Breaking a conspicuous silence, Oracle (ORCL) will on May 19 unveil Project
Apollo, its electronic commerce software for companies that want to reach
consumers through the Web.

Although Oracle will confirm few details of its merchant server, it has posted
a detailed Project Apollo white paper on its Web site. No pricing is detailed,
however.

Apollo, which went into beta testing in December, supports secure payments with
micropayments for low-dollar sum purchases, electronic checks, and credit cards
with the Secure Electronic Transaction protocol to be published May 31.

The largely Java-based e-commerce application is a cartridge that plugs into
Oracle’s Web Applications Server 3.0, its Oracle7-powered Universal Server, and
its network computing architecture.

Originally announced October 15 for release by March, Project Apollo is not
only late but comes during a period of rapid change in the e-commerce software
market.

Microsoft last week announced it would ship a new version of its merchant
software this fall for $5,000, a huge cut from $18,490 for its first version.
The software giant is emphasizing new business-to-business features in
forthcoming Commerce Server 2.0.

Open Market, an e-commerce pioneer, is likewise stressing the interbusiness
space and Web hosting companies, while Connect, hit by a bad first quarter, is
stressing packaged applications rather than highly customized e-commerce
solutions. BroadVision continues to market its personalization software for
e-commerce.

Meanwhile, a host of smaller players like iCat, Vision Factory, Intershop, and
SpaceWorks, and InterWorld Technology are targeting smaller niches in online
catalogs, order management, Web storefronts, and online software distribution.

Oracle, by contrast, bills Project Apollo as a scalable, end-to-end solution
that features the following:

# Integration through open APIs (application programming interfaces) with
third-party cartridges for order entry, inventory, tax calculations, payments,
and shipping.

# On-the-fly generation of Web pages to individual shoppers by tracking prior
activity and stated preferences.

# Easy configuration using wizards and customizable templates to create Web
storefronts in multiple international languages.

# Search features based on Oracle’s ConText software, a shopping cart for
shoppers to store purchases as they move through a Web storefront, and a secure
in-store “wallet” for shoppers to store coupons, receipts, and credit card data.

Oracle’s partners for Project Apollo include sales tax software firm Taxware,
firewall vendor Trusted Information Systems, digital ID vendor VeriSign, secure
software container firm Portland Software, and payment firms CyberCash,
VeriFone, and First Data Merchant Services.