News For January, 2000

SoftLock.com, Inc. announced SoftLock PagePortals, thematic, customized bundles of highly respected content from leading publishers of business and financial information. This product automatically provides complete web storefronts for SoftLock Affiliates, enabling them to sell valued content. SoftLock PagePortals are available immediately, and can be instantly deployed by any organization seeking to enhance their Web site with premium content that will pay them whenever content is sold. SoftLock PagePortals are the latest eMerchandising initiative of SoftLock.com. The Company's Brand Managers' expertly craft bundles of valuable electronic documents and then place links to the SoftLock PagePortals in contextually appropriate locations throughout the Web. SoftLock Affiliates interested in more compelling content and increased revenue will benefit from the immediate ability to offer these sophisticated merchandising displays to their visitors, allowing them to browse through premium content and conduct point-of-purchase, e-commerce transactions. Visitors stay on the SoftLock Affiliate site throughout the entire process. SoftLock PagePortals are available immediately at www.market.softlock.com/sandp

IBM Submits tpaML to XML.org
1/31/2000

OASIS announced that IBM has submitted its Trading Partner Agreement Markup Language (tpaML) for standardization within the OASIS XML.ORG initiative. Developed by IBM, the tpaML specification uses XML to define and implement electronic contracts. The foundation of tpaML is the Trading Partner Agreement (TPA), which defines how trading partners will interact at the transport, document exchange and business protocol layers. A TPA contains the general contract terms and conditions, participant roles (buyers, sellers), communication and security protocols and business processes, (valid actions, sequencing rules, etc.). XML-based TPA documents capture the essential information upon which trading partners must agree in order for their applications and business processes to communicate. tpaML is a complementary technology to ebXML, the Electronic Business XML initiative, which is a joint effort of the United Nations/CEFACT and OASIS to establish a global framework for the exchange of electronic business data. Multiple software vendors and solution providers including CommerceQuest, DataChannel, Extricity, Geac/JBA, Harbinger, JDA, Infinium, Intelisys, Mincom, PeopleSoft, Sterling Commerce and Synquest have endorsed tpaML for potential use with their customers. OASIS welcomes representatives from all industries to join the consortium and help evolve tpaML as an essential component of B-2-B e-business. The tpaML specification is posted for public access on www.ibm.com/developer/xml. www.oasis-open.org

NetSanity Previews 'XML Pull' Platform
1/27/2000

NetSanity, Inc., creators of a new category of Internet software for the delivery, notification and management of web-based information, previewed their forthcoming "XML Pull" technology and announced two additional investors. NetSanity received capital investments from - Regis McKenna and Bill Melton. The software will soon exit the beta phase of testing. The company's first product, the NetSanity SmartBar, is a small (400k) application that retrieves XML-based web content directly from disparate sites, presenting it in one location on the desktop - without delivering advertisements. www.netsanity.com

BroadVision to Acquire Interleaf, the e-Content Company
1/26/2000

Interleaf, Inc. announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement providing for the acquisition of Interleaf by BroadVision. Key to the acquisition is the e-Content Company, a division of Interleaf and leader in XML-based content management tools. This separate Interleaf business unit is dedicated to the development, marketing and sale of XML-based content management tools which enable the design, creation and management of dynamic and intelligent content for web and wireless applications. The e-Content Company comprises nearly 70 percent of Interleaf's approximately 400 employees and has been the most significant area of growth and investment within Interleaf over the past two years. Under the terms of the agreement each outstanding share of Interleaf common stock will be exchanged for .3465 shares of BroadVision common stock, and all outstanding options and warrants to purchase Interleaf common stock will be assumed by BroadVision. Based on basic shares outstanding as of January 25, 2000 and both companies' closing price as of that date, the transaction represents approximately a 40 percent premium over Interleaf's current value. On a fully diluted basis, BroadVision would issue approximately 5.6 million shares of its common stock, having a value of approximately $877 million based on BroadVision's closing stock price on January 25, 2000. www.interleaf.com, www.broadvision.com

This looks like a good thing for all involved. BroadVision needed an XML story and Interleaf, even with the good job they have done in re-inventing themselves, needed a boost to compete in the bigger market of content management + e-commerce. This makes you wonder what companies are next in line for consolidation.

Microsoft Announces Support for XSLT & XPath
1/26/2000

Microsoft Corp. released a preview version of its XML parser. The XML parser delivers on Microsoft's commitment to support the W3C's latest recommendations of XSL Transformations (XSLTs) and XML Path Language (XPath) and includes new features that increase performance and efficiency. Today's preview release is available for immediate download at http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/webtechnology/xml/msxml.asp. Microsoft plans on releasing technology previews regularly to allow products and services to be updated in "Web time" and to be compliant with the latest industry standards. In addition, this vehicle will be used to introduce new features with the intent of soliciting feedback from the developer community. These releases do not replace shipping product; rather, they are technology previews that allow early adopters to build prototype applications. Microsoft plans to use the feedback received from users of these releases in the integration of new features into mainstream product cycles. Growing use of XML in business-to-business solutions means increased demands on server-side processing of XML. Microsoft continues its ongoing focus on server-side optimization with this version of the XML parser, which has resulted in performance gains of 200 percent to 300 percent in some common scenarios. In addition, developers will be able to install this preview release with their existing solutions and run their current applications as before, because it runs side by side with their existing parser, allowing developers to build new applications that take advantage of the XML services and features in the preview release. http://msdn.microsoft.com/xml/

This is no surprise but still an important sign of support. XSLT especially, has had early and very strong support from vendors.

W3C Issues XHTML 1.0 as a Recommendation
1/26/2000

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) released the XHTML 1.0 specification as a W3C Recommendation. This new specification represents cross-industry and expert community agreement on the importance of XHTML 1.0 as a bridge to the Web of the future. A W3C Recommendation indicates that a specification is stable, contributes to Web interoperability, and has been reviewed by the W3C membership who favors its adoption by the industry. HTML currently serves as the lingua franca for millions of people publishing hypertext on the Web. While that is the case today, the future of the Web is written in XML. XML is bringing the Web forward as an environment that better meets the needs of all its participants, allowing content creators to make structured data that can be easily processed and transformed to meet the varied needs of users and their devices. In designing XHTML 1.0, the W3C HTML Working Group faced a number of challenges, including one capable of making or breaking the Web: how to design the next generation language for Web documents without obsoleting what's already on the Web, and how to create a markup language that supports device-independence. The answer was to take HTML 4, and rewrite it as an XML application. The first result is XHTML 1.0. XHTML 1.0 allows authors to create Web documents that work with current HTML browsers and that may be processed by XML-enabled software as well. Authors writing XHTML use the well-known elements of HTML 4 (to mark up paragraphs, links, tables, lists, etc.), but with XML syntax, which promotes markup conformance. The benefits of XML syntax include extensibility and modularity. With HTML, authors had a fixed set of elements to use, with no variation. With XHTML 1.0, authors can mix and match known HTML 4 elements with elements from other XML languages, including those developed by W3C for multimedia (Synchronized Multimedia Language - SMIL), mathematical expressions (MathML), two dimensional vector graphics (Scalable Vector Graphics - SVG), and metadata (Resource Description Framework - RDF). W3C provides instruction and tools for making the transition from HTML 4 to XHTML 1.0. The "HTML Compatibility Guidelines" section of the XHTML 1.0 Recommendation explains how to write XHTML 1.0 that will work with nearly all current HTML browsers. W3C offers validation services for both HTML and XHTML documents. W3C's Open Source software "Tidy" helps Web authors convert ordinary HTML 4 into XHTML and clean document markup at the same time. www.w3.org/

Time will tell how much direct support this garners, but the importance is not limited to direct support. This, more than anything else, makes it clear how central XML will be to even basic web applications.

