McObject's New Perst Embedded Database Licensing Promotes Silverlight & Windows Phone 7 Development

To spur development and leverage growing excitement around Microsoft's Silverlight technology and Windows Phone 7 (WP7) smartphone platform, McObject® has changed its licensing and distribution for the Perst™ for .NET object-oriented, open source embedded database system. The new arrangements make using Perst both more economical and more convenient in these environments.

For a limited time, Perst is available for use in commercial applications on WP7 for a one-time charge of $395 per developer, with free distribution in an application running on consumers' mobile phones. This change eliminates run-time royalties, making it easier – both financially and in terms of tracking and accounting – for companies to distribute mass-market WP7 smartphone software that embeds Perst.

In addition, McObject has temporarily lowered Perst's price to $495 for use in a commercial Silverlight application that runs on a PC. The change discounts the previous server licensing fee by 38 percent. The new pricing should win fans among designers of rich Internet applications, such as software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers, who deploy Perst in software that is accessed by client PCs (or other devices) to obtain Silverlight's out-of-browser experience, with local database storage. (McObject's Silverlight database demo provides an example of a Perst-based SaaS application.)

Perst remains an open source embedded database system that can be used freely under the terms of the GNU Public License (GPL). The open source Perst for .NET is available for free download from www.mcobject.com/perst_eval.

McObject has also simplified Perst's commercial licensing process by setting up an on-line store. Visitors to the download page can now click on a "Buy Now" link on the product download page to license Perst immediately, and pay by credit card or by other convenient means (electronic funds transfer, existing PayPal account, etc.). The secure transaction is processed by SWREG, Inc. (www.swreg.org).

The Perst Embedded Database System for Silverlight & Windows Phone 7

With Perst for .NET, developers using Silverlight can now include true database management system (DBMS) features in their rich Web client and smartphone applications, including adding persistence to this data by storing it on local file systems. Perst provides complete DBMS features, including ACID transactions, support for diverse database indexes (B-tree, R-tree, KD-tree, etc.), a flexible and easy-to-use API, garbage collection, full-text search and more.

In July 2010, McObject announced Perst for .NET had added support for Microsoft's forthcoming WP7 mobile platform, to support advanced features and complex data in line-of-business applications expected to be released on that platform.

Developers questioning whether WP7 devices' tight memory, CPU and storage constraints will permit use of a "real" embedded database can dispel their uncertainties by looking at Perst's successful track record on BlackBerry smartphones. In 2006, McObject released Perst Lite, an edition of Perst for the Java ME technology used on BlackBerry. Since then, developers have successfully integrated Perst Lite in commercial and open source software for BlackBerry devices ranging from mobile customer relationship management (CRM) clients to banking, consumer, healthcare and other vertical market solutions.

Smartphone application developers credit the off-the-shelf Perst DBMS with shaving months from their product development cycles, while enhancing products' run-time performance and reliability through features including ACID transactions, database indexes, full-text search, an intuitive application programming interface (API), support for storage on SD cards, and more.

Perst and Perst Lite are part of McObject's family of powerful small footprint, high performance embedded database software products. The eXtremeDB® in-memory database, which is written in C and includes C/C++, SQL ODBC and Java Native APIs, is used widely in devices including MP3 players, WiMAX base stations, digital TVs, telecom/network communications equipment and military/aerospace technology. Perst is available in Java and .NET editions, including Java ME and .NET Compact Framework. CA's Wily Technology credits Perst with delivering a shortened development cycle and a ten-fold performance improvement within its real-time application.

About McObject

Founded by embedded database and real-time systems experts, McObject offers proven data management technology that makes applications and devices smarter, more reliable and more cost-effective to develop and maintain. McObject counts among its customers industry leaders such BAE Systems, Siemens, Phillips, EADS, JVC, Tyco Thermal Controls, F5 Networks, CA, Motorola and Boeing. McObject, based in Issaquah, WA, is committed to providing innovative technology and first-rate services to customers and partners. The company can be reached at +1-425-888-8505, or visit www.mcobject.com.

McObject and eXtremeDB are registered trademarks of McObject LLC. All other company or product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.