EMERYVILLE, Calif.-Several technology companies announced they have created an alliance to
develop an interface connecting consumer and small-business appliances to Internet services, called the Open Service
Gateway specification.
Its backers say the specification will allow Internet service providers, network operators and
equipment manufacturers to deliver Internet services to gateway servers operating in the home or office.
Essentially,
the OSG will allow service providers and device and appliance manufacturers to connect to vendor-neutral local area
network and wide area network connectivity interfaces. Also, application developers will be able to write one
application that, if using the standard, can operate on any device or network also supporting the standard, rather than
once for each dedicated network.
The OSG will be based on Java technology from Sun Microsystems Inc. Other
companies joining to define the specification include Alcatel, Cable & Wireless Inc., Enron Communications, L.M.
Ericsson, IBM Corp., Lucent Technologies Inc., Motorola Inc., Network Computer Inc., Nortel Networks Inc., Royal
Philips Electronics N.V., Sybase and Toshiba. A draft specification is expected by mid-year.