fourthchannel Extends Personalization with Content Management
1/26/2000

fourthchannel, inc., announced a new version of its e-commerce solution, now offering new content management capabilities. The solution, formerly called fourthchannel, has been renamed "profitlaunch." Along with the name change, a new Content Wizard has been added, which enables companies to personalize customer sites by adding internal and external content. The new version also includes improved customer service and marketing capabilities, making profitlaunch a complete and compelling e-commerce solution for the mid-market. profitlaunch's Content Wizard is designed to help companies improve their customers' Internet buying experience beyond providing a simple online catalog. The wizard makes it easy to add timely customer briefings or general industry information to a selling site. This new capability extends a site's value to its customers and turns it into a "community site" where people come not only to place orders, but also to check industry news, trends and other items of interest. Accessed from within profitlaunch's browser-based catalog management tool, the Content Wizard also has a customer personalization capability that enables individuals to choose content based on their unique needs. The wizard allows non-technical users to manage the content on their e-commerce sites easily adding, editing, or deleting Internet feeds and information. profitlaunch is available immediately. Pricing is based on the size and complexity of each company's catalog and type of implementation. An ASP solution is available for companies that want fourthchannel to host and manage their Internet catalogs off-site. For companies that want to run the application internally, fourthchannel also offers a licensing option. www.fourthchannel.com

FileNET Creates Web Applications Business Unit
1/25/2000

FileNET announced it has formed a new independent business unit -- Panagon eSolutions -- to develop and deliver business to business information portals and eBusiness applications targeted at the financial services and insurance industries. The Panagon eSolutions eBusiness applications are designed to link a company's employees, customers, suppliers and business partners together by creating dynamic, interactive portals that store, retrieve, manage, and exploit the vast amounts of information companies must deal with every day in conducting business over the Web. Panagon eSolutions portals make it possible to aggregate relevant information from the Web as well as from a company's repositories -- dynamically generating custom views of information for users based on their needs. Panagon eSolutions portal applications will be built upon parent company FileNET's Panagon technology family. www.filenet.com

Commerce One Announces New XML Technology for B2B
1/24/2000

Commerce One, Inc. introduced a set of new XML technology tools delivered with Commerce One's MarketSite Portal Solution 3.0. The new XML-based transaction platform enables heterogeneous systems to communicate and allows different portals to interoperate and connect to the Commerce One Global Trading Web. The comprehensive set of schema-based XML tools includes: Commerce One XML Commerce Connector (XCC), which provides all the components necessary for trading partners to integrate with Commerce One MarketSite; Schema for Object-Oriented XML (SOX), Commerce One's default XML schema language used by MarketSite to define business documents; XML Common Business Library (xCBL) 2.0, a set of XML-based building blocks and a document framework that helps developers create business documents in Microsoft's XDR schema language and Commerce One's SOX; An initial set of 11 pre-defined XML-based business documents; and an XML Development Kit Pro (XDK Pro), for building extendable, document-based e-commerce applications. Commerce One's XML technology and tools are included in MarketSite Portal Solution 3.0. In addition, xCBL and SOX may be downloaded free of charge at www.commerceone.com

eBusiness Technologies Announces WAP-Enabled E-business Applications
1/24/2000

eBusiness Technologies, a division of Inso Corporation announced that DynaBase will integrate with WAP servers to enable wireless delivery of Internet content. DynaBase's enhanced architecture will enable businesses to create and publish Web content from the same server and database that delivers content to the Internet and their intranets as well as a wide range of wireless networks and devices, such as mobile phones, pagers, two-way radios and handheld personal computers. WML-enabled DynaBase will: serve static and dynamic WML content, serve both WML and HTML from the same Web, and access extra WAP meta-data. WML-enabled DynaBase will run on both Windows NT and Sun Solaris platforms. www.ebt.com

Authentica Launches ASP Alliance with Corio, Digital Signature Trust, & Usinternetworking
1/24/2000

Authentica  announced the Authentica ASP Alliance Program. This program will further enhance the security measures already taken by ASPs. Customers demand an environment that ensures digital information is absolutely secure and that only authorized parties view, forward or print the information even after it leaves the sender's hands. PageVault allows "authors" to create Adobe PDF files that cannot be printed, copied, forwarded, or read in part or in whole by unauthorized users. Individual pages are encrypted with different encryption keys, allowing multiple levels of access within the same document. Each document is digitally signed to ensure integrity. The security features are woven through the file so that they stay with the copy of the file, making the document secure before, during and after delivery. The availability of Authentica's PageVault through ASP Alliance partners will begin in early Q1 of 2000. www.authentica.com

Denso Wireless to Integrate T9 Text Input in Sprint PCS Phone
1/24/2000

Tegic Communications, a subsidiary of America Online, Inc., and DENSO Wireless announced the companies have signed a global licensing agreement which allows DENSO Wireless to integrate Tegic Communications' T9 Text Input software into its next generation of wireless phones. The Sprint PCS Touchpoint Phone will be the first handset manufactured by DENSO Wireless to integrate T9 Text Input software. The phone, available exclusively through Sprint PCS, is slated for availability later this year. T9 Text Input makes text entry on wireless phones quick and easy, enabling wireless phone users to more easily use advanced wireless services such as Internet access and email. The Sprint PCS Touchpoint Phone provides subscribers with a simple, affordable way to enjoy the clarity of voice and data services, all within a compact, lightweight design. Among the phone's features are the ability to access the Internet, a built-in mouse that allows easy navigation through menus and functions and a large, easy-to-read 7-line LCD display. Although each key on a telephone keypad can be interpreted in multiple ways -- a single press on the "5" key could be "J," "K," or "L"-T9 Text Input uses an internal database to automatically scan possible variations to determine the correct word. For example, entering the word "call" into a mobile phone will take just four key presses with T9 Text Input rather than ten key presses required by conventional "multi-tap" text entry. T9 Text Input is available in a variety of languages including Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. T9 Text Input supports Simplified and Traditional stroke-based Chinese, as well as phonetic Pinyin and BoPoMoFo text input. Work is underway toward the completion of versions of T9 Text Input software for Eastern European and Middle Eastern languages. www.densowireless.com, www.tegic.com

Bitstream Type Now Available in Type 1 & TrueType
1/21/2000

Bitstream Inc. announced that the entire Bitstream Typeface Library is now available cross-platform. For the first time, the Bitstream library of over 1,200 fonts is available in PostScript Type 1 and TrueType formats, making it available for Macintosh and Windows. The Bitstream Typeface Library contains hundreds of Bitstream Originals and Bitstream Classics. In addition, every typeface design also includes the Euro currency symbol, designed to match each typeface. www.bitstream.com

Hummingbird Announces Availability of Portal for Linux
1/20/2000

Hummingbird Communications Ltd. announced their enterprise information portal for the Linux environment. Building on core Hummingbird technologies, the Hummingbird EIP provides a single point of access to all business-critical information and resources including structured and unstructured enterprise data. Beyond access, the Hummingbird EIP works by connecting users to content in context, enabling them to quickly process, filter, and act upon information from any enterprise source. The Hummingbird EIP uses XML as the base data and metadata exchange mechanism between the different EIP components. XML is also leveraged to communicate with applications that work in conjunction with the Hummingbird EIP. The EIP's "Theme" capability supports multiple levels of user personalization providing organizations with the ability to preserve their corporate identity while allowing knowledge workers to customize their own portal pages. Application integration services enable the EIP to provide users with a centralized, unified, and consistent environment for interactions with all applications. The Hummingbird EIP ships with interfaces to all Hummingbird products, as well as to many other applications using its innovative e-Clip plug-in architecture. Pricing and Availability: The Hummingbird EIP is available immediately. Enterprise pricing starts at US $100,000. www.hummingbird.com

R.R. Donnelley Financial Aligns with Harvard Translations
1/20/2000

R.R. Donnelley Financial has formed an alliance with Harvard Translations of Cambridge, Massachusetts to provide accurate and timely non-English composition. Harvard Translations' expertise in multilingual composition will be used in the production of the financial documents Donnelley Financial produces for its capital markets and investment company clients. Under an agreement between the companies, Harvard Translations will assemble a dedicated team, staffed by native speakers of the target languages, to serve Donnelley Financial and its clients exclusively. Harvard Translations' multilingual team will be integrated into Donnelley Financial's worldwide composition system and global network. Donnelley Financial's worldwide composition hubs will work in multiple shifts to respond quickly to client requests for rapid-turnaround composition services in any European language. www.htrans.com, www.rrdfin.com

Green Pasture Announces New Version of Document Management Software
1/20/2000

Green Pasture Software announced GPS W/EDGE 2000, a new version of its Internet-based GPS W/EDGE document management software. GPS W/EDGE features the ability to manage technical documents like CAD files created with AutoCAD or MicroStation. GPS W/EDGE also features tools that help companies track document versions and revisions efficiently. GPS designed its GPS W/EDGE 2000 software to run on top of FileNET's Panagon 2000 integrated document management system. The combined power of GPS W/EDGE 2000 and Panagon 2000 enables companies to automate the process of tracking versions and revisions and controlling rights to documents at different points in their life-cycle for many document types, including CAD files, word processing documents, spread sheets and images. www.greenpasture.com

