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Best Wide Area Wireless

Oracle In Motion Grabs Top Honors

The emerging field of wireless wide area networking invites innovation yet punishes those that leap too far in a single bound. Oracle in Motion, the new client/agent/server software from Oracle Corp., represents a perfect blend of the old and the new. Built on an architectural framework that recognizes the strengths and limitations of wireless, Oracle in Motion still manages to adhere to established standards and interfaces.
Oracle in Motion consists of a set of tools and an application development environment that can be used to extend existing client/server systems to out-of-office workers. As Oracle learned, the key to maximizing the performance of wireless is not just dealing with limited speed, but compensating for protracted latencies. By inserting an intermediate agent that mediates between the remote client and one or more central servers, Oracle in Motion unbinds the tight request-response model that can dramatically degrade throughput on any system with multiple-second latencies.
Oracle in Motion is the first product from a major software vendor to take advantage of the connectionless nature of wireless packet networks. Taking advantage of its event-driven capabilities, users can build autonomous "information push" applications such as stock price limit notifications, alongside more traditional user-initiated information retrieval. Information push applications are a key driving force for the success of wireless.
And because Oracle in Motion adheres to existing standards, this information can come from a variety of servers inside or outside the enterprise, including Oracle databases, electronic mail systems, Internet resources and even on-line information services.
Oracle in Motion's first implementation is over the Ram Mobile Data Network. Oracle intends to include Cellular Digital Packet Data, Metricom, Ardis and future wireless networks as they become available. We can't wait.

Oracle in Motion, $599, Oracle Corp., 500 Oracle Pkwy., Redwood Shores, CA 94065. (415) 506-7000; fax (415) 506-7200.

Runners-Up
Ricochet wireless data service, Metricom, 980 University Ave.,
Los Gatos, CA 95030.
(800) 556-6123; fax (408) 354-1024.

Envoy Wireless Communicator, Motorola, Wireless Data Group, 50 E. Commerce Dr., Schaumburg, IL 60173. (800) 8-WIRELESS.