mCOM is born.

I made a brief announcement at FlashForward NYC, and on the GLIC beta list to let people know that the contracts are finally signed, and we have partnered with Metaliq to distribute and support GLIC. This has resulted in the component set being rechristened "mCOM" (Metaliq COMponents). Personally, I like GLIC (gskinner lightweight interface components) better, but I'm pretty biased *grin*.

The main reason for this decision was to provide a better experience for our users, and allow gskinner.com to remain focused on what we do best: developing innovative solutions in Flash. I did not want us to become a full time sales and support company for GLIC, nor did I want users to recieve substandard support when we are busy with projects. Metaliq is able to offer a superior level of pre/post-sales support, allowing us to maintain our focus on delivering cutting edge projects, continued development on mCOM, and working on other internal projects (gModeler2, gProject, etc).

Here is the official announcement from Metaliq:

Metaliq, a San Francisco based application development firm, is pleased to announce the purchase of the technology known as GLIC from gskinner.com. This technology is in the process of being prepared for a public release as the Metaliq Components (mCOM). While these components have been used in several projects to date, they have not yet been packaged in any form for distribution, or tested for wide spread application use. There is presently a Beta program in which we will release initial versions of the components for testing.

The Beta program will be available to a limited number of skilled Flash developers, to validate the final feature set and component stability. Participants of the Beta program will receive builds of the components for non-commercial use and development. Those interested in doing commercial development, and involved in the Beta program, will receive pre-release versions of the components at reduced cost on a per project basis.

At the conclusion of the Beta cycle components will be made available for purchase on-line. The components will be offered in two primary forms, a developer version targeted at specific projects, and in an enterprise form inclusive of support and targeted towards a customized set of applications.

Additional information about the components and features are available in the Product Overview at: www.metaliq.com/mCOM/

We look forward to the full release of these components to the Flash community, and our continued involvement with gskinner.com and component development. If you are interested in the Beta program or components please contact mCOM@metaliq.com

Beau Ambur
CEO/Founder
Metaliq, Inc.

All told, I am very happy with this deal. I certainly wish it had come together a little faster - I know a lot of people (including me and the good folk at Metaliq) are quite frustrated by all of the delays - but I think the end result will be worth it. It's one thing to develop a component set, it's quite another to effectively market, distribute and support it.