Infoscape, Inc. today introduced its Fresco product family, a complete system for rapidly creating and deploying live Java database applications over networks.

Fresco simplifies and streamlines the application development process, making the enterprise-wide deployment of visually rich, highly interactive web applications a reality.

"Sun's vision is to lower IT costs and enable break-away business strategies by putting Java on every desktop," stated Bud Tribble, Vice President and Chief Architect of Java Systems for Sun Microsystems Computer Company. "Fresco makes this vision a reality by leveraging the full power that the Java-enabled desktop has to offer."

The Fresco product family includes: Fresco Designer, a 100% pure Java/Database rapid application development tool (RAD), Fresco Information Server, an intranet application server, and Fresco Adapters, a set of adapters that connect to databases. Using Fresco, developers now have a fast and easy way to create and deploy sophisticated database Web applications.

These rich applications incorporate stunning graphical user interfaces (GUIs), run on all major platforms, and scale to enterprise networks. Fresco allows IT professionals to reap huge cost savings from lengthy Web development cycles by eliminating the software installation, maintenance, and configuration hassles associated with traditional client/server deployment.

"Infoscape makes the Java desktop a viable platform for sophisticated database applications," said Mark Jarvis, Vice President of Server Marketing at Oracle. "With Fresco, Oracle customers can push the power of Oracle Universal Server to Java desktops across the enterprise."

Today, Web-based applications force users to endure the "navigational nightmare" of stepping through endless HTML Web pages to reach the information they need. Java-based Fresco applications support end-user drag-and-drop in addition to simple point-and-click interfaces giving users a fast and efficient way to access and control information.

Fresco is aimed at IT, Web, and Database developers and is best suited for creating and deploying intranet applications that automate business activities currently handled with paper forms and telephone calls. Typical examples of live database Web applications include: ordering of office supplies, new hire enrollment, benefits tracking, or facilities and inventory management.

"Infoscape has moved the Web to the next generation by combining the user benefits of client/server with the cost and deployment benefits of the intranet," said Paul King, founder and President of Infoscape. "Now developers can create sophisticated Java-based applications that connect Web users to corporate databases without the necessity of programming."

"Fresco greatly improves the productivity of Java developers by providing a powerful set of tools for the easy creation of user interfaces to databases. This kind of tool is extremely important for Java's success in enterprise applications," said Arthur Van Hoff, Chief Technical Officer of Marimba, Inc.

"We are excited that Infoscape has chosen to use Castanet as the distribution mechanism for several sample applications built with Fresco. This clearly shows the power of combining Castanet and Fresco. This is a great product for serious Java application developers."

At the core of Infoscape's next generation products are Fresco Designer and Fresco Information Server for rapidly creating and deploying Web applications. The Fresco product family includes:

-- Fresco Designer is a visual authoring tool, written entirely in Java, that radically streamlines the creation of a new class of live database-driven Web applications. Fresco Designer includes four palettes of reusable Java GUI objects (basic elements, images, tables) and entity-relationship (ER) database modeling objects. Programming Java, database SQL, or network communication are not required.

-- Fresco Information Server is an intranet application server for optimizing the performance and delivery of customized database applications to Web browsers/desktops. By offloading overburdened Web HTTP servers, Fresco Information Server manages and maintains direct user connections to back-end servers and databases on a network. Fresco Information Server includes the Fresco Application Engine, a unique client-side technology that gets transparently pulled down from the server and manages Java UI elements and data modeling within Web browsers.

-- Fresco Adapters are direct database adapters for tapping into corporate databases over the network. Fresco Adapters are available for Oracle, Sybase, ODBC databases, and with more to come.

The Fresco product family is open and compatible with popular Web browsers, Web server software, Java integrated development environments, and relational databases. Fresco applications run on all Java-enabled platforms including Sun Solaris, Microsoft Windows NT, and Windows 95.

Pricing and Availability

Fresco is currently in beta release and will be generally available in March 1997. The Fresco Pilot Package is priced at $4,950 which includes two developer licenses, one concurrent user server license, and one database adapter (Oracle, Sybase, or ODBC).

Additional developer licenses are priced at a special promotional offer of $749 per developer until May 30, 1997. Normal retail of Fresco developer is $1,495 per developer seat. Note: One concurrent user can serve one to 50 actual users depending on frequency and level of application usage.

Example demo applications can be viewed today on Infoscape's Website or via a Marimba Castanet channel at trans.infoscape.com:2500. Interested developers can register to download beta copies. Products may be ordered immediately. Please see Infoscape's Website for full details, www.infoscape.com

About Infoscape, Inc.

Infoscape, Inc., is a network-centric software company that provides developers with streamlined tools to create and deploy a new class of Live Database Web Applications. Founded in February 1995, Infoscape is a privately held company headquartered in San Francisco. The company has received venture financing from RedLeaf Venture Management. Infoscape, Inc. 657 Mission Street, Suite 200 San Francisco, CA 94105