Xtra, Xtra, WebXtra?

"Create your own Browser with WebXtra, and Navigate the Web from Your Director Movie!"

Tabuleiro da Baiana Multimedia in Brazil announced the release of WebXtra. As the quote at the top of today's column states, you can now create your own customized Internet browsers using WebXtra and then allow your users to navigate the Web from your Director movies. The following is a little more information on the product from the people at Tabuleiro da Baiana Multimedia.

WebXtra is a product that gives developers using Director the power to easily incorporate HTML pages into their multimedia productions. WebXtra uses Microsoft's Internet Explorer engine to parse and display Web-based pages directly in the stage window. It is also an ActiveX container, so you can also display any file type that had been registered to be handled by an ActiveX control. Examples include VRML files, PDF documents, Java applets, Shockwave movies, Word, and Excel documents. Browse the Web from your Director movie!

I only see one problem with this, and that is that it does not work for Macintosh users. Don't get me wrong, I am as cross-platform oriented as the next guy, but I also like the Shockwaves I create to work for everyone. WebXtra also isn't compatible with Netscape Navigator, which is a big minus in my book, as I have had several problems with Microsoft Internet Explorer and Shockwave. The product is available for the Windows 95 and Windows NT 4 platforms. Please note that this only works if you are using version 3.0 of Internet Explorer.

I will be getting more information as it becomes available on this product, so we may see some cool details next week. Until then, there is information on more of the features on the Macromedia site. If you would like to know more, please don't contact me directly on this one. I haven't had a chance to actually use all the features yet. However, for technical information you can contact Mauricio Piacentini at Tabuleiro da Baiana Multimedia. For all other inquiries, the following is the contact information the company has provided:
Tabuleiro da Baiana Multimedia
R. Conego Eugenio Leite, 1089
Sao Paulo - SP - BRAZIL
05414-012
Fax: 55.11.8142254
E-mail: webxtra@tbaiana.com

Check this Xtra out. It should really change the way most of you are using Shockwave in your Director movies. Until next week.

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