WebWOWser Announced
1/19/2000

AlbertIQ announced the beta version of WebWOWser, which enables users to create multi-page Web sites in a matter of minutes. Users quickly and easily create and customize Web sites with their own content -- text, graphics, photos, sounds, and favorite links. Users can drag and drop content from their hard drive, from their desktop, even from other Web sites directly onto their Web site pages and publish their sites to the Web with the press of the Save button. WebWOWser eliminates the frustrating cycle of create, edit, save, ftp, check, edit, save ftp, check. The key to WebWOWser's power, speed, and ease of use is its patent-pending CSD technology, which provides tight integration of the browser and the server. Users are essentially unaware of the server, which is operating quietly and invisibly in the background. Desktop services are provided from inside the browser -- there is no special program or applet to install in order to create, edit, or manage sites. The WebWOWser Editor relies on ActiveX and COM technologies to operate and communicate with Windows resources. COM allows a user to drag, drop, copy, and paste local resources to the Editor. Dynamic HTML reflects site edits as users work in the Editor without creating HTML files or making requests to the server. Users actually view their site pages in the browser itself (as opposed to viewing them in a Java applet or test editor) and receive immediate feedback as they are working. WebWOWser does not generate HTML pages on the desktop. Instead, information is saved on the server and only fused when a visitor requests a user's site. Using this method, sites can be saved quickly because the program uploads only the necessary information each time. The process of fusing page elements to produce a complete HTML page employs Active Server Page and COM technology, rendering dynamic pages that reflect the latest changes made by the user immediately. Communication between the desktop and the server is accomplished through XML. The Beta version of WebWOWser is available to users at no charge and without space limitations. WebWOWser-built Web sites are also free of placement and pop-up advertising. The current version supports Windows 95, 98, NT, and 2000 and Internet Explorer 5.0. WebWOWser will also support Netscape's new browser when it's released later this year. www.WebWOWser.com

Rational Offers Unisys XMI Software for Rational Rose 2000
1/19/2000

Unisys Corporation announced an agreement with Rational Software that will enable Rational to provide the Unisys implementation of the XMI (XML Metadata Interchange) specification for its customers' use in exchanging information between the new Rational Rose 2000 visual modeling environment and other UML (Unified Modeling Language)-based tools and environments. The Unisys XMI software is available immediately for customer download from the Rational Web site. Through Unisys XMI software, Rational Rose 2000 users will be able to interchange information with other development and planning tools at a much finer level of detail than ever before. This capability will enable enterprise customers to build an application infrastructure that improves their capability to conduct high-volume electronic business in heterogeneous, multi-vendor environments. Rational Rose users download the XMI software at no charge from the Rational Web site at www.rational.com/products/rose/support/patches/2kdownloads.

AscToHTM 3.2 Released
1/19/2000

JafSoft Limited has released AscToHTM 3.2 for Windows 95/98/NT, a program that converts plain text files (.txt) into good looking HTML web pages in seconds. AscToHTM converts text files using text-recognition algorithms that detect the document's structure. These can recognize headings, bullets, lists, indentation, URLs, tables, ASCII art and much more. The resulting HTML faithfully reflects the structure of the original document. This program adds value to the HTML e.g. by turning URLs into hyperlinks and adding color to your pages. It also creates a hyperlinked contents list from your headings. These extra features make the software suitable for use as an authoring tool as well as a conversion tool. At its simplest you just choose the files to be converted, press a single button and the results are displayed in your browser. For the advanced user a large number of options allow you to add a title, colors, tags and many other features. Selected options may be saved in "policy files" for reuse next time you run the program. AscToHTM is a tool for web developers, anyone who wants to generate web pages quickly and companies that want to migrate large structured or legacy text files to their Intranet or Internet sites. Recent changes include drag and drop support, recognition of mail and Usenet headers and a tagging system that allows you to add hyperlinks and conversion timestamps to your document. The interface can be switched to German, Spanish or Portuguese, although the documentation is still in English. AscToHTM 3.2 costs $40 for a single user license. Site licenses are available, and the software is made available free to FAQ maintainers. A 30-day trial can be downloaded from www.jafsoft.com/download/windows/aschtm32.zip

Hmmm… could be useful for quick integration of e-mail into content for web apps.

Just in Time Delivers DTD for IFX Standard
1/19/2000

Just in Time Solutions announced it has delivered the DTD for the XML presentation contained in the Interactive Financial Exchange (IFX) 1.01 specification. The IFX 1.01 specification, which was recently released by the IFX Forum for public comment, is an open standard that provides a framework for the exchange of financial data between financial institutions, service providers and customers. With input from other members of the IFX Forum's XML Working Group, Just in Time took the lead in creating the DTD for the XML representation contained in the IFX 1.01 specification. The incorporation of a DTD in IFX 1.01 enables financial institutions, service providers and technology vendors to begin developing applications using IFX. In addition, Just in Time helped establish the rules and guidelines for sending and receiving IFX messages in XML. The standard can be found at www.ifxforum.org, www.justintime.com

Bristol Technology Inc. & Extensibility, Inc. Announce XML Initiative
1/19/2000

Extensibility, Inc. and Bristol Technology Inc. announced a cooperative agreement to market Extensibility's XML Authority schema design and conversion solution and Bristol Technology's eXactML, which simplifies the task of adding XML capabilities to applications. XML Authority is a compliment to eXactML as companies use XML to drive e-business applications using Internet technologies. XML Authority converts existing application and document structures into schemas while eXactML generates object-oriented interfaces for reading, writing and manipulating XML content. www.extensibility.com, www.xmlschema.com, www.bristol.com

Infoteria Inc. Announces iConnector for SQL Server
1/19/2000

Infoteria Inc. announced the availability of the iConnector / SQL Server version 1.0. iConnector / SQL Server allows users to both store XML data into Microsoft SQL Server, and query existing information stored in that server as XML data. iConnector / SQL Server is the latest addition to the iConnector family of products, which embraces a wide variety of industry platforms, including Oracle, Lotus Notes/ Domino and Microsoft Access. The series contains Rule Generator, a user friendly GUI based tool, which allows users to easily map XML data structures to database schemes, and visa versa. iConnector also allows for cross database relational joins where incoming XML data can be stored using another database as a reference. The Japanese version of iConnector / SQL Server will be available on February 14th, 2000 for Microsoft Windows NT4.0. The English version will be available April 1st. iConnector / SQL Server pricing starts at $8,000. In addition, an OEM version will be available. www.infoteria.com

Sterling Commerce Announces XML Solution for RosettaNet
1/19/2000

Sterling Commerce, Inc. announced its new E-business process integration software and consulting services solution through its participation in RosettaNet. "RosettaNet Server" is designed to improve E-business supply chain management through the implementation of open and common processes by leveraging enabling technologies such as XML. This solution helps companies implement RosettaNet's methodology for enabling small and large buyers and sellers to do business more efficiently over the Internet. The RosettaNet Server leverages Sterling Commerce's existing GENTRAN BPI offering providing native XML integration capabilities for business document exchange and acknowledgement, partner authentication, and seamless back-end connectivity into both packaged and legacy application systems. Availability of this solution is scheduled for February 2, 2000, in conjunction with the RosettaNet pilot implementation initiative. www.sterlingcommerce.com

