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Web.Builder, San Francisco, Calif., April 14, 1998 -- NetObjects, Inc. today announced the DHTML Action Development Kit (DDK), a toolkit that enables third-party developers to easily add a wide range of custom DHTML functionality to Web sites, thereby establishing NetObjects Fusion as the authoring product with the broadest support for DHTML. The DDK enables developers to create DHTML ActionSets, a collection of DHTML Actions that address a specific user need, such as adding sound or unique animation effects to NetObjects Fusion-based Web sites. DHTML ActionSets are built using JavaScript Beans, the industry-standard specification for containers.
The company also announced that Headspace, Inc., the Internet audio pioneer, has successfully used the DDK to create the Beatnik ActionSet, which allows NetObjects Fusion authors to easily add sound to Web sites.
The DDK consists of a set of open application interfaces (APIs), documentation, templates and examples of DHTML Actions. The DDK is expected to be available from NetObjects' Web site www.netobjects.com within 60 days.
NetObjects Fusion 3.0 provides the broadest industry support for DHTML at the following levels:
- Generation of cross-browser DHTML when the site is published;
- Enabling users to embed pre-prepared DHTML Actions to Web sites;
- Enabling users to customize DHTML Actions by coding JavaScript directly;
- Enabling the creation of collections of unique Actions called ActionSets.
NetObjects Fusion 3.0's multi-level DHTML interaction support derives from its unique, message-based model. Unlike linear solutions like timeline-based approaches, a message-based approach is object-oriented, allowing authors to establish complex relationships between objects on a Web page. For example, the Beatnik ActionSet leverages NetObjects Fusion 3.0's open interface to create three custom JavaScript-based menus: Beatnik Basic delivers core functionality such as the ability to play, stop or pause music; Beatnik Advanced contains 15-plus actions that deliver advanced capabilities such as transposing a file, muting, or isolating sequences; and Beatnik Informational provides links and information to the Headspace site. Headspace's director of multimedia, Paul Sebastian, attests to the benefits of NetObjects Fusion's intuitive approach.
"NetObjects Fusion's message-based model is very powerful and well-suited for the Web, where a user controls what is happening on a page," said Sebastian. "By combining the capability to add DHTML and JavaScript extensions into one product, NetObjects Fusion 3.0 makes it easy for developers like Headspace to extend NetObjects' technology. The result is that a broad range of Web authors now have easy access to advanced Beatnik functions such as interactive music and synchronized sound effects." NetObjects' move toward DHTML ActionSets follows the successful adoption of the company's NetObjects Fusion component architecture, used to create Java extensions for dynamic database access and other functions.
Demonstrations of the Beatnik ActionSet can be seen at Web.Builder, CNET's conference for Web developers, currently being held at the San Francisco Hilton, in the Netscape chalk talk area and in NetObjects' booth #9 in the Technology Pavilion. A free, beta version is immediately available from www.headspace.com
About NetObjects
NetObjects, Inc. is a privately-held company that is funded by IBM, Perseus LLC, AT&T Ventures, Norwest Venture Capital, Venrock Associates, Rae Technology LLC and private investors. NetObjects' partners include Apple Computer (NASDAQ: AAPL), AT&T (NYSE: T), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Netscape (NASDAQ: NSCP), and Sun Microsystems' Javasoft (NASDAQ: SUNW).
About the NetObjects Product Family
The NetObjects product family consists of NetObjects Fusion Personal Edition for entry-level site builders, NetObjects Fusion 3.0 for experienced site builders, NetObjects TeamFusion™ for site building teams and NetObjects ScriptBuilder™ 2.0 for scripting. All the products are the first in their class to integrate automated site building, professional quality design and publishing, thereby lowering the cost, time and tedium of building high-quality Web sites. NetObjects Fusion has won several awards including CNET's 1997 Internet Excellence Award for Best Web Design Product and PC Magazine's Editors Choice award. More information about NetObjects and its product can be found at www.netobjects.com.
For press inquiries contact:
Priti Khare,
NetObjects,
(650) 482-3251,
priti@netobjects.com
(c) 1998 NetObjects, Inc. All rights reserved. NetObjects, NetObjects Fusion, NetObjects TeamFusion, and ScriptBuilder are trademarks of NetObjects, Inc. All other brand and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
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