Newton Architecture and Toolkit to Provide Open Platform for Developers
SAN JOSE, Calif. — May 12, 1993 — The Personal Interactive Electronics (PIE) Division of Apple Computer Inc. (NASDAQ-NMS: AAPL) gave developers a preview at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference of the first developer tools for the Newton product family. The Newton Toolkit will provide graphical layout capabilities, utilize the NewtonScript programming language and built-in Newton components, and support content, application development and authoring tools. These tools will provide developers with a powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use solution for the creation of new kinds of applications for an emerging class of devices. This announcement follows the broad licensing of Newton technology to a number of major corporations to establish Newton technology as a worldwide standard.
The family of Newton products address the convergence of the computer, communications, publishing, and consumer electronics industries around digital technologies. The Newton Architecture and Toolkit are designed to provide developers with an entirely new development platform to build innovative applications for a broad new marketplace.
The Newton Toolkit is intended to be a complete solution for Newton application development. Commercial, corporate and content developers can use the Newton Toolkit to create new kinds of applications and further establish Newton as a leading personal digital assistant (PDA) platform.
The PIE division of Apple is anticipating widespread use of the Newton Toolkit, and believes that new applications focused on specific tasks for PDAs will both broaden and complement products from the existing base of developers for Windows and Apple Macintosh personal computers. NewtonScript, the programming language for Newton-based products, is an object-oriented dynamic language (OODL) that provides developers with an interactive and rapid development cycle. As an OODL, NewtonScript enables developers to program functionality as a series of objects, utilizing built-in objects, creating new objects and reusing all of the components.
"We are very excited about today's announcement, because these tools will enable Newton developers to bring a new category of applications to market," said Gaston Bastiaens, vice president and general manager of PIE. "By broadly licensing Newton technology, we are beginning to create a standard and establish a new installed base of customers for these new applications. Newton is an open platform and we are planning to provide a wide range of tools running on both Windows and Macintosh personal computers for third-party, corporate, and content developers."
The Newton Toolkit is planned to include the following:
— Graphical layout tools: Drawing tools for user-interface construction.
— NewtonScript programming tools: Tools for editing, compiling, and debugging NewtonScript programs.
— Newton Components: A powerful set of reusable application objects.
— Content and authoring tools: Tools for adding navigation and intelligence to textual and graphical content.
The Newton Toolkit pricing and availability will be announced at a later date.
Headquartered in Cupertino, Apple Computer Inc. develops, manufactures and markets computer systems for use in business, education, the home, science, engineering, and government. A recognized pioneer and innovator in the personal computer industry, Apple does business in more than 120 countries. Apple's Macintosh computers and LaserWriter printers were ranked highest in user satisfaction among business users in recent studies by J.D. Power and Associates.
NOTE: Apple, the Apple logo, and Macintosh are registered trademarks. Newton and NewtonScript are trademarks of Apple Computer Inc.
CONTACT:
Tricia Chan of Apple Computer, 408-974-3886