System-Linking Software Effort Gains Backers

SAN FRANCISCO —  Kaleida Labs, an Apple-IBM joint venture that seeks to develop software standards for “multimedia” computers, announced Monday that Japan’s Hitachi Ltd. and Mitsubishi Electric and Singapore’s Creative Technology have agreed to support its software.

Kaleida has spent much of the last year rounding up backing for its Script X software, designed to make it possible to create multimedia programs that can be played back on otherwise incompatible computers and consumer electronics devices.

Apple and IBM have pledged to support Script X in their products, and Toshiba Corp. last year said that a hand-held multimedia player it is building with Apple would support the software. So far, six hardware companies and a number of software firms have signed up to support Script X.

But Kaleida so far has been unable to secure commitments from big consumer electronics firms such as Sony, Matsushita, Nintendo and Sega. Each has its own strategy for multimedia that doesn’t necessarily include software from an Apple/IBM venture.