News For April, 2000

Google Inc. announced the beta availability of a new version of its search engine optimized for wireless phone and handheld computer users. Available now, users of WAP mobile telephones and Palm handhelds connected to a wireless modem can now search the web using Google while on the go. This wireless technology marks the availability of a search engine that brings the entire World Wide Web to mobile devices. With less than 1 percent of websites available in Wireless Markup Language (WML), Google offers mobile users the ability to view and browse traditional HTML websites. Unlike other search engines that index only web pages that are available in WML, Google brings more than 500 million web pages to the palm of a user's hand. When a wireless user requests a traditional HTML page, Google's innovative technology translates the requested HTML document on the fly into WML. Interested users can type "Google" into their WAP microbrowser, or can enter www.google.com. Palm users can visit www.google.com/palm to access this special wireless version of Google. Although still in beta, mobile web surfers will have complete access to the Google search engine, including an easy-to-use interface, quick loading pages, and highly relevant search results. Google supports access by any common Internet-ready mobile device and microbrowser. www.google.com

Microsoft Takes Stake in Xerox E-Commerce Spinoff
4/27/2000

Xerox Corporation and Microsoft Corp. joined forces to launch ContentGuard, Inc., a new Internet company that will deliver comprehensive software solutions to protect and manage books, documents, music, software and other valuable content distributed over the Web. The solutions give publishers and authors more control over their digital material, thus allowing them unprecedented freedom and innovation in delivering and marketing digital content to consumers. ContentGuard, Inc.'s technology, originally developed at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), is the foundation for various products and services to deliver secure, user-friendly solutions for protecting and distributing digital content over the Internet. These digital rights management (DRM) solutions are designed to allow content developers and publishers to establish and retain control over how their materials are used, copied and purchased. Xerox will retain a majority stake in ContentGuard, Inc., formerly the Xerox Rights Management group. Microsoft will be a minority investor, and other investors are expected to be announced in the future. ContentGuard, Inc., Microsoft and Xerox also will collaborate on future development of DRM technology and standards, including the establishment of XrML (eXtensible rights Markup Language) as a common standard for all forms of digital information and entertainment. XrML will be licensed royalty-free to the industry to enable interoperability across rights management systems. Microsoft will use ContentGuard's technology to extend future versions of Microsoft's DRM solutions. Microsoft Reader, a new software product for displaying eBooks, will be the first Microsoft product to incorporate the ContentGuard technology when it debuts this summer. ContentGuard technology will also enhance future releases of Windows Media Player and Windows Media Rights Manager. The ContentGuard portfolio includes the ContentGuard Internet content protection software suite and the electronic Publishing Clearing Service (ePCS) offered jointly with Reciprocal Inc. Today ContentGuard can protect and manage digital content such as market research, business reports, patent applications, books, sheet music and academic course packs. Plans are under way to enable DRM solutions for audio and video material. In addition, ContentGuard products and services enable publishers or authors to deploy materials over the Web in new ways; for example, to create free time-restricted previews, single-chapter previews or one-time use scenarios. www.xerox.com, www.microsoft.com  

In some ways it is surprising how long it is taking for digital rights software to catch on. There have been many attempts at the technology but one problem they all have had is that users aren't motivated by solutions that are inconvenient. An even bigger problem however, may be deciding how to use this kind of capability. We'll delve into this in a future issue.