Media-Bridge Delivers Content Management for Multi-Channel Marketing
1/18/2000

Media-Bridge Technologies, Inc. introduced a full suite of solutions to help leading retailers, catalog businesses and media companies connect customers and brands across media. Media-Bridge enables businesses to manage content and promotions across virtually any media - print, the Web and e-mail. Powerful multi-channel marketing functionality combines with advanced content management and workflow to deliver the retail, catalog and publishing industries sophisticated one-to-one marketing capabilities and streamlined workflows regardless of chosen delivery media. Through partnerships with Vignette, Engage, Retek, Quebecor, Adobe Systems, Breakaway Solutions and other technology powerhouses, Media-Bridge is now able to meet a wide range of complex e-marketing and content management needs. Media-Bridge helps its customers create closed loop marketing environments with solutions that link legacy product and customer databases to Media-Bridge's promotion planning and content management systems. Merchants, creative staffs, and publishers are able to create targeted promotional campaigns based on customer profile information to drive multiple media channels. Media-Bridge is a new company formed with the recently announced merger between Cascade Systems, Inc. and UK-based MidSystems Technology Inc. Media-Bridge offers three industry solutions that can be customized to specific customer requirements. The Media-Bridge retail industry solution is comprehensive, allowing retailers to create sophisticated media marketing plans, efficiently produce Web, e-mail and traditional print campaigns, and incorporate advanced e-commerce and e-publishing technology. The company's catalog industry solution enables catalog businesses to develop targeted catalogs and personalized promotions for Internet and print by integrating product data and customer profile information. These tools achieve dynamic interactive marketing online - enabling businesses to realize the dream of one-to-one marketing. Key features of the Media-Bridge catalog industry solution include: Access to all relevant product data, customer and marketing data; Tools that support coordinating customer and product data with real-time collaboration between merchants and content creators; Support for whatever combination of delivery media will provide the best return while maintaining consistent branding; and an architecture ready to support future delivery media. Finally, Media-Bridge enables publishers to re-position their trusted brand in the interactive age and build strong relationships with their advertisers and customers. Media-Bridge gives publishers the ability to publish any time, for any target audience, on the Web or in print.www.media-bridge.com

XSplit, Free Utility to Convert HTML into XML, XSL, Available
1/18/2000

Percussion Software's XSpLit, a free utility for converting HTML into XML and XSL, is now available at www.percussion.com/xsplit. XSpLit meets the demands of organizations that need a simple and effective way of transforming thousands of Web-based HTML pages into XML for e-commerce and other applications. With XSpLit, developers can create the XML and XSL equivalents of their HTML pages without investing a lot of time learning XML or writing the pages by hand. This patent-pending technology is a key component of Percussion's XML Data Server product, Rhythmyx, which dynamically serves structured data from relational databases into Web pages. Rhythmyx is one of the first products that makes use of XSL in a production environment and helps organizations benefit from XML today. Percussion XSpLit V1.0 is free for personal use. Companies wishing to license the product for bundled distribution with their offerings should contact Percussion Software for terms and conditions. The utility runs on Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0. www.percussion.com

If this converts in any kind of general way these folks are providing a great service. Even if it is designed specifically for their product it could be very useful.

Mercator Launches Integration Brokers for E-Business
1/18/2000

Mercator Software announced its new product family for e-business transformation. The new Mercator E-Business Broker products provide a single architecture for seamless B2B integration across all commerce touch points, event-driven application-to-application (A2A) integration within the enterprise, and the extension of existing systems with Web-enabled interfaces for C2B applications. The new Mercator E-Business Broker suite comprises three products - Mercator Commerce Broker, Mercator Enterprise Broker, and Mercator Web Broker - that address specific e-business integration requirements. All Mercator E-Business Broker products are based on the same transformation architecture, allowing customers to leverage a single platform and reusable components across multiple applications. The new Mercator E-Business Broker suite breaks new ground with XML transformation, distributed business component deployment and end-to-end integration management. Mercator Commerce Broker will be available in March and will be priced starting from $200,000, depending on the number of server-side CPUs and developer seats. Mercator Commerce Broker will be available for Windows NT, Sun Solaris, Hewlett Packard HP-UX and IBM AIX. Mercator Enterprise Broker will be available in March and will be priced starting from $150,000, depending on the number of server-side CPUs and developer seats. Mercator Enterprise Broker will be available across 22 platforms. Mercator Web Broker is available immediately and is priced starting from $50,000, depending on the number of server-side CPUs and developer seats. Mercator Web Broker is available for Windows NT, Sun Solaris, Hewlett Packard HP-UX and IBM AIX. www.mercator.com

IntraNet Solutions Announces OEM Agreement with Showcase
1/18/2000

IntraNet Solutions, Inc. announced it has signed an exclusive OEM licensing agreement to port its Xpedio technology to the IBM AS/400 platform for e-Business Intelligence vendor ShowCase Corporation as part of its new Enterprise Information Portal offering. Under the terms of the agreement ShowCase will have exclusive rights to sell the Xpedio product line on the IBM AS/400 platform as well as non-exclusive rights to sell it on UNIX and NT platforms. Showcase also announced today its Enterprise Intelligence Initiative — a Web-based solution that extends the ShowCase data warehousing and business intelligence product line and tightly integrates IntraNet Solutions’ Xpedio Content Management System. ShowCase STRATEGY combined with Xpedio will provide organizations with the ability to seamlessly capture, manage and deliver any type of content through a personalized Web-based gateway on the IBM AS/400 platform. The ShowCase-Xpedio solution will be available by March 31, 2000, with pricing starting at $75,000 USD. www.showcasecorp.com, www.intranetsolutions.com

DocuTouch Announces SIDEX V2.0
1/18/2000

DocuTouch announced the availability of SIDEX v2.0, the Secure Internet Document Exchange. This secure, end-to-end solution for managing and exchanging confidential, legal or sensitive documents over the Internet is platform-independent and requires no special software. Using a patented process, DocuTouch incorporates digital certificates into legally binding documents, storing the digitally signed original permanently. SIDEX, the Secure Internet Document Exchange, is an online service used to share confidential documents internally and among clients or business partners. Initial applications include legally binding contracts, purchase order agreements, human resource documents, proxy voting, leases, mortgages and insurance claims. The service offers the highest level of bonded, certified secure signatures, storing the online original forever. The service is priced to allow users to feel free to access their documents as often as desired, starting at $1.00 per megabyte stored, $1.00 per signing, and $0.50 per view. www.docutouch.com

Software AG Introduces XML Architecture for E-Business
1/18/2000

Software AG introduced XENON - the "XML ENabled Open Network" - a complete architecture for XML applications that was designed specifically for the development of electronic business systems. It is based entirely on open standards, offering users and software providers a reliable, durable framework with interfaces for development, deployment and scalability of XML applications. In particular, tools from software vendors can be integrated easily with XENON. Featuring the X-Studio, X-Bridge, X-Machine and X-Node components, XENON provides a basis for the support and integration of new business processes on the Internet - even if these transactions are run on various platforms. The new X-Studio module is a system for building XML applications. The X-Studio offers a full range of XML tools, including XML and schema editors, style sheet processors, and an interactive development environment. The new X-Bridge is an XML middleware, providing a link between XML applications on different system platforms. The X-Machine enables storage of data in its native XML format. The X-Node allows access to existing data sources and brings data to the Web in XML format. There are a number of partners whose tools and solutions support the XENON architecture. These include The Reference, SoftQuad, and Extensibility. www.softwareag.com

Poet Announces New Release of Content Management Solution
1/18/2000

POET Software announced POET Content Management Suite (CMS) version 2.1, the latest release of its repository-based solution for creating, managing, and maintaining complex XML publications. POET has enhanced CMS 2.1 with the POET object repository, integration with Arbortext's Adept Editor, and custom metadata functionality, providing corporate and commercial publishers with faster performance for workgroups, tighter best-of-breed tool integration, and better component management. POET CMS 2.1 features many performance enhancements, such as checkouts, checkins, and imports that are up to twice as fast as the POET CMS 2.0 release. POET CMS 2.1 integrates POET Object Server Suite (OSS) 6.0, the latest release of POET's object data management software, featuring POET's new FastObject technology. POET OSS, the underlying database technology behind POET CMS, provides significant performance, flexibility, and scalability benefits over relational and file-based repository architectures for complex object data such as XML and SGML. POET CMS 2.1 introduces an Author Plug-in for Adept Editor, Arbortext's XML/SGML authoring environment. With the Author Plug-in for Adept, users can create, manage, edit, and reuse document components in the POET CMS repository, providing unified authoring and management within the familiar Adept interface. POET CMS 2.1 includes a Content SDK that lets developers and system integrators build customized POET CMS applications, such as specialized interfaces for occasional contributors, reviewers, or translators. With POET CMS 2.1, developers and system integrators can now add custom metadata functionality to applications built with the Content SDK. Custom metadata enables users to attach descriptive data-which can be viewed, modified, and queried-to components in the repository. POET CMS 2.1 is available immediately. POET CMS clients run on Windows NT/95/98. POET Content Server is available for Windows NT, Solaris and HP/UX. Introductory pricing for a package that includes five client licenses starts at around $30,000. www.poet.com

