News Release: World Wide Web Consortium Issues Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.1 and Mobile SVG as W3C Candidate Recommendations

This is the announcement for the advancement of Scalable Vector 
Graphics (SVG) 1.1 and Mobile SVG as W3C Candidate Recommendations,
stating they are ready for implementation.

Web Resources for this Announcement:

This press announcement
	In English: http://www.w3.org/2002/04/svg11-pressrelease.html.en
	In French: http://www.w3.org/2002/04/svg11-pressrelease.html.fr
	In Japanese: http://www.w3.org/2002/04/svg11-pressrelease.html.ja

Testimonials from Adobe, BitFlash, Canon, Corel, CSIRO, ILOG, KDDI, 
Nokia, Openwave,  Primaci, Savage Software
	http://www.w3.org/2002/04/svg11-testimonial

SVG 1.1 Specification
	http://www.w3.org/TR/2002/CR-SVG11-20020430/

Mobile SVG Specification
	http://www.w3.org/TR/2002/CR-SVGMobile-20020430/

SVG Overview:
	http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/Overview.htm8

For more information, please contact Janet Daly at +1.617.253.5884, or
janet@w3.org.


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World Wide Web Consortium Issues Scalable Vector
Graphics (SVG) 1.1 and Mobile SVG as Candidate
Recommendations

Open Graphics Format Extends Multimedia Beyond the Desktop 
to Cellphones and Pocket Computers

Contact Americas, Australia -- 
     Janet Daly, <janet@w3.org>, +1.617.253.5884 or +1.617.253.2613 
Contact Europe -- 
     Marie-Claire Forgue, <mcf@w3.org>, +33.492.38.75.94 
Contact Asia -- 
     Saeko Takeuchi <saeko@w3.org>, +81.466.49.1170 

http://www.w3.org/ -- 30 April 2002 --The World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C) has issued Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.1 and Mobile SVG
Profiles as W3C Candidate Recommendations. Advancement of these
documents to Candidate Recommendation is a statement that the
specifications are stable, and an invitation to the Web development
community at large to make further implementations of SVG and provide
technical feedback. SVG 1.1 separates SVG capabilities into reusable
building blocks, and SVG Mobile re-combines them in a way optimized for
mobile devices.

SVG 1.1 Brings Modularization to Vector Graphics

The graphical capabilities of SVG 1.1 are the same as those of the
widely implemented SVG 1.0 , which has been a W3C Recommendation since 4
September 2001. What has changed is the way the language is defined. For
SVG 1.0, the Document Type Definition (DTD) was a single, monolithic
unit. In SVG 1.1, the DTD is divided up into smaller, more flexible
functional building blocks that can be reassembled in different ways for
different purposes. The SVG Working Group used the same proven
modularization techniques pioneered by the HTML Working Group for XHTML
modularization.

Mobile SVG Profiles bring Vector Graphics to Handheld Devices

There is an explosion of interest in handheld devices and mobile phones
which have color screens, improved processing power and can deliver
enhanced multimedia functionality. These still fall short of the
capabilities of desktop and laptop machines, but are now capable of
displaying Web standard technologies such as XHTML, SMIL and SVG. W3C
has used the SVG 1.1 building blocks to make two profiles or subsets of
full SVG; SVG Tiny, aimed at multimedia capable cellphones such as the
recently announced 3G units, and SVG Basic for handheld and 
palmtop computers.

"Cellphones allow Internet and Web access for millions of people who
don't have access to desktop machines, temporarily or otherwise," said
Dean Jackson, W3C Fellow from CSIRO. "With 3GPP already incorporating
Mobile SVG, we can look forward to more rich and useful content in third
generation cellphones."

Instead of sending text messages or canned, bitmap logos, SVG Tiny makes
it possible to send a colorful animated multimedia message. Instead of
juggling a laptop or taking a static printout to the factory floor,
construction site, hospital ward, or trading room, SVG Basic enables the
mobile professional to consult up to date, interactive, informative
graphics on a convenient pocket computer which is dynamically updated
over a wireless network connected to the XML information hub of the
enterprise.

SVG 1.1 Integrates with Open Technologies, XML components

Another way that W3C and others are making use of the modular SVG 1.1
building blocks is to combine them with building blocks from other W3C
technologies to produce more powerful, integrated solutions. Examples
include the combination of SVG and XForms to construct graphically rich,
interactive input forms, or SVG and SMIL Basic to combine vector
graphics with streaming audio and video. Today, W3C also released the
first Working Draft of an integrated XHTML, MathML and SVG specification
as an example of such integration; it forms an excellent foundation for
scientific and technical communication including text with headings,
lists and tables; mathematical equations, and interactive graphs and
diagrams.

"As with all W3C Recommendations, SVG builds on established, open W3C
technologies such as XML, CSS and DOM. SVG also has received rigorous
review for Internationalization and Web Accessibility requirements,
which results in natural integration with existing technologies. This
maximizes application power while minimizing its footprint," said Chris
Lilley, chair of the SVG Working Group and member of the W3C Technical
Architecture Group (TAG). "Adopting open, truly standards-based
solutions is already showing return on investment; the pieces fit
together in powerful, extensible and economical ways."