SoftQuad Announces MarketAgility, an XML Solution for B2B E-Commerce
4/27/2000

SoftQuad Software, Ltd. announced MarketAgility, an XML-based content solution that gives businesses more power and control over the creation, management and real-time delivery of product information to e-marketplaces and e-procurement systems. MarketAgility provides suppliers with an efficient and cost-effective way to move product information from their enterprises to multiple electronic distribution channels. MarketAgility 1.0, formerly code named Global OnRamp, is scheduled for release in September, 2000. Suppliers until now have had trouble collecting their product information, which has generally been located in disparate sources throughout their enterprises. It's also been difficult to translate that information into the various distinct formats required by different e-marketplaces. Even after these initial barriers have been overcome, suppliers have still found it hard to maintain up-to-date product and pricing information and to target and differentiate their products across multiple distribution channels. MarketAgility lets suppliers quickly leverage their existing infrastructure and business processes to collect product information from wherever it resides in the enterprise, whether in content management systems, electronic resource planning systems, enterprise databases, or Microsoft Word or Excel files. It then automatically delivers this information in a format that is fully customized for different e-markets in their specific dialect of XML. In addition, MarketAgility allows suppliers to maintain their competitive advantage by rapidly and incrementally updating product and pricing information across all channels. MarketAgility is comprised of three major components: the MarketAgility XML Connector, the MarketAgility XML Server, and the MarketAgility XML Transporter. MarketAgility also incorporates SoftQuad's XMetaL technology, an enabler for XML content applications. MarketAgility allows content revisions to be made directly within XML. Suppliers can now easily supplement their product data with rich content and better differentiate themselves in e-markets. MarketAgility supports common industry standards such as BizTalk, W3C Schemas, xCBL and cXML. www.softquad.com

Interwoven & BEA Join Forces
4/27/2000

Interwoven, Inc. and BEA Systems, Inc. announced an alliance and the integration of Interwoven TeamSite enterprise-class content management software with BEA WebLogic Personalization Server 2.0 and BEA WebLogic Commerce Server 2.0. The integration allows businesses that serve the e-generation to rapidly and reliably create, manage and deliver dynamic, personalized Web content to enrich their customers' e-commerce experiences. Interwoven TeamSite software includes a workflow engine that enables organizations to develop, manage and ensure the integrity of the content, and streamline complex project management. TeamSite's content architecture manages the development of all types of Web assets. BEA WebLogic Personalization Server enables companies to apply business rules to customer profile information and to personalize the customer's Web experience and create dynamic, tailored interfaces. BEA WebLogic Commerce Server provides highly customizable, out-of-the-box e-commerce functionality that is fully Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) compliant. Together, these solutions enable companies to create value for their customers by developing and delivering personalized content within a flexible, extensible e-commerce application. The complete integration package, which includes documentation and pre-configured sample template and workflow, are available today from Interwoven. BEA WebLogic Commerce Server 2.0 and BEA WebLogic Personalization Server 2.0 are available from BEA. www.interwoven.com, www.bea.com

As our main article points out, this is a strategy you will see more of. BEA will likely still help come customers with content management on their own, but will use Interwoven for implementations requiring more sophisticated content management functionality.

Netsanity & Nokia in Field Trials to Deliver XML to WAP Phones
4/27/2000

NetSanity, Inc. announced an aggressive plan to create a standards-based platform for the delivery of web content to mobile devices. The new technology will deliver a user's favorite web-based information onto any wireless device that is mobile-Internet ready. This month, Nokia and NetSanity will demonstrate the delivery of Digital Pebbles, or pieces of Internet information, to WAP-enabled mobile phones. NetSanity also announced that over 70 content partners and 1500 affiliates have adopted NetSanity's XML application, making their content immediately available on the NetSanity SmartBar, NetSanity's current Windows desktop product -- and soon on mobile devices. Over the next few months, NetSanity plans to partner with additional wireless hardware manufacturers and telecom carriers to offer NetSanity technology on a variety of mobile devices. www.netsanity.com, www.nokia.com

