Sun Microsystems chief offers futuristic vision

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2003 | 10:49 a.m.

Scott McNealy says he likes the idea of embedding a microchip beneath the skin of the family pet to make sure it could be tracked and located with sophisticated telecommunications technology if it ever got lost.

That got the chairman and chief executive officer of Sun Microsystems Inc. thinking ... if I love my family more than my pets, why don't I use that same technology with them and use scanning and wireless communications applications to help keep them safe and improve their lives?

"I know all the 'ACLUers' and the privacy experts are going to have to figure that out," McNealy said in response to the unasked question about privacy issues that inevitably are debated when McNealy gets to talking about his theories of connecting everything with a "digital heartbeat" via the Internet.

McNealy was one of the highlighted speakers at WAVE 2003, a conference for managers and executives of wireless communications devices sponsored by Cingular Wireless, Atlanta. The three-day Las Vegas conference, which ends today, drew about 1,000 people.

Cingular, the second-largest wireless company in the United States, is a joint venture between SBC Communications Inc., San Antonio, which owns 60 percent of the company, and BellSouth Corp., Atlanta, which owns the rest. Cingular reported revenue of $14.7 billion in 2002 and has 22 million voice and data customers.

SBC Communications also owns Nevada Bell, the dominant local telephone provider in Northern Nevada. Cingular Wireless is a player in Southern Nevada, but company officials would not disclose the number of Las Vegas-area customers it has or its market share.

McNealy gave his audience a glimpse of his vision of the future by describing product applications that Sun Microsystems is producing with its partnership with Cingular Wireless.

Sun produces hardware and software and has developed the Java computer language. The company also is one of the leaders in "smart card" technology that makes computer operating systems more portable.

McNealy demonstrated applications of its Project JXTA software that uses Global Positioning System satellite technology, wireless communication and a smart card tied into a vehicle's speedometer to analyze the speed of traffic on freeways in the San Francisco Bay area.

When several users are networked together, the system can give a real-time analysis of the fastest route for trips programmed into a vehicle's navigation system. McNealy assured his audience that overzealous police officers wouldn't be able to use the system to track speeders since the maximum speed the system's read-out produces is "above 65 mph."

The executive also showed off a small microchip-bearing tag that he said costs about 3 cents that can be attached to merchandise, installed in laptop computers and placed in suitcases. The tags serve as small homing devices that can be used in tracking goods and property.

"Imagine some of the aggravation you could avoid at the airport if these things were on your luggage," McNealy said.

McNealy also discussed how a credit-card-sized smart card carrying operating system information could be fed into slots in remote computers, hotel television systems or in portable computers across the country or the world to give a computer user access to his network from anywhere in range of a wireless signal.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sun Microsystems earlier in the week introduced its new Sun Blade Platform and N1 Provisioning Server software to help companies perform complicated computing tasks, ranging from three-dimensional graphic models to the storage of millions of credit card numbers and customer mailing lists.

The company also announced a price-cutting strategy that would put new server models on the market for $1,795, a 35 percent markdown.

Some companies are looking to Sun Microsystems to rival Microsoft Corp., which produces open-source servers that compete.

McNealy, whose public spats with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates have become a part of technology industry lore, took a shot at Microsoft's reluctance to enable its products to use Java, which McNealy said is impossible to infect with a computer virus.

"Keeping (Java) out of their machines is like blocking penicillin and allowing ebola and anthrax in," said McNealy, whose company has battled Microsoft on fair-trade issues for years.

Later in the conference, Mark Feidler, chief operating officer of Cingular Wireless, discussed the company's strategy and how it plans to continue working with companies like Sun Microsystems as well as Research in Motion, which offers the BlackBerry wireless device, Nokia, Ericsson Inc., Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Motorola and Good Technology Inc.

Feidler said the company's strategy involves leveraging its open architecture to enable several different partners to use its wireless network for a wide variety of applications.

He said the company is committed to continuing to build its Mobitex network -- a system of interconnected cells served by radio base stations that provide access for mobile users.

Feidler also said the company would continue its plan to provide wireless equipment leasing to its customers so that they can easily upgrade their systems at less expense.

The WAVE 2003 conference features several technology sessions featuring experts from Cingular Wireless' partners, discussing product applications and solving compatibility issues.

Feidler said the company is growing rapidly, providing the backbone to handle 15 million e-mails a day, up 50 percent from a year ago.

Cingular Wireless and Good Technology announced Monday that since the WAVE 2002 show nine months ago, more than 500 companies have signed on to Cingular's Xpress Mail Goodlink product. Among the largest customers are McGraw-Hill Education, Progressive Bank, Wilmington Trust, Precision Steel Warehouse, ADT Security and Harris Williams & Co.