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Microsoft Corp.

Xerox Licenses WebForager Technology to Microsoft

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Palo Alto, California - Xerox Corporation has licensed to Microsoft Corporation its innovative WebForager technology, which allows users to navigate the World Wide Web with ease. This technology enables users to create WebBooks, which can be manipulated as if they were physical books, providing a new dimension to web browsing. According to Dan Ling, director of Microsoft Research, this technology has the potential to significantly influence the future of graphical user interfaces, as it combines with Microsoft's existing 3D user interface research.

Key Takeaways:

  • Xerox has licensed its WebForager technology to Microsoft, enabling users to create and manipulate WebBooks with ease.
  • WebForager was developed by researchers at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) and allows users to navigate the web in a 3D workspace.
  • Microsoft plans to use WebForager in combination with its existing 3D user interface research, including the Data Mountain, which helps users remember document locations.
  • Xerox Chief Scientist John Seely Brown stated that WebForager represents a radical example of research emerging from PARC, which honors the human preference for dealing with documents and sharing information through a simple and intuitive interface.
  • Xerox is developing a strong patent position with respect to WebForager and plans to aggressively license these patents to companies interested in building and selling their own interfaces.
  • The agreement between Xerox and Microsoft is a result of Xerox's efforts to leverage its $1.7 billion annual investment in research and technology to deliver new products, spawn entrepreneurial spin-off companies, and license patents to other companies.

Statistics:

  • $1.7 billion: Xerox's annual investment in research and technology.
  • 20+ years: The amount of time since the original icon-based graphical user interface was developed at PARC.

Sources:

  • "Xerox Corporation Licenses Web Navigator Technology to Microsoft Corporation", Business Wire, May 18, 1999.
  • "Xerox Corporation", Xerox Corporation website, http://www.xerox.com (note: this source is not explicitly stated in the original text, but it is implied as a source of additional information).

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