SAN JOSE, Calif., November 3, 1997– STS Consulting, LLC, Highland, Utah, has announced the Salutation API Simulator, a software design tool for developers building Salutation device-to-device communications into applications. The Salutation Architecture is a protocol for locating and controlling computers, consumer devices, and office equipment across the Internet or a company intranet.
The API Simulator is a Windows 95 program that simulates Salutation Architecture API calls. It is a learning tool for developers designing these APIs into products and services. The API Simulator lets a developer mock up a Salutation API interface on a Windows 95 PC. When the developer points at an API “button” the API Simulator demonstrates the function provided and shows the specific call attributes the API requires. The API Simulator also indicates when API calls are not to be used and simulates responses from Salutation-enabled devices.
“The Salutation Consortium is working on several fronts to speed up design-ins and reduce development costs for adding Salutation’s market-ready features to office devices and applications,” said Robert F. Pecora, managing director of the Consortium. “The API Simulator is a cost-effective way to learn how to use the Salutation API calls. In addition, developers will soon have access to a PC-based Port-of-Entry module that enables existing office devices to function in a Salutation network. We’re also funding the development of a Reference Model, prewritten code that can be built into a product directly to make it Salutation-compatible.”
Price and Delivery
Single user licenses for the Salutation API Simulator are $150. A site license for up to 100 users is available for $1500. An 15-day evaluation version of the API Simulator is available at no cost. All versions are available now for download. Full information on the evaluation program and licensing terms is available at /simulate.htm.
The Salutation API Simulator uses a standard Windows 95 user interface. It will run on an Intel PC with 8MB RAM (16 MB recommended) and 3MB free space on the hard disk.
The API Simulator works in conjunction with the Salutation Architecture, which is available from the Salutation Consortium at /ordspec.htm. There are no licensing or royalty charges for use of the Architecture.
What Salutation Does
The Salutation Architecture is a protocol for locating and controlling computers, consumer devices, and office equipment across the Internet or a company intranet. Salutation allows an application to send a network query to locate a device, application or service. Once a device has been located, Salutation can attach the proper device drivers, allowing maximum possible use of the device and its characteristics.
Intranets build the need for Salutation features by making more peripherals available to the desktop, and by supporting mobile network attachments. The Salutation specification is independent of network transport, hardware platform, and operating system software and supports standard Internet and other message formats.
STS Consulting
Senior Technical Staff (STS) Consulting, LLC, based in Highland, Utah, assists companies with product design and development, business case analysis, and training in internetworking and interconnectivity. Founder and CEO Robert Pascoe is an original organizer of the Salutation Consortium, responsible for contributing both to its technical work and to the recruiting efforts that led to 19 companies joining prior to public announcement of the Consortium’s work. Pascoe’s role grew out of his work at IBM, where he held leadership positions in technical and marketing areas. He holds 15 U.S. patents in various information processing disciplines.
About the Consortium
The Salutation Consortium is a non-profit corporation with member organizations in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Member companies include APTi, Axis Communications, Brother, Canon, Casio, Cisco, Eastman Kodak, Fuji Xerox, Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard, Hitachi, Integrated Systems, IBM, Justsystem, Kobe Steel, Komatsu, Konica, Lexmark, Matsushita, Microware Systems, Minolta, Mita, Mitsubishi, Murata (Muratec), Novell, Oki Data, Ricoh, Rios Systems, Sanyo, Seiko Epson, Sharp, Sun Microsystems, Toshiba, WhetStone, and Xerox.