Oracle next month will pledge to support JavaSoft's Java Shopping Cart in its Project Apollo electronic-commerce platform. The initiative will come as part of a larger e-commerce announcement.

Java Shopping Cart -- part of JavaSoft's Java Commerce Toolkit -- is an applet for online merchants to store buyers' purchases as they surf commerce- enabled Web sites. The applet also totals the bill of the products and sends the information to a merchant server to complete the transaction.

Oracle's Project Apollo Internet Merchant Server, which is a cartridge for Web Server 3.0 and the linchpin in Oracle's e-commerce strategy, will support the Shopping Cart applet and provide developers with back-end servers and databases to which they can link their e-commerce applications. Shopping Cart also fits in with Oracle's thin-client network computer and smart-card plans.

Although Java is a stretch for e-commerce applications in the short term, Java Shopping Cart and Java Wallet could provide a compelling online shopping experience.

"A trusted-source service that could be called and used to dynamically assemble a user's identity and wallet fits better with the whole need for portability," said Stan Dolberg, an analyst at Forrester Research, in Cambridge, Mass. "If you buy something from a Java station at an airport, for example, you would want to download your wallet from a trusted site or use a smart card to do it."

Java Wallet, a key element of the Java Commerce Toolkit currently in beta testing, manages a user's credit cards, electronic cash, digital certificates, and other payment information. Oracle declined to comment, but sources said Java Wallet will also be part of Oracle's announcement.

Some analysts said JavaSoft's biggest chore will be getting its commerce software onto users' desktops.

"What other distribution plans does JavaSoft have, and how does it get on the desktop -- which Microsoft and Netscape pretty much control?" asked Chris Stevens, an analyst at the Aberdeen Group, in Boston.

"Java implementations make sense long term, but it's an issue of timing," Stevens said.

Group plugs NC standards

An alliance of companies promoting network computers, led by Oracle subsidiary Network Computer Inc., announced last week a standard designed to create interoperability among various smart cards and network computers that are expected to hit the market this year.

If the standard is adopted, users will be able to "roam" and access network resources securely via smart cards and network computers, much like they use debit and credit cards today in automated teller machines.

Other companies that were involved in the alliance announcement included IBM, Sun Microsystems, and Netscape.

Source: InfoWorld