Sun plans to burnish image June 1

Sun Microsystems has begun offering some tantalizing glimpses of a campaign it plans to unveil June 1. Company representatives are cagey about the event, but the agenda seems likely to include sprucing up Sun's image, branding and marketing.

Sun only says the event dovetails with its newly revamped Web site and its "participation" effort, which includes everything from liberating the Solaris source code to making Sun President Jonathan Schwartz available Thursday for a public Web chat.

But those who like to decode Flash animation puzzles might try extracting further meaning from a teaser for the event.

The teaser prominently features a swoopy S curve. Is it Sun's new logo, or does it stand for something? Sharing? Simplicity? Sparc? Solaris? Schwartz? Sales pitch? Survival strategy? Probably not swan song, given Chief Executive Scott McNealy's dogged efforts to restore his company's financial health.

The accompanying text reads like a product brochure crossed with those inspirational posters found in the corridors of soulless cubicle farms in corporate America.

"Twenty-three years ago, we at Sun recognized that something very basic was, in its simplicity, profound. And ever since, this has guided our path to many achievements," the teaser says, boasting of help Sun provided to automobile manufacturers, the health care industry, telecommunications companies and the mobile gaming business. "On June 1, we'll tell you what this simple idea can accomplish next."