The Jini Community Approves the ServiceUI API, Contributed by Artima Software and Developed Collaboratively with Over 40 Jini Community Members, as the First Standard Passed Through the New Jini Community Decision Process.

SUNNYVALE, CA -- May 7, 2003 -- The Jini Community has approved the ServiceUI Application Programming Interface (API), the first Jini Community standard that has passed through the Jini Community Decision Process (JDP). Contributed by Artima Software and collaboratively developed with over 40 Jini Community members, the ServiceUI API standardizes an approach for attaching user interfaces to individual Jini technology-based services, representing an essential and innovative step in the advancement of the open Jini architecture.

Originally released by Artima Software in April 2000 under the Sun Community Source License (SCSL), the ServiceUI(TM) API quickly became a de facto standard in the Jini(TM) Community, attracting thousands of downloads and appearing in several companies' Jini-technology based products. The ServiceUI API enables multiple user interfaces to be associated with a single Jini service, allowing the service to be accessed by users with varying preferences and accessibility requirements on computers and devices with varying user interface capabilities. In January 2003, Artima Software submitted version 1.1 of the API to the Jini Community for consideration as a standard. It was the first proposal to be considered under the JDP, an open process that allows both individual and commercial licensees of Jini technology to participate in the approval of Jini Community Standards. The proposal was voted on and passed in March 2003 and officially became a Jini Community standard on May 7, 2003.

"This is an exciting time for the Jini Community," said Bill Venners, President of Artima Software, Inc. "In approving the ServiceUI API proposal as a standard, the Jini Community has taken its first steps with the new JDP. The JDP was defined over the course of two years by the Jini Community's Technical Oversight Committee, the nine-member elected appeals body of the Jini Community, and approved by the Jini Community at large. The JDP is an innovative approach to achieving a synergistic balance between commercial and technical interests in the Community. Now that the JDP is off and running, expect more innovation to flow."

There are approximately 100 commercial licensees of Jini technology today. Until recently, most of these licensees have been independent software vendors and solution providers who depend upon the advanced adaptivity capabilities that Jini technology provides within their products to gain access to new and developing markets. Today, an increasing percentage of new commercial licensees are corporations who are deploying Jini technology-based applications within their internal IT organizations. While steady growth of the solution providing licensee base continues, this shift reflects an increasing demand for dynamic networking solutions within corporate IT offerings.

"The Jini Community has developed into a vibrant, self-governing organization. Its structure was designed to foster broad market adoption, technical advancement and industry standardization around Jini technology," said Mark Bauhaus, vice president of Java Web services at Sun Microsystems. "The approval of this first Jini standard reflects the success of the JDP, the increasing use of Jini technology in many emerging and evolving markets, and a significant milestone in the growing maturity of the Jini platform."

"Automotive dealerships benefit from Jini's service-oriented architecture, because Jini's dynamic service discovery capability makes local area networks self-healing, which reduces system administration costs, and increases system uptime." said Frank Sommers, CEO of Autospaces, a commercial Jini technology licensee and ServiceUI user. "Service UIs allow end-users to interact with Jini services through rich client user interfaces, and thus fill an important role in Jini's industry adoption."

Additional information on the ServiceUI API can be found at: http://serviceui.jini.org

Additional information on the Jini Community and the JDP can be found at: http://www.jini.org

About Artima Software, Inc.
Artima Software, Inc., a privately held corporation, is publisher of Artima.com, a popular developer community website. Through its innovation and leadership in selected open and community source projects, such as the ServiceUI API and Artima SuiteRunner(TM), an open source testing toolkit, Artima Software draws developers to Artima.com. Artima Software's developer community website can be found at: http://www.artima.com

ServiceUI and SuiteRunner are trademarks of Artima Software, Inc. Jini is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.