Xerox is the latest of a number of technology companies to offer an open standards programming environment to all developers, not just those who are licensed to create products for it.

The company is actively pushing developers - basically, meaning anyone who can write in HTML, the simple programming language used for web pages - to come up with programs that will run on its new HTML-based web service environment, called the Extensible Interface Platform (EIP).

"The interface is open and we're encouraging development," says Rick Dastin, Xerox senior vice-president. "Our goal is to drive software development for Xerox devices by a large number of authors."

The company sees four key areas for application development: personal productivity, business applications, connectivity (how hardware and software connects up to users in an organisation), and support and communication.

Xerox will be setting up a webpage where people will be able to upload and download such applications, many of which are expected to be freebies created by individual programmers and students, not companies selling products, says Patrick Mazeau, group manager at Xerox's European research centre in Grenoble.

Dutch company X-Solutions already has one it is giving away for free - a mapping application called RouteDirect that lets people map a driving route on an MFP's internet-connected touchscreen, and produce a hard copy directly on the printer.