Netscape to integrate Shockwave into Navigator
By _Maria Seminerio_
Netscape Communications Corp. will incorporate Macromedia Inc.'s Shockwave
plug-in and Fireworks Java-based animation API into the Galileo version of
Netscape Navigator, to be rolled out by the end of the year.
"The combination provides applications developers with the ability to
manipulate text, images, animation, audio and video using Java and other
technologies from the Netscape ONE open network environment," said Mike Homer,
senior vice president of marketing at Netscape.
The nine-month-old Shockwave multimedia platform has gained more than 9
million users since its debut, Macromedia officials claimed. The licensing
agreement with Netscape could provide similar exposure for the Fireworks API,
which offers cross-platform implementations for Windows 95, Windows 3.1
Windows NT, Macintosh and Unix.
Fireworks provides high-speed graphics, animation and imaging features
including ink effects, blends and transitions, Macromedia officials said. The
API will serve as the basis for future versions of Shockwave and for future
World Wide Web publishing, multimedia and graphics tools based on Sun
Microsystems Inc.'s Java programming language, the officials said.
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