Chorus Systems and Novita Communications Monday announced a technology alliance to deliver multimedia capabilities to Internet appliance users.

The unique combination of Chorus/JaZZ, the Java-enabled, real-time operating system from Chorus, with Novita Mail, the Java-based multimedia e-mail from Novita Communications, enables new compelling applications such as digital mail, digital greetings and digital photography to be integrated into low-cost Internet appliances such as set-top boxes and Internet phones.

``Consumers have been waiting to migrate to Internet appliances until new compelling features, such as digital mail and digital photo albums, become available,'' said Julien Nguyen, Novita Communications' chairman and chief executive officer.

``Chorus offers a communications-oriented RTOS with Java support within 2MB of ROM, which is the perfect match to deliver Novita's multimedia capabilities in the next wave of low-cost, Java-enabled Internet appliances.''

Both companies expect that Internet appliances with multimedia features resulting from the technology alliance will be available in the fourth quarter of 1997.

``We have today the strongest Java offering at the OS level for small-size Internet appliances, PDAs and cellular phones,'' said Fred Rehhausser, Chorus Systems' vice president of marketing.

``The integration of multimedia capabilities from Novita to browse the Web and to send content-rich multimedia messages within a simple and easy-to-use interface means we are also providing the most compelling solution from an end-user perspective.''

Novita Communications, a privately held company based in Sunnyvale, Calif., is the first company to deliver Java-based software applications for both PCs and Internet appliances. The company's first product, Novita Mail, offers rich e-mail in a very small memory footprint and supports all emerging multimedia and Internet standards.

Novita Communications can be reached at 408/745-5990 in the United States. Complete information on Novita Communications and Novita Mail can be found at http://www.novitacom.com

Chorus Systems designs, develops and markets a family of componentized operating system products customizable for a wide range of sophisticated applications.

From deeply embedded systems to high-end telecom platforms, the Chorus ``Componentized OS'' products are used by a number of telecommunication OEMs as well as other manufacturers in the general computing, industrial-automation and embedded-system industries.

Founded in 1986, Chorus Systems is an ISO 9001-certified company with offices in the United States, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. Chorus can be reached at 408/879-4100 in the United States; at +33 (0)1 30 64 82 00 in Europe; or at +81 (3) 5430-1131 in the Asia Pacific region.

Complete information on Chorus Systems and its offerings is available via the World Wide Web at http://www.chorus.com/