Optika eMedia 2.0 Announced
1/18/2000

Optika Inc. announced Optika eMedia 2.0, which offers a B2B Web solution for uniting existing internal processes with external e-business activities. With the Optika eMedia B2B Web product, businesses are able to cross the organizational boundaries that make current inter-company communications and transaction processes inefficient and error-prone. With the addition of OLEDB standards, SQL 92 compliance, asynchronous queries and active data objects, Optika eMedia 2.0 is easier to integrate into complex user environments. Optika eMedia's SDK simplifies the ability to embed and host other Web applications providing custom solutions. Combined with a 3-tier Web-based architecture, Optika eMedia 2.0 enables users to access transaction information regardless of type (i.e. EDI, XML, e-mail) or source (i.e. mainframe, line-of-business, traditional paper-based application). Optika eMedia 2.0 will be generally available in the second quarter of 2000. www.optika.com

LanguageWare.Net Completes Acquisition of Star+Globe
1/18/2000

LanguageWare.net Ltd. completed its acquisition of Star+Globe Technologies Pte. Ltd., a privately held Singapore company that provides proprietary Asian character processing technology for the Web. As a result of the acquisition, the wholly-owned subsidiary, WholeTree.com, was formed to bring the technology of Star+Globe, and LanguageWare.net together to create a comprehensive global e-business approach with an expertise in the Asian market. After the acquisition, Lernout & Hauspie Investment Company N.V. will remain LanguageWare.net's single largest shareholder. www.languageware.net

Oracle Delivers XML E-Business Tools
1/17/2000

Oracle Corp. announced the imminent releases of its Internet Business Intelligence tools, Oracle Discoverer 3i and Oracle Reports 6i, with support for XML. Oracle Discoverer 3i and Reports 6i will allow users to explore and publish e-business information tailored for the recipient simply by using a standard web browser. Oracle Discoverer 3i and Reports 6i are an integral part of the evolution of Oracle's Intelligent Webhouse initiative designed to help businesses analyze and leverage e-commerce data. Using the Oracle Business Intelligence tools, companies will be able to deliver competitive products and services by identifying key trends, utilizing all database information, including data from ERP, CRM, and Procurement applications. Discoverer 3i and Reports 6i are designed specifically for Internet computing environments -- users will be able to directly publish information as XML documents allowing applications within and across enterprises to share information. Using XML, Reports 6i will enable developers to deliver reports that are dynamically personalized for each user. Implemented using Java and XML, Discoverer 3i will offer the full featured, award-winning user interface using only a standard web browser. Oracle Reports 6i, and Oracle Discoverer 3i Beta releases are available on Oracle Technology Network (OTN). www.oracle.com

HP Changengine to be Integrated with Bluestone
1/17/2000

Hewlett-Packard Company and Bluestone Software announced an agreement to integrate Bluestone's XML Suite Integration Server into HP Changengine, a business-process management system, to enable more flexible and dynamic B2B trading. This integration will allow B2B communications to make use of XML data formats and enable the entire business process to be managed by HP Changengine software, while taking advantage of Bluestone's scalability, fault tolerance and open standards design. Collaborative processes between businesses will be made possible and will help fuel growth in online B2B trading. Even the smallest suppliers will be able to participate. Joint management of promotions will be made easier, orders will be able to be placed online, forecasts agreed to and monitored automatically, and sales data shared immediately. www.hp.com, www.bluestone.com

Interwoven & Idiom Partner
1/17/2000

Idiom, Inc. and Interwoven, Inc. announced a partnership to promote their complementary solutions, WorldServer and TeamSite respectively. Additionally, the companies' development organizations will work closely to leverage the open architectures and, to further the integration of both products to enable customers to bring globalized Web sites into operation faster. The combination of WorldServer and TeamSite will allow Interwoven customers to rapidly scale their Web operations for conducting global eBusiness. The combined solution facilitates a synchronized global Web strategy and a coordinated Web team, providing structure and process to the collaboration among site managers, Web application developers, content contributors, translators and editors around the world. www.interwoven.com, www.idiominc.com

IT Factory & Documentaal Partner
1/17/2000

IT FACTORY announced that Documentaal will integrate its BowTie software with IT FACTORY's ITF Business Suite. BowTie will enable ITF Business Suite users to achieve greater levels of productivity in mixed Lotus Notes-Microsoft environments, and allow Notes applications designers to make greater use of Lotus Notes/Domino as an enterprise application platform. Specifically, BowTie capabilities such as the ability to automatically attach and detach Microsoft Office documents in Lotus Notes and launch the desired Microsoft Office application for document manipulation and editing will be integrated into ITF Business Suite modules, including ITF Sales Force Automation, Human Resources, and Office Automation. BowTie works with any combination of Microsoft Office 97 and 2000, Lotus Notes R4.5, R4.6 and R5 on Windows 95, 98 and NT platforms. Support for BowTie within the ITF Business Suite will be available in February 2000. Pricing for BowTie support within the ITF Business Suite has not been set. www.itfactory.com, www.documentaal.nl

ScanSoft to Acquire Caere
1/17/2000

ScanSoft, Inc. and Caere Corp. jointly announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement whereby ScanSoft will acquire Caere in a transaction valued at more than $140 million. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of April, subject to the approval of the stockholders of each company. Under the terms of the definitive merger agreement, which was unanimously approved by the Boards of both companies, the holders of Caere common stock will receive $4 in cash and $7.75 in ScanSoft common stock. The number of ScanSoft shares received by each Caere shareholder will be deter­mined based on the 10-day average closing price prior to the closing of the transaction, provided that such ratio shall be no more than 1.72222 and no less than 0.91176. The combined company will retain the ScanSoft name, with headquarters in Peabody, MA, and plans to continue to sell the full ScanSoft and Caere product lines. Michael Tivnan will continue in his role as President and Chief Executive Officer of ScanSoft, while Robert Teresi will become a member of the Board of Directors and will assist in the integration of the companies. Paul Ricci will continue as the Chairman of the Board of ScanSoft. By the second half of 2000, the com­bined company expects to be producing revenue at an annualized rate of approximately $100 million. www.caere.com, www.scansoft.com

This makes sense. This kind of technology is important but the market for it is not very interesting.

edocs Unveils Additional XML & XSL Functionality
1/17/2000

edocs announced XMLDirect. XMLDirect enables the rapid deployment of applications that transform legacy bill, statement, trade confirmation and other transactional document data directly into XML without the need to write programming code in languages such as C++, Java, or Perl. XMLDirect builds on edocs' BillDirect platform, which is a complete, off-the-shelf software solution that transforms transactional content into personalized, interactive communications for enabling customer care and marketing via the Internet. With XMLDirect, companies can quickly and easily transform transactional document data into highly structured XML formats, while simultaneously generating XSL format stylesheets. XML format stylesheets can contain business rules that enable XML/XSL -ready applications to intelligently process the XML format information. This simplifies the process of using XML format data within a variety of XML-ready applications, including secure content distribution systems, Internet billing applications, data mining and customer intelligence systems. www.edocs.com

Nouveau 2.0 to Support SOAP
1/17/2000

Rogue Wave Software announced the release of Nouveau 2.0. Nouveau supports Windows DNA 2000 and SOAP to give developers the ability to build applications using mixed CORBA, COM, Java, RPC and XML technology, and to access and distribute CORBA services via the Internet. Rogue Wave's Nouveau 2.0 is available immediately on Microsoft Windows NT and available soon with support for Linux, Sun Solaris, and other popular UNIX platforms, through Rogue Wave Software and its sales channel. Pricing for Nouveau starts at $3600 plus deployment. www.roguewave.com

ESPS Introduces 'Spyglass'
1/13/2000

ESPS, Inc. announced a new addition to its technology line-up, code-named "Spyglass." Spyglass is the Company's next generation of content assembly and publishing technology. It allows users to quickly and easily assemble, publish and disseminate documents up to thousands of pages from any input (over 130 file formats supported) to paper, portals, the Web and e-mail. ESPS' Spyglass technology is fully scalable, enabling its use in a workgroup environment, departmentally or at an enterprise level. CoreDossier will fully support published data from Spyglass — allowing organizations to design their own unique publishing architecture. In addition, Spyglass publications can be posted to CorePortal — ESPS' publication portal. Spyglass and CorePortal automate the maintenance and availability of information to the Web, empowering individual productivity throughout the enterprise. Spyglass supports all major document management systems, including DOCUMENTUM, FileNET, PC Docs, Lotus Notes/Domino and Open Text. In addition, other document management systems can be easily integrated through the Spyglass API. www.esps.com