SOAP Gets Update to Version 1.1
4/26/2000

Microsoft Corp. announced the availability of the latest version of the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) specification on the MSDN developer program Web site. SOAP is an open standards-based interoperability protocol that uses XML to provide a common messaging format to link together any applications and services anywhere on the Internet. This new version extends SOAP's asynchronous messaging capabilities and enables support for the Internet protocols SMTP, FTP and TCP/IP in addition to existing support for HTTP. These new capabilities further bolster SOAP's ability to integrate heterogeneous applications within the enterprise or diverse trading partners across the Internet. The specification was initially developed by DevelopMentor Inc., Microsoft and UserLand Software Inc. IBM Corp. and Lotus Development Corp. join as authors with version 1.1. The latest version has industry support from companies such as ActiveState Tool Corp., Ariba Inc., BORN Information Services Inc., Commerce One Inc., Compaq Computer Corp., DevelopMentor Inc., Extensibility Inc., IBM, IONA Technologies PLC, Intel Corp., Lotus Development Corp., ObjectSpace Inc., Rogue Wave Software Inc., Scriptics Corp., Secret Labs AB, UserLand Software and Zveno Pty. Ltd. The SOAP specification provides a common mechanism for integrating services on the Internet and/or intranet regardless of operating system, object model or programming language. Through its reliance on XML and HTTP, SOAP enables any new or existing applications to communicate with one another. By supporting SOAP, Web sites can become Web services that are accessible programmatically without requiring human initiation or intermediation. With a common integration fabric for direct interaction between software connected to the Internet, new opportunities abound in aggregation, federation and integration of services and devices located anywhere on the Internet. http://msdn.microsoft.com

Liaison Technology Announces Web Content Harvesting Solution
4/26/2000

Liaison Technology released Dexter DE, a software solution that enables companies to succeed in B2B online commerce by enriching the information exchanged between buyer and seller. All enterprises participating in online commerce can benefit from Dexter DE. Companies building an online marketplace use Dexter DE to collect content from supplier Web sites. Sellers of products or services use Dexter DE to obtain descriptive content from their intranet and partner Web sites. Buyers in an online market use Dexter DE to aggregate online product and price information to create custom procurement catalogs. Dexter DE is based on Liaison's Adaptive Content Recognition technology. Dexter DE harvests content from Web pages that change frequently. The software can be trained to gather any content from unlimited sites and pages. In addition, Dexter DE requires no programming to establish or maintain the data feeds. Users train Dexter DE by surfing to a' URL and selecting the content to be collected. Once the software is trained to recognize the target content, Dexter DE will automatically gather similar content from other product pages in that site. Even if the target Web page changes, Dexter DE continues to locate the specified content. Dexter DE can automatically harvest content as often as necessary to keep information current. In addition, Dexter DE provides a sophisticated data normalization or rationalization function via the inverse Thesaurus engine. This feature helps ensure that only accurate and consistent data is being loaded into the marketplace's database. When Dexter DE executes, it downloads the selected pages from the targeted Web sites, parses the required content, rationalizes the data for consistency, and loads the data into any 'database. XML, flat file and API data interfaces are supported. Dexter DE is available immediately direct from Liaison Technology. The software is licensed on an annual lease basis. The costs vary depending on number of servers and clients required. Dexter DE is compatible with all databases and e-commerce platforms. The minimum server requirements for Dexter DE are: Pentium II 450 MHz processor; 128 MB RAM, 20MB disk space for Dexter DE and 250MB for data capture and audit logs; Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 SP4; Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0; and minimum 128KB per second Internet connection. www.liaison.com

This is of course an important capability, but is much more difficult than this release makes it sound!

Softshare Athena Unveiled for Web-Based EDI & XML Document Exchange
4/25/2000

Softshare announced the immediate availability of Softshare Athena. Named after the goddess of commerce, Softshare Athena is a Web-based EDI/XML solution. From Athena, businesses can view, print, delete or, if their trading partner requires it, respond to incoming EDI documents. In addition, Athena automatically creates 997 functional acknowledgments on the user's behalf whenever an incoming document is printed or viewed. Businesses can manage more than one trading-partner relationship under a Softshare Athena account. With subscriptions starting at $300 per year, Softshare Athena requires only an ISP and browser. For an interactive look at Softshare Athena see www.softshare.com/athena

