Curl Inc. recently introduced Version 5 of its next-generation Rich Internet Application platform for making Web applications as sophisticated and scalable as their client/server counterparts. The application launch coincides with Curl’s re-entry into the North American market, which the MIT-spawned company left when it was purchased by Japanese-owned Sumisho Computer Systems in 2002. The acquisition focused the company on the Asian market.

Curl’s technology includes a language, runtime environment and design tools for building a Web 2.0 application with a client-side, Java Script-powered engine. The engine enables Web applications to run directly on the client (even when not connected to the Internet), significantly reduces server workload and, conversely, increases availability of network bandwidth. The Curl platform also enables Web applications to offer highly interactive features, such as asynchronous page updates, complex dashboards, and data reports that are beyond the capability of an HTML-based Web browser, according to Richard Treadway, Curl’s vice president of product strategy.

Companies have converted from client/server to the Web because the cost of maintaining and upgrading client/server applications is high and can limit business expansion, Treadway says. Yet mission-critical applications accessible by Web browsers typically are watered-down versions of their client/server cousins and can’t match the latter in functionality, power, simplicity, or user interface, he says.

Initially, developers turned to AJAX (Asynchronous Java and XML), a set of tools for creating a client-side engine and communicating in XML, to create richer interactivity and functionality. However, AJAX itself is not a product but rather a collection of tools and processes, which increases complexity for developers.

Curl aims to solve that problem by providing a complete, integrated platform for upgrading existing Web applications to the next level. Curl’s platform also can be used for building entirely new Web applications with Web 2.0 functionality from the get-go.

Here’s how it works, says Treadway: The Curl client-side engine calls a compacted application from the server, caches it on the client and no longer needs to interact with the server except to retrieve additional bits of information needed for a new presentation. Therefore, the Web application can continue to run offline and automatically syncs data when it returns to online operation.

“Curl has the zippiness and power of a local install but the lower TCO (total cost of ownership) of the Web,” Treadway says. “Instead of sending HTML pages, it’s sending a file.”

The new version has beefed up the user interface with new controls, improved the visual layout editor with expanded drag-and-drop functions, and boosted the IDE with a performance profiler, a Web traffic monitor, and direct integration with source code controls.

Customers include Paisley, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Tokyo Bank and Nippon Sheet Glass.

Curl’s competitors include AJAX Technology, Adobe Flex, Apollo and Microsoft’s Silverlight.

Pricing is $12,000 for a server with 20 users. Alternatively, businesses can opt for a software service model and pay $12,000 for the server and $20 per user per year.

For more information, go to: www.curl.com