Sybase iAnywhere Announces SDK Support for Latest Bluetooth Wireless Specification

Sybase iAnywhere today announced the availability of its Blue SDK 3.0, the latest version of the company’s leading embedded Bluetooth® software development kit. The new SDK provides support for the Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR specification enabling the use of the newest radio devices from companies such as Atheros Communications, Broadcom Corporation, CSR, Marvell, Qualcomm, STMicroelectronics, and Texas Instruments. The new Bluetooth wireless specification enables more secure communications and improves the ease of which Bluetooth wireless enabled devices can bond a connection.

The Sybase® iAnywhere® Blue SDK version 3.0 consists of the core protocol stack plus application level profiles that make Bluetooth wireless communications possible. All software is compliant with the Bluetooth Special Interest Group’s (SIG) specifications, ensuring device manufacturers that their products will adhere to industry standards.

“The Bluetooth SIG appreciates the contributions, commitment and dedication of Sybase iAnywhere within the Bluetooth community,” said Mike Foley, Executive Director, Bluetooth SIG. “Sybase iAnywhere contributions to the Bluetooth Core Specification v2.1 + EDR have supported the creation of user friendly and market needed improvements.”

“As a provider of embedded Bluetooth software since 2000, we are proud we can build support for the latest standards into our rock solid core protocol stack implementation,” said Mark Willnerd, vice president, Sybase iAnywhere. “We see this continuing the momentum around our Sybase Unwired strategy as Bluetooth implementations are now found everywhere, from mobile cell phones to stereo headsets to medical devices and automobiles.”

The Sybase iAnywhere Blue SDK version 3.0 software enhancements include features outlined in the Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR specification including:

• Security Mode 4 (Secure Simple Pairing): addresses both enhanced security and ease-of-use when pairing Bluetooth devices.


• Sniff Sub-rating: enhancements to the Bluetooth sniff mode resulting in the optimization of battery power.


• Link Supervision Timeout Changed Event: improves the reliability of piconets (an ad-hoc computer network of Bluetooth devices) in larger networks.


• Encryption Pause/Resume: introduction of a pause and resume command, whereby the encrypted link can be temporarily suspended to allow operations such as a master – slave switch to occur, followed by the re-establishment of the encrypted link.


• Erroneous Data Reporting: improves application performance by allowing erroneous audio packets to be tagged and passed to the upper application layers instead of being discarded.


• Extended Inquiry Response: addresses the need for a faster connect time between devices. It accomplishes this by incorporating into the inquiry process additional information such as local device name, profiles supported and additional manufacturer’s information.


• Non-Flushable Packet Boundary Flag: provides improvements for streaming stereo audio applications while protecting the data of other applications.

Additional Quality of Service (QOS) improvements are included in the Sybase iAnywhere Blue SDK version 3.0 and all the profiles currently provided with Blue SDK version 2.x are compatible with version 3.0 as well. Example profiles include Hands Free, Audio/Video, File Transfer, Basic Printing and others.

With over ten years experience working with wireless connectivity and synchronization protocols and hundreds of product design wins, Sybase iAnywhere has become a world-leading provider of Bluetooth protocol stack and application profile technology. Its large base of OEMs ensures the highest quality code written to specification, with industry proven reliability, functionality, and portability. Credentials include:

• Participation in the Bluetooth SIG on several levels


• Member of the Core Specification Working Group


• Section owner for many OBEX based profiles such as OPP, OPUSH, and FTP


• Participation in the Automotive Working Groups


• Participation in the AV Working Group

Availability
Version 3.0 of the Sybase iAnywhere Blue SDK is now available. Support for the Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR specification will follow for the Blue SDK for Linux and the Blue SDK for Windows CE products. A technical Webcast will be hosted on February 19th to provide the details of the enhanced features available in the Sybase iAnywhere Blue SDK version 3.0. Please visit www.sybase.com/blue_sdk_webcast to sign up or receive more information.

About Sybase iAnywhere Mobile Device Solutions
Sybase iAnywhere's software development kits (SDKs) for Bluetooth and IrDA wireless technology, OMA protocols (Data Sync and Device Management), and mobile device to PC synchronization software help manufacturers rapidly integrate this functionality into a wide range of mobile devices. Sybase iAnywhere has more than ten years of experience working in wireless networking protocols and hundreds of design wins representing tens of millions of enabled products in the market.

About Sybase iAnywhere
Sybase iAnywhere enables success at the front lines of business. The company holds worldwide market leadership positions in mobile and embedded databases, mobile management and security, mobile middleware and synchronization, and Bluetooth® and infrared protocol technologies. Tens of millions of mobile devices and over 20,000 customers and partners rely on the company’s “Always Available” technologies, including SQL Anywhere and its Information Anywhere suite. iAnywhere is a subsidiary of Sybase, Inc. (NYSE:SY).

Oracle to Acquire BEA Systems

Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) and BEA Systems (NASDAQ: BEAS) announced today they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Oracle will acquire all outstanding shares of BEA for $19.375 per share in cash. The offer is valued at approximately $8.5 billion, or $7.2 billion net of BEA's cash on hand of $1.3 billion. "We expect this deal to be accretive to Oracle's earnings by at least 1-2 cents on a non-GAAP basis in its first full year after closing," said Oracle President and Chief Financial Officer Safra Catz.