Netlibrary Launches Corporate Digital Library
4/25/2000

netLibrary announced a new initiative to market digital libraries, consisting of eBooks and other electronic information resources, to corporations. netLibrary is capable of providing corporations with an extensive library of digital content by employing an eBook development and distribution platform it has built during the past 20 months in the academic library market and by drawing from a collection of more than 18,000 titles from 200 publishers. Initial targets for netLibrary's corporate library offering include corporations with existing physical and digital libraries, corporations with advanced training programs and corporate universities, and organizations with a strong knowledge-management orientation. netLibrary is offering its corporate library solution to public and private companies, non-profit organizations, and government agencies. netLibrary's corporate library content includes thousands of business and technology titles. Subject area headings in the business collection include finance and banking, human resources, international business, management, sales, and eCommerce. Technology titles include computer engineering and hardware, databases, enterprise management, networking, operating systems, programming, and Web development. Corporate library customers can work with netLibrary and publishers to build customized digital libraries covering specialized areas of knowledge such as science and engineering, risk management, and finance. At the customer's discretion, intranet/extranet access to digital library resources can be made available to employees, clients, and suppliers. In the future, netLibrary plans to enhance its corporate library solution to include components such as executive information services, PDA versions of newspapers and magazines through netLibrary's peanutpress.com handheld division, and periodicals and journals offered through netLibrary's alliance with EBSCO Publishing. Information resources generated in-house can be combined with the digital library for seamless searching and retrieval. www.netLibrary.com

ActionPoint Announces Interaction Management System
4/24/2000

ActionPoint, Inc., formerly Input Software, Inc., unveiled its ActionPoint Interaction Management System for Global 1000 organizations and net marketplaces. A high performance e-commerce software suite, the ActionPoint System simplifies the wide range of complex Web interactions -- interactions between people and e-commerce systems -- needed to conduct business on-line. It then delivers validated and formatted content to enterprise or B2B process automation systems, triggering real-time fulfillment processes. The ActionPoint System enables e-businesses to build dynamic and intelligent Web interfaces for action points. Action points include generating requests for quotes, bid responses, or purchase orders; configuring complex products; or applying for credit cards, mortgage loans or life insurance on line. The ActionPoint Interaction Management System consists of three complementary software products: ActionPoint Dialog Server - an XML-based product that allows organizations to rapidly deploy and easily maintain dynamic, personalized Web interactions at all action points needed to consummate end-to-end business on the Internet. (The Dialog Server was previously announced under the project name DynamicInput.); ActionPoint Enterprise Server - a customizable and scalable system for post-session processing and integration with enterprise systems; and InputAccel - ActionPoint's capture system. The ActionPoint Interaction Management System will run under Windows NT and UNIX. The ActionPoint Interaction Management System will be available as separate components or as an entire solution suite in 3Q 2000. Full system pricing begins at $150,000. www.actionpoint.com

Quark Delivers XML with avenue.quark & Announces Agreement with Extensibility
4/24/2000

Quark Inc. announced the release of avenue.quark, which will allow millions of QuarkXPress users to free their content for re-use. Avenue.quark is Xtensions software that allows users to richly describe and export their content in XML format, thereby maximizing the value of their editorial assets and facilitating re-use in multiple media. Avenue.quark also introduces the idea of content re-use to QuarkXPress by allowing users to create templates with formatted placeholders for XML content. Publishers can create a one-time deployment of the content or retain a dynamic link between the QuarkXPress template and the XML content. Avenue.quark integrates with the growing suite of Quark products and other publishing systems via XTensions technology. Avenue.quark ships with the StreetPost QuarkXTensions module, which allows users to post XML documents directly to Vignette StoryServer 4 and other Web application servers. Quark is also developing XTensions software for avenue.quark to check in content directly to Quark Digital Media System (QuarkDMS), and to troubleshoot document formatting and tagging rules. Quark plans to make these XTensions freely available to all avenue.quark customers as they are released. Avenue.quark for Mac OS is available in the U.S. via electronic software distribution (ESD) for $199.00 from eMacsoftware.com (www.emacsoftware.com). Both Windows and Mac OS versions will be available directly from Quark and distributors within the next thirty days. Avenue.quark will be available worldwide later this summer. Quark also announced a software bundling agreement with Extensibility Inc. With the purchase of avenue.quark customers will receive a trial version of XML Authority, an XML schema creation, conversion, and management solution. www.quark.com

