Just after announcing plans to devise a standard mechanism for bringing Web-based content and applications closer to the client, Net acceleration specialist Akamai added an application delivery system to its portfolio. And -- guess what -- it's based on Akamai's newly-proposed standard, Internet Content Adaptation Protocol (IDAP). The system, called EdgeAdvantage, runs applications on Akamai FreeFlow caching servers, which interoperate to distribute content data between each server in order to get the data as close to the browser as possible. Akamai senior product manager Kieran Taylor said EdgeAdvantage applications include e-commerce transaction processing, virus scanning, customised ad delivery and profiling. Akamai's system also tailors the delivery of each application's services to the abilities of specific devices like PDAs, PCs and so on. The company said there are over 1700 FreeFlow servers currently operating on 100 networks in 30 countries around the world -- many more than even the biggest content providers currently have installed, which is why Akamai has attracted customers like Apple and Microsoft to deliver not only content but software updates and the like. EdgeAdvantage is set to be launched during the first half of next year. ®