Apple Computer Inc. and Allegiant Technologies Inc. announced Apple's purchase of an internal site license for Allegiant's Marionet technology, a groundbreaking toolkit for scripting custom Internet applications and hybrid multimedia titles.

The financial terms of the site license, initiated by Apple's Information Services & Technologies Group, were undisclosed.

Updated to version 1.1 in May 1996, Marionet provides scripted access to common Internet protocols from within many popular authoring and productivity tools. The software is designed to be used by those creating custom Internet or "Intranet" solutions.

Apple intends to use Marionet in conjunction with its own HyperCard and AppleScript technologies to create utilities that facilitate management and rapid updating of their Web sites and to develop custom Intranet solutions for internal use.

"We needed a strong TCP/IP tool to use in our internal Internet solutions development. Allegiant Marionet was selected because it provides us the greatest amount of flexibility and ease of use with Apple Event-aware programs. IT was the best of the tools that we reviewed," said Alan Johnson, project manager for the Internet Programs team in Apple's Information Systems & Technologies Group.

The Marionet license covers internal distribution only. A separate distribution license would be necessary should Apple create a Marionet-enabled application for redistribution to its end users. As part of the agreement, Apple will also be including a trial version of Marionet on a future Apple Developer CD so that Apple developers can experience Marionet themselves.

 

Version 1.1 of Marionet is shipping now. The 1.1 upgrade is available free to current users from Allegiant's WWW site The Marionet developer kit carries a suggested retail price of $219. The kit allows developers to build and test applications from their local computers. Distribution and Site license licenses for Marionet are available direct from Allegiant.

A Marionet trial version (30-day evaluation) along with the complete manual in Adobe Acrobat format can be downloaded here.

 

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