Spyglass, Inc
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Spyglass, Inc. was an Internet software company. It was founded in 1990, in
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,
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, as an offshoot of the
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, and later moved to
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. Spyglass was created to commercialize and support technologies from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). It focused on data visualization tools, such as graphing packages and 3D rendering engines. Spyglass became well known for its version of the
Mosaic web browser NCSA Mosaic is a discontinued web browser. It was instrumental in popularizing the World Wide Web and the general Internet during the 1990s by integrating multimedia such as text and graphics. Although not the first web browser (preceded by Wor ...
. The company was acquired by OpenTV in 2000, now part of
Kudelski Group Kudelski SA is a Swiss company that sells digital television access and management systems, content protection solutions, cybersecurity solutions, Internet of Things products and public access infrastructure. The company is headquartered in Chesea ...
, in a $2.5 billion stock swap.


Mosaic

In May 1994, Spyglass licensed NCSA's Mosaic browser for several million dollars, with the intent to develop their own Web browser. However, NCSA's development effort had resulted in different features, user interfaces, and codebases for each of its major platforms:
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,
Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
, and
classic Mac OS Mac OS (originally System Software; retronym: Classic Mac OS) is the series of operating systems developed for the Mac (computer), Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and end ...
. Spyglass therefore created its own Mosaic codebase in which most source code and all features were shared between platforms. Spyglass offered a 30-day trial version for download, but did not actually sell the product to end-users. Instead, it licensed the code to re-sellers that delivered either an unmodified Spyglass Mosaic (e.g., O'Reilly and Associates) or a browser based on the Spyglass codebase (as
CompuServe CompuServe, Inc. (CompuServe Information Service, Inc., also known by its initialism CIS or later CSi) was an American Internet company that provided the first major commercial online service provider, online service. It opened in 1969 as a times ...
,
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
and Ipswitch) did. Among the browsers produced under license using Spyglass Mosaic's codebase was
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
's
Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated as IE or MSIE) is a deprecation, retired series of graphical user interface, graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft that were u ...
. In addition to the major desktop platforms, Spyglass ported Mosaic to other systems including
Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...
for the
SharkWire Online SharkWire Online is a specialized GameShark device with a serial port and modem added, accompanied by a now-defunct dialup Internet portal service. Launched in January 2000, it was sold only in the US, by InterAct which is most famous for its Gam ...
system.


Browser wars

Netscape Communications Corporation Netscape Communications Corporation (originally Mosaic Communications Corporation) was an American independent computer services company with headquarters in Mountain View, California, and then Dulles, Virginia. Its Netscape (web browser), Nets ...
, co-founded by
Marc Andreessen Marc Lowell Andreessen ( ; born July 9, 1971) is an American businessman and former software engineer. He is the co-author of Mosaic, the first widely used web browser with a graphical user interface; co-founder of Netscape; and co-founder and ...
, released its flagship
Netscape Navigator The 1990s releases of the Netscape (web browser), Netscape line referred to as Netscape Navigator were a series of now discontinued web browsers. from versions 1 to 4.08. It was the Core product, flagship product of the Netscape, Netscape Comm ...
browser in October 1994, and the company soon became the web browser industry leader. Microsoft recognized the potential of the web, and after the company lost out to
AOL AOL (formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc. The service traces its history to an online ...
for
BookLink AOL (formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc. The service traces its history to an online ...
's browser in November 1994, Microsoft reached a licensing deal with Spyglass in January 1995. Spyglass' Mosaic code became the basis for Internet Explorer, which was released as an add-on to
Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft and the first of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995. Windows 95 merged ...
in the
Microsoft Plus! Microsoft Plus! is a discontinued commercial operating system enhancement product by Microsoft. The last edition is the Plus! SuperPack, which includes an assortment of screensavers, themes, and games, as well as multimedia applications. The Mic ...
software package. Microsoft and Spyglass reached an updated agreement in 1997, following a dispute over Microsoft only paying the minimum amount required for each quarterly royalty.
Internet Explorer 6 Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) is a web browser developed by Microsoft for Windows operating systems. Released on August 24, 2001, it is the sixth, and by now discontinued, version of Internet Explorer and the successor to Internet Explorer ...
and older acknowledged Spyglass and NCSA Mosaic in the 'About' panel, but the message was removed starting with
Internet Explorer 7 Windows Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) (codenamed Rincon) is a version of Internet Explorer, a web browser for Windows. It was released by Microsoft on October 18, 2006. It was the first major update to the browser since 2001. It does not support ve ...
in 2006.


Web server technology

Spyglass created and marketed a commercially supported
web server A web server is computer software and underlying Computer hardware, hardware that accepts requests via Hypertext Transfer Protocol, HTTP (the network protocol created to distribute web content) or its secure variant HTTPS. A user agent, co ...
for
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and
Windows NT Windows NT is a Proprietary software, proprietary Graphical user interface, graphical operating system produced by Microsoft as part of its Windows product line, the first version of which, Windows NT 3.1, was released on July 27, 1993. Original ...
, variously called Spyglass Server and Server SDK. The product was announced in March 1995 and became available in July 1995. Like the
Netscape Netscape Communications Corporation (originally Mosaic Communications Corporation) was an American independent computer services company with headquarters in Mountain View, California, and then Dulles, Virginia. Its Netscape web browser was o ...
server that was already on the market, the Spyglass Server included an
application programming interface An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software Interface (computing), interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that des ...
that allowed server-side applications to run in the server's process. The two server platforms differed in their approach to security, with Spyglass using the
Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (S-HTTP) is an obsolete alternative to the HTTPS protocol for encrypting web communications carried over the Internet. It was developed by Eric Rescorla and Allan M. Schiffman at EIT in 1994 and published in 1 ...
(SHTTP), while Netscape used its own
Secure Sockets Layer Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol designed to provide communications security over a computer network, such as the Internet. The protocol is widely used in applications such as email, instant messaging, and voice over IP, ...
(SSL). Spyglass did not offer their server as a retail product, instead licensing it in volume to original equipment manufacturers, as it did with its browser. The largest licensee was
Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational computer technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Co-founded in 1977 in Santa Clara, California, by Larry Ellison, who remains executive chairman, Oracle was ...
.


Acquisition

On March 26, 2000, OpenTV revealed plans to acquire Spyglass in a $2.5 billion stock swap. OpenTV said it planned to use Spyglass' Prism server software with its own interactive TV services, and OpenTV would continue the company's expansion in the mobile browser market. The deal was finalized later that year. OpenTV, in turn, was fully acquired by the
Kudelski Group Kudelski SA is a Swiss company that sells digital television access and management systems, content protection solutions, cybersecurity solutions, Internet of Things products and public access infrastructure. The company is headquartered in Chesea ...
on March 29, 2010.


References


External links

* {{Timeline of web browsers, 1990s 1994 software Software companies established in 1990 Software companies disestablished in 2000 Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Defunct companies based in Illinois Defunct software companies of the United States Internet Explorer 2000 mergers and acquisitions