"The addition of BEA products and technology will significantly enhance and extend Oracle's Fusion middleware software suite," said Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. "Oracle Fusion middleware has an open "hot-pluggable" architecture that allows customers the option of coupling BEA's WebLogic Java Server to virtually all the components of the Fusion software suite. That's just one example of how customers can choose among Oracle and BEA middleware products, knowing that those products will gracefully interoperate and be supported for years to come."

"Over the past several months our Board of Directors, with the assistance of independent financial and legal advisors, has reviewed various ways to maximize stockholder value, including engaging in discussions with third parties about a possible sale of the company," said Alfred Chuang, BEA's Chairman and CEO. "This transaction is the culmination of that diligent and thoughtful process, and we believe it is in the best interests of our shareholders. I am confident our innovative products, talented employees and worldwide customer base will be key contributors to the success of the combined company over the long term. We look forward to working with Oracle toward a successful completion of the transaction."

"BEA is a pioneer in middleware, and this combination recognizes the innovation and customer success the company has achieved. Our joint customers have consistently suggested this deal for more than three years," said Oracle President Charles Phillips. "This transaction will accelerate the adoption of Java-based middleware technologies and SOA; advance innovation in enterprise applications infrastructure software; extend our strategic relationships with customers and partners; and increase our penetration in key regions like China."

The Board of Directors of BEA Systems has unanimously approved the transaction. It is anticipated to close by mid-2008, subject to BEA stockholder approval, certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

There will be a conference call to discuss the transaction at 6:00 a.m. PT today. Investors can listen to the conference call by dialing 719-325-4780. A replay will be available for 24 hours after the call ends at 719-457-0820, passcode: 3644405. A live audio webcast of the call will be made available at www.oracle.com/investor and a replay will be available for seven days after the call ends.

About Oracle
Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle, please visit our Web site at http://www.oracle.com.

About BEA
BEA Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: BEAS) is a world leader in enterprise infrastructure software. Information about how BEA helps customers build a Liquid Enterprise(tm) that transforms their business can be found at bea.com.

New Release of BEA AquaLogic BPM Designed To Help Drive Better Business Decisions And Give IT More Power

BEA Systems, Inc. a world leader in enterprise infrastructure software, today announced the general availability of BEA AquaLogic® BPM 6.0, a market-leading software suite designed to integrate the modeling, execution and monitoring of end-to-end business processes to support real-time process optimization. The new release of BEA AquaLogic® BPM 6.0 introduces improved ad-hoc collaboration and business intelligence capabilities that can help business participants share knowledge, coordinate business activities more effectively, and conduct real-time process simulations to help optimize process outcomes. It is also designed to provide IT and developers a more powerful process application platform by offering one of the most comprehensive supports for industry standards, including Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), XML Process Definition Language (XPDL 2.0) and the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL 2.0). For developers, BEA AquaLogic® BPM 6.0 introduces a new Eclipse-based development environment and maintains its industry-leading role in extensibility to Java, .NET and emerging development languages and frameworks.

“Companies that have been successfully using business process management at the project or division level are now asking for a process platform that is designed to grow with their business needs to support thousands of complex, multinational, and often mission-critical processes. Businesses cannot take a chance on an unproven, departmental product,” said Shane Pearson, vice president of marketing and product management for BEA Systems. “IT needs a product that can scale and business users need clear and intuitive tools and this major release of BEA AquaLogic® BPM offers both in a single, unified solution.”

"We started with BPM at the tactical level to address a few processes that were slow, manual and time consuming," said Peter Haas, director of technology at the Supreme Court of Louisiana. "But with the rapid success we've seen using BEA's collaborative BPM, we're growing our process improvements to the strategic level, tackling mission-critical items that affect the overall success of the Court."

More Business Value, More Power for IT

The “B” in BPM stands for business, yet many business process management solutions underserve the diverse and nuanced needs of business users. Early business process management projects focused on well understood business processes, like employee on-boarding or order automation. Today, companies are pursuing strategic adoption of BPM, using business process management software to optimize highly complex processes, like distributed healthcare claims processing or financial trading settlement. These strategic processes involve complex decision-making and exception-handling, where the most ideal outcome is dependent on the assembly of diverse information from multiple systems and the effective collaboration between process participants.

BEA AquaLogic® BPM 6.0 is designed to help companies evolve their use of BPM from simply optimizing the business to transforming the business. This new release delivers one of the most comprehensive support for user, system or event-initiated business processes with an expanded set of capabilities focused on the BPM business-user experience. These include:

• Smarter processes with decision activities – Many processes involve decision points where business guidelines are in place, but where the final decision must be carefully considered by a human. BEA AquaLogic® BPM 6.0 is designed to help organizations learn from past decisions by capturing actions, offering inline quantitative data based on past decisions history, and allowing advanced simulation testing, yielding more effective participant decisions or activity automation;


• Process participation through business users’ tool of choice – An updated user experience framework within BEA AquaLogic® BPM 6.0 called WorkSpace Extensions is designed to provide support for a variety of end-user experiences, helping participants engage in process activities through their tool of choice, including enterprise portals, stand-alone process workspaces, email clients and RSS readers.


