BIOS: Technology Means Business

Macromedia has announced an agreement with HP to help develop communications services and rich Internet applications on wireless laptops, PDAs, mobile devices, and other consumer electronics. Macromedia and HP will jointly integrate, market, and sell solutions that unite the Macromedia Flash Platform and the HP Service Delivery Platform (SDP).

Macromedia's Flash Platform is designed to provide the solutions that make 'great digital experiences possible'. HP's SDP is a service-oriented architecture that helps providers create and deliver services for mobile, fixed, and broadband networks, enabling them to introduce new services rapidly, efficiently, and at reduced cost and risk.

Together, Macromedia and HP will enable carriers, network equipment providers, and telecommunication ISVs to streamline the creation of new communications, messaging, and collaboration solutions, and securely deploy multimedia services that aim to leverage the ubiquity of Macromedia's Flash Player and the depth of HP's SDP across fixed, mobile, and broadband networks.

The deal will allow service providers to unify voice, data, and video communications with an application user interface that is available across operating systems and devices. The ubiquity of Flash Player - the backbone of the Flash Platform - enables anyone to instantly access and enjoy rich, integrated communications experiences without the hassle of installing and configuring software.

The SDP blueprint combines a documented reference architecture built on a core set of industry standards with a portfolio consisting of software, hardware, and consulting and integration services provided by both HP and its partners that have been tested, characterised, and proven. HP delivers SDP elements and functionality based on customers'
legacy infrastructures and new service requirements, it says.

As part of this joint initiative, HP will offer turnkey systems integration services to the growing number of telecommunications service providers deploying Flash Platform products in their networks. Macromedia and HP will initially target their joint sales efforts to major carriers around the world that have deployed key elements of the SDP. As part of their professional services engagements, HP will resell elements of the Flash Platform, including Macromedia's Breeze for delivering online communications and Macromedia's Flex for developing Internet applications.

The first application based on Flash to be integrated with the SDP is Breeze, Macromedia's Web conferencing solution that has already been deployed within large enterprises for internal training and communications. Incorporating Breeze functionality with the HP SDP enables Breeze Web conferencing to be delivered over telecommunications networks and integrated with other SDP applications like audio conferencing, location, and messaging.

Macromedia and HP have developed a prototype that shows the integration of the Flash Platform, Breeze, and the HP SDP. The prototype runs on an HP iPAQ Pocket PC and demonstrates multiple communications services running together and sharing context and content information across applications and devices. The prototype is now available for demonstrations, proofs of concept, and pilot trials. To view the prototype, visit http://www.macromedia.com/go/hp_telecom.