Microsoft heralds Web services for devices

Microsoft is leading a group of vendors proposing a specification intended to extend Web services to devices.
An official at rival Sun Microsystems, however, blasted Microsoft for what Sun believes is another attempt to foist a Web services standard on the rest of the industry.

Along with BEA Systems, Canon, and Intel, Microsoft on Tuesday is proposing WS-Discovery, which purports to bring the benefits of Web services to devices by enabling discovery of services, such as a laptop finding a local printer. WS-Discovery, which is being unveiled at the Intel Developer Forum event in San Francisco, describes a way for devices to find and connect to Web services in a simple, lightweight way, according to Microsoft.

Publication of the specification is an effort to expand the existing Web services architecture to computing and peripheral devices not typically reachable through Web services, such as PDAs, computer peripherals, computing appliances, and consumer electronics.

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