksys unit for the patronage of consumers seeking Internet security appliances. The move is even more puzzling when one considers that, whereas Netgear and Cisco and others go through distribution and retail with their products, Check Point seems to be selling its product, at least for now, exclusively through the ZoneAlarm website.
This might be a good product, but I’m not sure the idea or the execution will silence the growing chorus of criticism directed at Gil Shwed and Check Point’s executive team.
Categories: Check Point · Cisco · Internet Security
With the Web 2.0 Conference beginning officially today in San Francisco, discourse is focusing on whether the second iteration of the Internet economy will manage a gradual ascent or turn into a gaseous bubble that will burst eventually, ending in tears for all but the smartest and most fortunate.
As an article today at InfoWorld suggests, Web 2.0 faces challenges and opportunities. How entrepreneurs and investors proceed from here will determine whether the opportunities are seized effectively and whether the challenges become serious threats to continued prosperity.
One potential problem is too much money chasing too few opportunities. Says Eric Chin, a partner at early-stage venture capital firm Bay Partners:
A lot of people are jumping into the Internet space and investing in it aggressively, so you’re seeing companies getting funded that maybe shouldn’t be getting funded. This is creating a hyper and unhealthy environment.
Analyst Rob Enderle, of the eponymous Enderle Group, concurs:
The concern now is that with so much money being thrown around, we might be looking at another dot-com catastrophe in a year or so if the market becomes overheated
Ultimately, the investment community must focus on fundamentals. It must ask basic questions about all the software startups knocking on their doors. Is there a real market for the product or service? Do consumers have time in their lives for the proposed service? What’s the business model? What are the contingencies and dependencies? Who are the competitors, now and in the future? Is the market sustainable? Is the entrepreneur focused on his customers or his investors?
My view is that there already are too many Web 2.0 companies focused on consumer applications and services. There’s room for Enterprise 2.0 applications, but even that is becoming a crowded space, and new aspirants ultimately will have to compete against entrenched players with the advantages and disadvantages that accrue to incumbents. Infrastructure plays are viable, as long as innovation and growth persists.
As always, buyer (and investor) beware.
Categories: Business models · Software as Service · The Media Landscape · Venture Capital · Web 2.0