NeoMedia Announces PaperClick ToGo for Cell Phones
1/13/2000

NeoMedia Technologies announced the availability of PaperClick ToGo technology. The PaperClick service has been ported to Wireless Markup Language (WML) and is immediately available as PaperClick ToGo for cell phones and other WAP devices that use WML 1.1 and/or Hand held Device Markup Language (HDML) 3.0 compliant micro-browsers. The use of numeric PaperClick codes makes navigating the web easy for small handheld devices with limited keypads. By converting any URL address, regardless of its length, into a short phone number-like PaperClick code, cell phones and PDAs can be used to conveniently surf the World Wide Web as more and more WML content becomes available. www.neom.com

Autodesk Advances XML for Land Development Industries
1/13/2000

Autodesk, Inc. announced that it has developed the initial specifications of LandXML, an XML application for land development professionals, including surveyors, civil engineers and land developers. LandXML is a common, open data format, or schema, that describes industry-specific data such as points, parcels, and alignments. Land development professionals worldwide can use LandXML to make the data they create more readily accessible and available to anyone involved with a project. With LandXML, project data is independent of the authoring software, thus overcoming the interoperability problems that have plagued the land development industry. Not only does LandXML provide interoperability between different application software, but also between varying versions of software. As a result, data can be archived and accessed more readily on future projects. Additionally, other web-based tools can be used to view, edit, and report LandXML data. XSL style sheets can be easily created and applied to LandXML data and then run from a project web page. Examples include XSL style sheets that format raw point data into point tables, or format data to match an organization's internal standards, such as legal descriptions for parcel reports. Autodesk developed the initial specifications of LandXML in close collaboration with several key industry players, who will now serve as the basis for an advisory group to the company as it continues developing the specifications. This group includes Dave Weisberg, publisher and editor of A-E-C Automation Newsletter; software developers Intergraph Civil Engineering, Infrasoft, and Haestad Methods; Nebraska and Florida Departments of Transportation; and consulting organizations including Clough, Harbour & Associates LLP, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc., and Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, Inc. www.LandXML.org, www.autodesk.com

Intranet Solutions to Support for Red Hat Linux
1/13/2000

IntraNet Solutions, Inc. announced that it would support the Red Hat Linux operating system and ApacheWebserver. IntraNet Solutions' Xpedio Content Management products for the Linux operating system platform expands an organization's ability to leverage Xpedio's automated Web publishing and management of business-critical Web sites. Support for these new platforms will be available after April 1, 2000. www.intranetsol.com

Intraspect Introduces Knowledge Spider for Notes
1/13/2000

Intraspect Software, Inc., announced the immediate availability of the Intraspect Knowledge Spider for Lotus Notes, an enterprise collaboration tool that provides seamless access to information held in Lotus Notes databases. The Intraspect Knowledge Spider gives companies the ability to search across multiple Lotus Notes databases, find documents, and use the information held within those documents in a collaborative fashion. Lotus Notes users have always been able to search Notes databases, but now non-Notes users can link informa­tion they find to a business process or application. The Intraspect Knowledge Spider provides businesses, and their customers and partners, with secure, browser based access to all types of Notes information. Businesses can put customers in charge of the data, without compro­mis­ing internal security or deploying proprietary Notes Clients. The optional Intraspect Knowledge Spider is available from Intraspect for integration with any existing Lotus Notes Domino infrastructure. This allows Intraspect users to search across Notes databases and save pointers to relevant information in the Intraspect Group Memory. It is sold separately and integrates with Intraspect Knowledge Server 2.5 or higher. www.intraspect.com

WapWorld Service Launched By Jingo
1/12/2000

UK-based Jingo has just launched an independent European dial-up WAP gateway. The WapWorld.Net gateway puts information at your fingertips and already has thousands of users dialing in daily for news and information. The initial content consists of news, weather and features such as horoscopes and jokes. The content is being developed in-house at Jingo by an experienced editorial team and is set to expand massively over the coming months. Jingo has developed independent software solutions to drive WapWorld and to deliver Internet services to users. The WAP gateway has been pre-installed on all Nokia 7110 WAP phones sold through The Carphone Warehouse.

Bristol Technology Announces eXactML
1/12/2000

Bristol Technology Inc. announced eXactML, a new software product that allows software developers to accelerate the implementation of XML in eBusiness applications. eXactML, Bristol's first entry into the eBusiness market space, enables C++ applications to speak XML in minutes rather than days. eXactML simplifies the task of adding XML to applications by generating object-oriented interfaces for reading and writing valid XML content based on any DTD or schema. eXactML drastically reduces the time and expertise needed to support XML, while improving application quality. eXactML Version 1.0 is currently available for C++ code generation. The eXactML executable runs on Windows platforms; the resulting source code can be compiled on Windows, Sun Microsystems Solaris, and Red Hat Linux. Introductory pricing is $495 per developer. www.bristol.com

Infoshark Provides XML Schema to BizTalk.Org
1/12/2000

infoShark, inc. announced that its Commerce Accelerated Relational Data (CARD) Schema has been accepted by Microsoft's BizTalk Framework. infoShark's CARD schema is unique in that it enables the bi-directional exchange of relational data over the Internet. The schema provides all the necessary information to recreate relational databases and populate them with their data via the Internet. Terabytes of health and financial records, pricing information, sports scores and personnel records are stored in databases around the world. CARD schema provides a simple mechanism for specifying the price of individual data points (the data found within a given row and column). It is infoShark's vision that this schema would further facilitate the extraction, transformation, and loading of data across various web-enabled products. CARD schema is currently available for use by developers of e-commerce software at www.biztalk.org. Today 17 different companies have referenced the schema for their own use. www.infoshark.com

There will be a lot more activity in tools that provide not just data conversion, but sophisticated integration of legacy relational databases and XML applications. A reliable bi-directional interchange capability has a lot of advantages over complete, near term re-tooling.

SoftQuad & Software AG Form Alliance
1/12/2000

SoftQuad Software Inc. and Software AG have announced a joint initiative to integrate SoftQuad's XMetaL XML authoring environment and Software AG's Tamino XML Information Server. The integrated products provide customers with a complete solution for developing, managing and publishing XML content for a wide variety of electronic business applications. In the first stage in the partnership, Software AG will deliver a Tamino partner solutions CD containing Tamino and XML tools useful for creating XML applications, including SoftQuad's XMetaL. www.softquad.com

IT Factory to Acquire Corporate Image Software
1/11/2000

IT FACTORY announced the acquisition of Corporate Image Software (CIS) and plans to integrate CIS's advanced e-business functionality for Notes/Domino into the IT FACTORY Notes development environment. Key strategic technologies include XML, CyberCash and SET components for Notes/Domino. This is the first in a series of planned acquisitions for IT FACTORY which are intended to consolidate complementary e-business technologies and services around IT FACTORY's collaborative e-business solution offering. As part of this acquisition strategy, the Company is actively seeking systems integrator candidates and ISVs in the collaborative business-to-business solutions market. www.itfactory.com

Vignette & Idiom Form Partnership
1/11/2000

Vignette Corporation announced a partnership that will result in a third party solution built specifically for Vignette's e-business platform. Vignette will resell WorldServer for Vignette, a customized version of Idiom's WorldServer Web globalization product for building and maintaining a multilingual and multicultural e-business. The WorldServer for Vignette product will allow Vignette customers to increase the value of their e-business applications by expanding their Web presence to global markets. The partnership also immediately extends Idiom's distribution channel, furthering the company's position as the leading vendor for Web globalization solutions. Idiom's globalization approach will help Vignette customers leverage their current StoryServer applications seamlessly across their global locations and global Web teams. WorldServer for Vignette will be available in March 2000 directly from Vignette Corp. with prices starting at $35,000. www.vignette.com

Verity Announces Vignette Integration
1/11/2000

Verity, Inc. announced an integrated package of software and services to enable customers to easily integrate the Verity K2 Toolkit with Vignette StoryServer. The QuickStart program provides customers with a straightforward integration of Verity's scalable K2 toolkit and StoryServer. The program, priced at $30,000, includes two weeks of Verity consulting services. The integration is StoryServer version-number-independent and is transparent to any pre-existing search software. Use of the familiar Vignette user interface reduces the need for retraining of administrative staff. The QuickStart program is available now from Verity. www.verity.com

