Visigenic Inc’s new object request broker arm, which is still currently known as PostModern Computing Inc, is just getting around to adding support for Microsoft Corp’s Distributed OLE (now ActiveX) into its C++ ORBeline and Java BlackWidow request brokers. An Interface Definition Language compiler in both products will generate Object Linking & Embedding Custom Controls (OCXs) enabling C++ clients to access Corba objects and will generate an Object Linking & Embedding automation server for OLE objects. Client applications written in C++ or Visual Basic will be able to call Corba objects; client application objects can be downloaded and run within Microsoft Explorer and Netscape Navigator. PostModern will ship a new version 2.1 of ORBeline with ActiveX support by the end of this quarter, a BlackWidow version will follow. BlackWidow is built on top of ORBeline and uses a compiler to generate client and server Java code which can run over the Object Management Group’s Corba 2 Internet Inter-ORB Protocol, IIOP, which is implemented in ORBeline. ORBeline licenses are $5,000 on Unix and $3,000 on NT. Runtimes are $250 on Unix, $150 on Windows. BlackWidow is $100 per CPU for commercial users. The BlackWidow Internet server supports unlimited Internet client connections and is priced at $5,000 for commercial servers. Additional Corba services are sold as add-ons. PostModern’s IIOP implementation was used by the Object Management Group to demonstrate Corba interoperability between different object request broker implementations at last week’s Object World East show in Boston and the company is using this as evidence its technology is becoming the reference IIOP against which other object vendors test their technologies. It looks as if it will put its money where its mouth is too, preparing to unpack its IIOP implementation from ORBeline and sell it to other object request broker companies. Although the PostModern products are generally regarded as more advanced than say Iona Technologies Ltd or Expersoft Inc in some areas, the company admits its focus on technology and lack of marketing led it to seek a suitor prepared to bankroll its future. Although it claims thousands of licensees for its products, the company only had eight employees when it went over to Roger Sippl’s Visigenic last week. It also claims it had a bevy of potential suitors knocking on its door but decided to go with Visigenic rather than a hardware, operating system or database vendor to maintain its independence. We’re not so sure about that, but the combined unit is put at a $12m concern. In the meantime, the TPBroker transaction-based object request broker PostModern is developing in conjunction with Hitachi Ltd Object Group’s transaction service goes to beta test this month. PostModern claims 200 sales of the three-week-old Black Widow over the Web at just $100 each.