EDGAR Online, PricewaterhouseCoopers in Agreement to Market XML Data from EDGARSCAN
4/24/2000

EDGAR Online and PricewaterhouseCoopers announced they have signed an agreement that will give EDGAR Online the exclusive right to market the XML-based output of the popular EDGARSCAN software developed by PricewaterhouseCoopers. EDGARSCAN, which is currently available only via the PricewaterhouseCoopers Web site, is technology for parsing financial data from SEC documents filed by public companies. EDGARSCAN, for which PricewaterhouseCoopers has sought patent protection, is used by accountants, financial analysts, and other professionals to extract and analyze income statement, balance sheet and cash flow data from EDGAR documents. The agreement will enable EDGAR Online to create XML data feeds using EDGARSCAN and to sell the feeds directly to high volume users who want to use this data on their Intranets and for internal analytics. EDGAR Online and PricewaterhouseCoopers anticipate their agreement will be extended to include data using the XBRL (extensible business reporting language) standard for online financial reporting recently introduced by a consortium of more than 30 companies and financial organizations. www.edgar-online.com/news, www.pwcglobal.com

Inprise/Borland Announces New Midas XML Server for B2B Data Exchange 
4/21/2000

Inprise/Borland announced the immediate availability of Borland MIDAS 3, middleware technology and components for rapidly building Delphi and C++ Builder Internet applications. Now supporting XML and Dynamic HTML, MIDAS 3 substantially increases the scalability and flexibility of large-scale Internet applications. Inprise/Borland also announced modified MIDAS licensing that will now allow small- to medium-sized businesses to gain the same advantages as large corporations as they extend their businesses to the Internet. MIDAS 3 simplifies and speeds up the development, integration, and deployment of thin-client, distributed Internet applications. It speeds data access across all application tiers from the client to the database server through fast remote-data access and intelligent data synchronization, which together optimize network bandwidth. Solutions built with MIDAS can take advantage of its support for e-commerce standards including CORBA, COM/MTS, XML and dynamic HTML. This ensures application interoperability and extensibility. MIDAS will support Linux when Inprise/Borland's Project Kylix ships later this year. Project Kylix is a Linux component based development environment for two-way visual development of graphical user interface, Internet, database, and server applications. Free development licenses of MIDAS are included with Inprise/Borland's application development tools, Borland Delphi and C++Builder Enterprise. MIDAS server deployment is priced using a per-server license scheme. MIDAS 3 server deployment licenses with unlimited client access are available now directly from Inprise/Borland for $299.95. This price is in U.S. dollars and applies only in the United States. International customers should contact their local Inprise/Borland offices, distributors, or representatives. www.borland.com

Reuters Launches Internet Delivery System for XML-Based News Content
4/20/2000

Reuters launched a new delivery mechanism for its Media news products. The Reuters Internet Delivery System (IDS) enables Reuters to deliver its news content in XML. Text news as well as photos and video files can be delivered either as independent media streams or as linked multimedia news packages. Web publishers can choose to display the content using their own XML style sheets or they can use a simple display template supplied by Reuters. IDS will be used as the principal delivery mechanism for Reuters growing range of Online Report services. Reuters is currently involved in a number of XML standards initiatives and, as a member of the International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC), initiated the development of an XML encoding for news called NewsML. NewsML is part of the IPTC 2000 initiative launched last year to develop an XML-based framework for structuring and managing news objects in a multimedia environment. IDS utilizes a Reuters prototype NewsML DTD. IDS uses Kinecta's syndication software, based on ICE (Information and Content Exchange), which enables customers to dynamically receive fresh news content across the Internet as it is published by Reuters. www.reuters.com

We will be very happy when all our news comes to us in XML.