Sequoia XML Portal Server Supports Biztalk
1/11/2000

Sequoia Software Corporation announced its support for Microsoft's BizTalk Framework, and that its application for deploying interactive EIPs, Sequoia XML Portal Server (XPS), is compliant with the BizTalk 1.0 specification. BizTalk compliance provides benefits to systems administrators integrating Sequoia's XPS with their legacy systems by reducing the effort required to transport information between disparate systems. With the BizTalk framework in place, administrators are able to more easily connect their various applications within XPS. BizTalk speeds data exchange by aiding in the transportation of data from legacy systems to XPS. At the same time, it reduces the time and complexity involved in building software connectors linking legacy systems and XPS. Sequoia XPS 2.0 with BizTalk 1.0 compliance is available immediately. www.sequoiasoftware.com

Languageware.Net Forms U.S. Subsidiary
1/11/2000

LanguageWare.net has created a wholly-owned, U.S. subsidiary, WholeTree.com Inc., to provide LanguageWare.net's Internet language technology services with proprietary solutions for enhancing business between U.S. and Asian markets. Products and services to be offered under the subsidiary name, WholeTree.com, include: multilingual Web site development, integrated customer support solutions that translate foreign correspondence, and unique, proprietary technology that enables customers to search, display and print information from a Web site database in any language regardless of the source language used by the company to store the information. www.languageware.net

Innovative Software Introduces X-Rom
1/10/2000

Innovative software introduced new technology that bridges the gap between print catalogs and e-commerce. It allows consumers to view interactive catalogs on a CD or DVD using a built-in, familiar Web browser and shopping cart that does not require an Internet connection or server. X-Rom, eCatalogBuilders' e-commerce product, was designed for direct mail e-commerce marketing, complimenting print catalogs and online Web sites. eCatalogs can be exported from the vendor's existing print catalog files or created from scratch. Pages may also be generated "on the fly" from a database. X-Rom functions either as a stand-alone eCatalog, or interlinks with an online Web site. www.eCatalogBuilders.com

HotOffice Announces Free Web-Based Teamware
1/10/2000

HotOffice Technologies announced that its subscription-based intranet service is now also available for free. Designed to improve the way teams communicate and collaborate, HotOffice offers both a subscription-based and free Web-based teamware service with identical features, allowing any team member to connect via a private intranet with colleagues and clients from any Internet connection. With free document and contact management, free email, free calendaring, and other tools, the HotOffice service helps teams maximize productivity with improved communications and real-time collaboration. The free version, is supported by ads. The rates for the subscription service are $12.95 per person, per month for up to 20 people, $11.95 per person, per month to 50 people and $9.95 per person, per month for 50 or more people. www.hotoffice.com.

CrossWorlds Announces XML Support, Joins RosettaNet
1/10/2000

CrossWorlds Software, Inc., announced product support for XML. Concurrently, the company announced its membership and support for RosettaNet, an independent consortium dedicated to developing and deploying industry standards for enabling eBusiness interoperability. With its XML-compliant eBusiness product, development tools and infrastructure, CrossWorlds will enable companies to conduct eBusiness transactions in RosettaNet formats. This announcement further demonstrates CrossWorlds' capabilities in providing a robust eBusiness integration solution. CrossWorlds is offering an XML Connector, a pre-defined and extensible cross-application interface designed specifically for handling XML-based messages. The Connector allows for the integration of XML data to multiple legacy and packaged front-office, back-office and supply chain applications including Baan, Clarify, Manugistics, Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP, Siebel, Trilogy and Vantive via CrossWorlds hub-and-spoke architecture. The XML Connector is tightly integrated with CrossWorlds' business process modeling capabilities and Collaboration modules. As part of its support of RosettaNet, CrossWorlds' architecture complements the RosettaNet standards by providing a real-time integration environment for trading partners through automatic answer-back, cross-referencing and persistent transaction services. As a result, trading partners can avoid manual tasks such as transaction voiding if an order acknowledgment is not received after a specified number of hours. www.crossworlds.com

E-Sync Announces Beta of XML Supply Chain Solution
1/10/2000

E-Sync Networks, Inc. announced that a beta version of TotalChain, its new end-to-end web supply chain solution, would be available for testing in February. The company also confirmed that the product would be available commercially during the second quarter of this year. TotalChain will enable companies to collaborate over the Internet with their business partners, suppliers, service providers, manufacturers, distributors, and customers, by facilitating the secure exchange of information among disparate systems. For example, a manufacturer's material resource planning system will be able to transparently communicate with a supplier's planning system in a seamless and integrated manner. E-Sync Networks will initially focus on two vertical markets, insurance and distribution. www.e-syncnet.com

ForeFront Releases Help-Authoring Software
1/10/2000

ForeFront, Inc. announced the release of its ForeHelp Premier 2000 product line which supports JavaHelp, HTML Help, WinHelp 3.1 and WinHelp 95, ForeFront's InterHelp and Windows CE Help formats. ForeHelp Premier 2000, which includes ForeHelp 4 and ForeHTML Pro 4, simplifies the creation of professional online Help, electronic newsletters, online catalogs and product or company information. ForeHelp Premier 2000 can also be used to develop reference materials that are delivered to the end user in a variety of ways including CD-ROMs, intranets, extranets, even Web sites. Learning WinHelp or HTML codes and macro syntax is not necessary because of ForeHelp's WYSIWYG authoring environment. The most significant new and enhanced features found in ForeHelp 4 include: the ability to import FrameMaker .mif files; set up, add, import, export and maintain headers/footers that can include replaceable stamp fields. ForeHelp 4 can also import selected topics, keywords, macros, styles and/or windows from other ForeHelp projects in order to support multiple authors and projects; plus it enables live edits within a topic list for easy organiza­tion and project management. Using ForeHTML Pro 4, customers are now able to merge multiple InterHelp projects for cross-browser, cross-platform use; AutoSync table of contents with current topics; and hide or show the navigation pane with a click of a button. The ForeHelp Premier 2000 suite including add-ins is priced at $699. The ForeHelp 4 price is $395, ForeHTML Pro 4 is $299 and the ForeHelp 4 and ForeHTML combination pack is priced at $599. Customers will need the combination pack or the Premier 2000 suite to create HTML-based projects. Upgrade pricing is available for all ForeFront products. www.forehelp.com.

Bowerbird Computing Releases Embedded Database for XML
1/10/2000

Bowerbird Computing has announced the release of XDBM, a free embedded database designed specifically to handle XML. There are currently many options available to programmers who want to make their program XML aware, but they all have three shortcomings: They are slow because they need to read the entire file to find out what it contains; They do not supply any way to search an XML file; and they consume a lot of memory because they need to load every part of the file required right from the start. XDBM overcomes all of these problems for software developers through its new database design. www.bowerbird.com.au

We don't know if anyone else is doing this, but there is a serious long-term play here. We would like to hear about others in this space. Send us an email if you know of other activity.

Bluestone Adds a Dozen ISVs
1/10/2000

The new Code Blue members include Alphonso Informex Pvt Ltd; BAPA, Inc.; Brickhouse Data Systems, Inc.; Cadnetics, Inc.; ClearLogic, Inc.; Creative Sun, Inc.; Database Consulting Group, Inc.; Eden Technology, I.C.E. Wireless; Kanrad Technology; Nichols, and Orchid Systems, Inc. Code Blue gives Java, Web, and XML application developers no-initial-cost access to Bluestone's industry-leading Application Server frameworks for building e-business and data integration applications. The Code Blue program encompasses Sapphire/Web, the platform-independent, 100% Pure Java Application Server framework and Bluestone XML Suite. Developers can register for Bluestone's Code Blue developers program online at www.bluestone.com/code-blue

Quark Releases Digital Media System
1/10/2000

Quark Inc. announced the release of Quark Digital Media System (QuarkDMS), a comprehensive digital asset management system for publishers. QuarkDMS is an enterprise-wide solution that lets customers manage a virtually unlimited number of text files, images, and other digital resources. The QuarkDMS software combines an Oracle8 relational database with a scalable three-tier architec­ture capable of serving hundreds of concurrent users. The QuarkDMS server supports both Sun Solaris and Windows NT for optimal flexibility in distributed heterogeneous networks. The QuarkDMS clients offer secure access to assets from both Windows and Mac OS platforms, as well as from standard Web browsers. QuarkDMS can be purchased from authorized system integrators, which are listed on the Quark Web site at www.quarkdms.com/sales.html. System integrators who are interested in learning more about QuarkDMS should contact Quark. www.quark.com