• Define and change business rules with ease – Any well-mapped process contains a number of implicit or explicit business rules about how processes should run. BEA AquaLogic® BPM 6.0 is designed to let users easily define business rules through web-based tools and allows them to change rules on-the-fly.


• Industry-leading service orchestration and integration – BEA AquaLogic® BPM 6.0 is designed to allow business processes to be easily registered as services with any standards compliant Enterprise Service Bus or Service Registry. In addition, BEA AquaLogic® BPM 6.0 features pre-built integration with BEA AquaLogic® Service Bus and BEA AquaLogic® Service Registry to optimize and automate the end-to-end management and governance of process services.

All in One

While many BPM suites are optimized for a single audience – either IT or business users - BEA is a leading company with a proven solution that is designed to fully support both groups in their collaborative quest for process excellence. BEA AquaLogic® BPM 6.0 moves beyond the limits of traditional human workflow or system-to system process technology by bridging the two into a single, unified, enterprise-class BPM suite built to support the complex, collaborative processes of today's heterogeneous enterprise.

BEA AquaLogic® Business Process Management 6.0 is now generally available and downloadable at: http://commerce.bea.com/products/aqualogic/bpm/albpm.jsp.
For more information, please join a Web seminar titled “Collaborative BPM - Bridging Business and IT” on July 31, 2007 at 11:00 a.m. PST. To register, please visit http://www.bea.com/framework.jsp?CNT=bea_albpm_31jul2007.htm&FP=/content/news_events/events. For additional information, please visit http://www.bea.com/bpm.

About BEA
BEA Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: BEAS) is a world leader in enterprise infrastructure software. Information about how BEA is enabling customers to transform their business by building a Liquid Enterprise(TM) can be found at bea.com.

BEAS: BEA Systems and BroadSoft Form Strategic Alliance To Deliver Innovative, Next Generation Telecom Services

BEA Systems, Inc., a world leader in enterprise and communications infrastructure software, and BroadSoft, Inc., a leading provider of VoIP application software, today announced a broad-ranging strategic alliance. This alliance includes joint development, sales, and marketing of solutions that will integrate the BroadSoft® BroadWorks® suite of VoIP applications with the BEA WebLogic® Communications Platform product family.

The BEA-BroadSoft partnership is a multi-year, multi-phased strategic alliance. Under the alliance, the two companies are conducting joint sales and marketing efforts, and BroadSoft has already begun to integrate and port the BroadWorks software platform with BEA WebLogic® SIP Server.

BEA and BroadSoft are teaming up to provide service providers the ability to offer industry-leading applications over an innovative, standards-based platform. The combination of BroadWorks software and BEA WebLogic SIP Server—a converged Java EE-SIP-IMS application server—will enable service providers to deploy revenue-generating services with a rich set of VoIP capabilities. It will also be designed to provide a flexible and extensible architecture that will work in an all-IP and IMS environment in the future.

“This alliance brings together two industry-leading telecom application platforms, which will allow service providers to deliver BroadWorks-based fixed and mobile VoIP services with IMS enablers and capabilities that can be hosted on BEA WebLogic SIP Server,” said Ken Rokoff, vice president of business development at BroadSoft. “Until today, no VoIP application platform in the market has integrated with a converged Java EE-SIP-IMS application server. This unique offering can help drive new service revenues for service providers.”

“Service providers are demanding VoIP solutions that can shorten time-to-market for enhanced communication services over NGN and IMS architectures,” said Mike McHugh, vice president and general manager, BEA WebLogic Communications Platform, BEA Systems. “By bringing the BroadSoft BroadWorks solution together with the BEA WebLogic Communications Platform product family, BEA and BroadSoft will provide a feature-rich set of VoIP service enablers designed to help operators implement new revenue-generating services more rapidly and more cost-effectively.”

For more information about BEA WebLogic SIP Server, and the BEA WebLogic Communications Platform, please visit http://www.bea.com/sip and http://www.bea.com/wlcom, respectively.

The BEA WebLogic Communications Platform product family, including BEA WebLogic SIP Server, is a key component of the BEA SOA 360 platform. Announced in September at BEAWorld 2006 in San Francisco, the BEA SOA 360 platform is designed to deliver the industry’s most unified SOA platform and spans all three of BEA’s product families, AquaLogic®, WebLogic®, Tuxedo and the company’s newly unveiled SOA collaborative tooling environment, BEA Workspace 360.

BroadSoft’s IMS-compliant BroadWorks platform provides a comprehensive range of VoIP applications, including hosted PBX, IP Centrex, mobile PBX, business trunking and residential broadband services fully integrated into a single VoIP application platform. BroadWorks provides these applications with the reliability, redundancy, scalability and regulatory capabilities required to deliver carrier-class service.