SVG Mobile is Ready for Implementors

Candidate Recommendation is W3C's public call for implementation, an
explicit invitation for W3C Members and the developer community at large
to review the Mobile SVG specification, build their own implementations
of Mobile SVG and create Mobile SVG content for testing. W3C also
invites the developer community to create multi-namespace SVG documents
and to create document types that include SVG as the graphical
component. This period of implementation and reporting allows the
Working Group to learn how other developers are using SVG, and where
there may be ambiguities for implementors. Public testing and
implementation contribute to more robust Mobile SVG and SVG 1.1
specifications, and to more deployment on a wider variety of
platforms.

SVG Has Broad, Continued Industry Support

The SVG Working Group has benefitted from the expertise of leading names
in the graphics and mobile communications industries, including: Adobe,
Agfa-Gevaert N.V., America Online Inc., BitFlash, Canon, Corel
Corporation, CSIRO, Eastman Kodak, Ericsson, Hewlett-Packard, ILOG S.A.,
KDDI Research Labs, Nokia, Openwave Systems Ltd, Quark, Savage Software,
Schema Software, Sharp Corporation, Sun Microsystems Inc. and ZOOMON AB.
Many have pledged product support for SVG 1.1 and Mobile SVG.

For more information on SVG, see the W3C SVG Overview.

TESTIMONIALS

Testimonials from Adobe, BitFlash, Canon, Corel, CSIRO, ILOG, KDDI, 
Nokia, Openwave,  Primaci, Savage Software

   Adobe is very pleased that the SVG 1.1 and SVG Mobile specifications
   have become W3C Candidate Recommendations. SVG Mobile will extend the
   reach of dynamic data driven graphical information onto handheld
   devices. SVG Mobile provides another target for Adobe's overall
   Network Publishing strategy and its portfolio of SVG-enabled
   products, including Adobe Illustrator® 10.0, Adobe AlterCast® 1.5, 
   Adobe GoLive® 6.0, Adobe InDesign® 2.0, and Adobe FrameMaker® 7.0.

   -- Jon Ferraiolo, Engineering Director, Adobe Systems

   BitFlash is pleased to be an active member of the W3C SVG Working
   Group. We are particularly excited to see Mobile SVG become a
   requirement for next generation (2.5 and 3G) wireless devices. By
   making the SVG Tiny profile (SVGT) a requirement for mobile
   multimedia messaging, the Third Generation Partner Program (3GPP) 
   acknowledges the vast potential of Mobile SVG in the MMS market. 
   BitFlash is honoured to have contributed to the SVGT specification 
   and is excited about the possibilities this open standard presents 
   for dynamic, visually rich mobile content and interoperability in 
   wireless applications.

   -- Frédéric Charpentier, President and Chief Technology Officer,
   BitFlash Inc.

   The module based SVG 1.1 specification represents a significant step
   forward for the adoption of vector graphics technology on a wide
   range of information appliances. Canon is very pleased by the release 
   of SVG 1.1 and SVG Mobile Profiles as W3C Candidate Recommendations. 
   We expect that SVG will bring compelling graphical content to a 
   variety of mobile devices.

   -- Yukichi Niwa, Group Executive, Canon Inc.

   We are extremely proud to be an active participant in the creation
   and design of the SVG Mobile specification. Open standards such as 
   SVG Mobile are the only suitable solution to meet the growing demand 
   for effective visual access to information, applications and services 
   -- regardless of user location or device. Our recently launched
   deepwhite initiative targets the needs of enterprise and government 
   customers with content solutions that leverage open standards such 
   as XML, SVG, and SVG Mobile.

   -- Derek Burney, president and CEO of Corel Corporation

   CSIRO is very pleased to have participated in the effective
   international collaborative effort that has now seen SVG 1.1 and 
   SVG Mobile become Candidate Recommendations of the W3C. As 
   Australia's premier research and development organisation, 
   CSIRO believes SVG will be a major force in a wide range of 
   markets, especially mobile computing, and has made a commitment 
   to the SVG community with its PocketSVG technology, a toolkit for 
   developing Mobile SVG applications.

   -- Dr Geoff Garrett, Chief Executive Officer, CSIRO Australia

   With SVG 1.1, developers can now create SVG to go, bringing the power
   of SVG graphics to handheld devices. ILOG is pleased to have been a
   part of bringing this new mobile graphics revolution into being - as
   a W3C SVG working group member, as a vendor with one of the first
   commercial products to support SVG, ILOG JViews, and finally, as an
   open source contributor with Batik, the Apache XML toolkit for SVG.

   -- Patrick Megard, Director of ILOG Visualization Product Line

   As a major Japanese cellular phone career, KDDI R&D Laboratories Inc
   has long been working on the popularization of Web services for
   mobile terminals and is currently developing various content services 
   based on SVG Mobile. As such, we are very pleased to see that now 
   SVG 1.1 become a Candidate Recommendation which, we believe, will 
   certainly facilitate further the utilization of Mobile Web services 
   or map information services and thus make SVG one of major 
   communication media for cellular phone users.