NxTrend Releases Distribution Extensible Markup Language (DXML) for E-Commerce
1/10/2000

NxTrend Technology, Inc. announced the Version 1 release of its dXML document standards for distribution business-to-business e-commerce. NxTrend's dXML standards are a series of 16 distribution industry-specific XML schemas, developed in conjunction with BuildNet, a leading online trading exchange. NxTrend's dXML standards include schemas for a variety of documents, including: common business transactions, like sales orders, purchase orders, and quotes; file maintenance transactions, like product catalog updates, and customer file updates; and status transactions, like product availability and price. In the coming months, NxTrend will continue working with industry leaders and XML innovators to refine and add to the set of standards. The goal of dXML is to provide a framework for the seamless exchange of business information between distributors and all other members of the supply chain. NxTrend's intent in publishing an industry-focused XML standard was to simplify and help facilitate electronic communication between all members of the supply chain. As an early member of the BizTalk organization, NxTrend will submit the dXML schemas for general public consumption to the BizTalk.org repository. www.nxtrend.com

Infodata Announces Letter of Intent with Redknife
1/6/2000

Infodata Systems Inc. announced it has entered into a letter of intent with Redknife, an emerging Silicon Valley e-commerce services company, to develop and implement a comprehensive systems infrastructure for processing and exchanging business transactions over the web. The system will be powered by Infodata's "E-hub" XML-based application framework technology. Infodata's e-commerce initiatives, such as Redknife, complement its earlier investment in Buckaroo.com, a privately held B2B e-commerce company that is based in Mt. View, California and is creating efficient markets for products and services. Infodata is a minority seed stage investor in Buckaroo.com along with a number of individuals that are leaders in the Internet industry. www.infodata.com

Sterling Commerce Partners with Edifecs Commerce on XML
1/6/2000

Sterling Commerce, Inc. announced the availability of Edifecs' SpecBuilder as a value-added optional component for its GENTRAN business process integration offering. Using GENTRAN and SpecBuilder, corporations can set up E-business relationships that support the integration of business information in XML, EDI, and other proprietary business formats. Companies can now define a partner relationship and export the guidelines via the Web to their entire E-business communities for rapid deployment. www.sterlingcommerce.com, www.edifecs.com.

Inso Corporation Sells PDM Division to SDRC
1/5/2000

Inso Corporation announced that it has sold its PDM Division for approximately $12 million in cash and net assumption of liabilities. The transaction is in the form of a stock purchase by Structural Dynamics Research Corporation (SDRC) of outstand-ing stock of Inso's subsidiaries, Sherpa Systems Corporation and Inso France Development. The sale was completed on January 5, 2000 and should result in a transaction loss to Inso estimated at approximately $3 million in the fourth fiscal quarter. In addition, a compensation charge of approximately $1.7 million will be recorded in the fourth fiscal quarter for the cost of option vesting or cancellation for certain PDM Division employees. www.inso.com

OASIS Hires Member Services Manager
1/5/2000

OASIS, the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, welcomed Scott McGrath to its staff in a newly-created position, Member Services Manager. In his new role, McGrath will have responsibility for activity coordination and communication for the more than 130 members of the non-profit international consortium dedicated to XML interoperability. McGrath brings to OASIS more than 10 years experience developing customer service systems and staff, most recently with the world's second largest member organization, the American Automobile Association. As senior liaison between members, all AAA business units and suppliers/contractors, McGrath served as ombudsman, mediator and conflict resolution expert, supervised mediation and quality measurement staff, executive service call center, and correspondence staff and developed quality tracking, measurement, reporting/organizational learning systems. McGrath also brings a wealth of experience in developing database-driven business systems and service quality assessment/manage­ment systems. Further, he has more than six years' experience in supporting tradeshows, conferences and events and has served as a senior industry liaison. www.oasis-open.org

Intraspect Signs-Up French Reseller
1/5/2000

Intraspect Software, Inc., announced that R&D Solutions, a major supplier of web integration services in France, has signed a strategic agreement to resell Intraspect products. These include Intraspect Knowledge Server (IKS) 3.0, a platform for developing, deploying, and managing collaborative business solutions. Intraspect and R&D Solutions are targeting major French multinational organizations. R&D has been delivering the full suite of Intraspect c-business services including IKS 3.0, implementation, customization, training, and local support. www.intraspect.com More small U.S. companies should look at France and other European countries. We wouldn’t recommend expansion before you are ready to devote the necessary energy. On the other hand, as Europe continues to accelerate their catching–up with North America in the use of internet technology there will be more and more opportunities lost. European software companies should look at more aggressive growth for the same reason.

Pervasive Software Ships Tango 2000 for Mac
1/5/2000

Pervasive Software Inc. announced at the MACWORLD Expo the availability of the Tango 2000 Web development environment for the Mac OS operating environment. This new release of Tango 2000 enables Macintosh developers to build and deploy e-business applications and dynamic Web sites in the latest Mac operating environment, while leveraging Tango 2000's advanced, visually-oriented development capabilities to bring applications to market in Internet time. Customer shipments of Tango 2000 for the Mac OS environment commenced in late December 1999, and Pervasive plans to ship a version of Tango 2000 for Mac OS X when Apple releases that forthcoming operating environment. The Tango 2000 for Mac OS development environment includes full XML integration and Tango Class Files (TCFs). By providing developers with full XML integration, XML can be treated as data types inside the Tango application for easier manipulation of structured data. TCFs also give developers the freedom to write code only and then reuse the code as an object in future projects. Tango 2000 for Mac OS is available now. U.S. pricing for the Tango 2000 Development Studio is $495. Application servers are priced separately, starting at $995 for Macintosh, scaling from the small business edition to enterprise-class solutions per individual business requirements. www.pervasive.com

CommerceQuest Acquires ANS
1/5/2000

CommerceQuest has acquired Advanced Networking Solutions (ANS), a South African-based enterprise application integration (EAI) company. The acquisition adds data integration and business process flow management tools to CommerceQuest's XML B2B and EAI solutions. www.CommerceQuest.com

Vignette to Use Rogue Wave's DBTools.h++
1/5/2000

Rogue Wave Software announced that it was selected by Vignette Corporation, as the interface to the multiple databases behind their e-business applications. Vignette StoryServer5 software delivers a combination of personalization, content management, decision support, and enterprise integration services to efficiently create superior experiences that attract, engage, and retain customers. These services require a tool that allows access to any number of relational databases on the back-end of the system. With the release of DBTools.h++ 4.0, developers have native access to the latest versions from Oracle, Microsoft, Sybase, Informix and IBM. DBTools.h++ allows C++ developers to build software that runs on Windows, UNIX, Linux as well as IBM AS/400 and OS/390 platforms. www.vignette.com, www.roguewave.com

uBid.Com Adopts XML for Auction Site
1/5/2000

uBid has redesigned its bidding engine to utilize XML and Microsoft-based components such as Microsoft Message Queue Server (MSMQ), Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS) technology and COM. All business components run in a Microsoft transaction server environment, employing MSMQ services for inter-component messaging, that reduce the resource utilization of the database. By redesigning the website in XML, uBid.com now offers a protocol that allows more integrated communications between uBid.com and its vendors while simultaneously increasing ease of use and site speed for its customers. The company claims that currently, the uBid.com site processes the most transactions utilizing XML technology of any site in the world. uBid.com is the highest reaching e-commerce site that is 100% dedicated to XML based on November's Media Metrix report. www.ubid.com

Bitlocker Launches Beta of Free Online Database
1/5/2000

Bitlocker announced the launch of its official public beta, opening its site to everyone interested in organizing, sharing and publishing data online. Bitlocker makes it easy for consumers and businesses to organize, share and publish information anytime, anywhere by using the company's free online database service, which is available today. Bitlocker allows Internet users to quickly get their data online and share it with others at no cost. Using Bitlocker, individuals and businesses can create secure, scalable databases with complete functionality using only a Web browser. Bitlocker.com offers a place for people to easily access or "grab," sort, share and publish information on a Web site or store it in a Bitlocker. During public beta, members of Bitlocker can utilize pre-built templates, take a tour of the site and create their own Bitlockers to store a variety of topical information. www.bitlocker.com

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