   -- Shuichi Matsumoto, Executive Director, KDDI R&D Laboratories
   Incorporated

   Nokia welcomes the advancement of Mobile SVG to W3C Candidate
   Recommendation. We believe that Mobile SVG will play a significant
   role in future mobile multimedia applications. Nokia has demonstrated
   its commitment to W3C open standards by taking the responsibility of
   the editorship for the new specification, and has strongly driven the
   adoption in 3GPP standards of the Mobile SVG profile for Multimedia
   Messaging Service (MMS) and Packet Switched Streaming (PSS). Nokia
   believes that the availability of a open and mobile-friendly standard
   for the creation of vector graphics content will play a central role
   in creating a dynamic and rich market for applications that fully
   exploit the capabilities of these exciting technologies.

   -- Janne Juhola, Senior Technology Manager, Multimedia - Nokia Mobile
   Phones, Nokia, Inc.

   Openwave is pleased to have contributed to the development of SVG
   1.1/Mobile for the benefit of the mobile industry. This standard will
   enable and improve the user experience of messaging services and
   other entertaining mobile applications, providing more revenue
   opportunities for handset manufacturers, mobile network operators, 
   and content developers.

   -- Bruce Martin, VP of Technology, Openwave Systems, Inc.

   Primaci congratulates the W3C on their excellent work with the 1.1
   candidate status for SVG. As the preferred solution for visualizing
   large datasets, especially in the life sciences arena, SVG provides
   us with a platform for visualization that maintains the scientific
   intelligence originally used to create the image. Primaci is
   committed to the future of SVG as one of the main XML components of 
   our system.

   -- Chris Boothroyd, CTO Primaci, A Life Science Company

   Savage Software is pleased to support the 1.1 Candidate
   Recommendation status for SVG. Using SVG, we have been able to 
   deliver data-driven interactive content for industries that have 
   CAD or GIS based data. As SVG gains adoption across the web and on 
   mobile devices, we look forward to continuing the development of SVG 
   as the premier solution for XML-based graphic workflows.

   -- Vince Lebow, CEO, Savage Software

   Nous sommes particulièrement fiers de participer activement à la
   création et l'élaboration de la norme SVG Mobile. Les normes
   ouvertes, à l'instar de SVG Mobile, constituent l'unique solution 
   capable de répondre à une demande croissante en termes d'accès visuel 
   effectif aux informations, applications et services et ce, 
   indépendamment de la situation géographique ou de l'équipement des 
   utilisateurs. Le récent lancement de notre nouvelle marque de 
   produits deepwhite vise à proposer aux entreprises et institutions 
   gouvernementales des solutions de contenu basées sur les normes 
   ouvertes, telles que XML, SVG et SVG Mobile.

   -- Derek Burney, PDG de Corel Corporation

   CSIRO est heureux d'avoir fait partie de l'efficace collaboration
   internationale qui a permis que SVG 1.1 et SVG Mobile deviennent des
   spécifications Candidates à Recommandation du W3C. Persuadé que SVG
   va devenir une force majeure pour un grand nombre de marchés, CSIRO, 
   la principale organisation de Recherche et Développement d'Australie,
   s'est beaucoup investi dans la communauté SVG, en particulier pour
   l'informatique nomade avec sa technologie PocketSVG, un kit pour le
   développement d'applications de SVG pour terminaux mobiles.

   -- Dr Geoff Garrett, Chief Executive Officer, CSIRO Australie


   Wir sind stolz darauf, aktiv bei der Gestaltung und dem Design der
   SVG Mobile-Spezifikationen mitzuwirken. Der Einsatz von offenen 
   Standards wie SVG Mobile ist der einzig taugliche Weg, um der 
   wachsenden Nachfrage nach effektivem visuellem Zugriff auf Daten, 
   Anwendungen und Dienstleistungen - unabhängig von Benutzerstandort 
   und Gerät - nachzukommen. Unsere erst kürzlich lancierte neue Marke 
   deepwhite orientiert sich mit ihren Content-Lösungen, die offene 
   Standards wie XML, SVG und SVG Mobile nutzen, an den Bedürfnissen 
   von Großkunden und der öffentlichen Verwaltung.

   -- Derek Burney, Präsident und CEO der Corel Corporation


About the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C]

   The W3C was created to lead the Web to its full potential by
   developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its
   interoperability. It is an international industry consortium jointly
   run by the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science (MIT LCS) in the
   USA, the National Institute for Research in Computer Science and
   Control (INRIA) in France and Keio University in Japan. Services
   provided by the Consortium include: a repository of information about
   the World Wide Web for developers and users, reference code
   implementations to embody and promote standards, and various
   prototype and sample applications to demonstrate use of new
   technology. To date, nearly 500 organizations are Members of the 
   Consortium.

Received on Tuesday, 30 April 2002 10:23:20 UTC