Documentum Releases 4i eBusiness Edition
4/19/2000

Documentum announced the release of Documentum 4i eBusiness Edition, a content management platform for creating, personalizing, managing, and delivering web and enterprise content. Documentum 4i eBusiness Edition provides a common enterprise infrastructure that dynamically combines business-critical enterprise content with web content to fuel every e-business initiative: B2B, B2C and B2E. This release also introduces advanced content personalization that can target rich content to an individual, a local geography or a target device in a closed loop system that can, based on user profile and usage, "learn" from past behavior to enrich subsequent interactions and further personalize content delivery. At the heart of the 4i eBusiness Edition is the eContent server. In addition to version control, audit trail, and security capabilities, the eContent server automates and implements the business policies and workflows to manage all types of content stored in the content repository. Complementing the eContent server is WebPublisher which streamlines and expedites the entire process of content creation, contribution, and collaboration with an easy-to-use user interface. Documentum 4i includes the new Web Development Kit, offering Java application classes and components. 4i Web Development Kit takes advantage of standards such as ASP, JSP and Java. 4i eBusiness Edition also comes with a set of eCommerce integrators to integrate with application servers and commerce servers such as BEA WebLogic, IBM WebSphere, ATG Dynamo, and BroadVision one-to-one Enterprise.  www.documentum.com

It will be interesting to see whether Documentum's content management efforts penetrate the same verticals as their document management has, and for which applications.

MediaBridge Technologies Unveils Cross Media eMarketing Solution
4/19/2000

MediaBridge Technologies unveiled its closed loop targeted cross media eMarketing solution designed to help businesses deliver a consistent branded experience to their customers using both online and offline media channels. The suite, which includes six interrelated components, helps businesses deliver promotions and advertising initiatives with consistent brand positioning, promotion campaigns, and rich-media content. The MediaBridge solution includes tools enabling marketers to manage company product knowledge assets to build a wide variety of promotions from a single-source content database. MediaBridge's eMarketing solution provides benefits for both pure Internet and brick and mortar companies. By enabling marketers to drive a consistent message and branded promotion across most media - Web, email, WAP phones, and traditional print media - companies can employ eMarketing strategies that are designed to be the most effective for a given demographic audience. Through alliances with companies like Unisys, Engage, Retek, KPMG Consulting, Adobe Systems and Breakaway Solutions, MediaBridge is able to meet a wide range of complex promotion planning and content management needs. MediaBridge's promo.planner enables merchandisers and marketers to manage product and promotion information. Promo.planner provides a single point for managing: SKU data, marketing information, and promotional information. MediaBridge's content.server is a workflow, content and media asset management system built on a rich media database that supports cross-media, multi-media promotions. MediaBridge's profile.server uses anonymous behavior and interest profiling technology to capture viewing behavior and interests of Web site visitors. MediaBridge's promo.server provides real-time dynamic promotional creation and delivery across internet-enabled devices. XML-based, promo.server supports browsers, wireless and broadband, as well as rich media formats. MediaBridge's smartmedia.server connects to content.server and makes stored images and other media assets available to the Web. MediaBridge's approval.server is an internet-based promotion approval system for proofing online and offline media promotions. www.mediabridge.net

Haht & Commerce One Partner
4/19/2000

HAHT Software, Inc. and Commerce One, Inc. announced the execution of a preliminary, non-binding memorandum of understanding to facilitate the creation of "open" dynamic B2B trading communities. The two companies intend to work together to make it possible for sellers to gain immediate access to a broad range of buying organizations. HAHT is integrating its entire e-commerce suite with the Commerce One MarketSite Global Trading Portal for exchanging goods and services among businesses worldwide. The suite includes all of the HAHT Commerce e-Scenarios, plus HAHT Sellside Links and HAHT Sellside Exchange. The joint effort will enable HAHT's enterprise e-sellers to connect once to Commerce One MarketSite, reaching a vast number of buyers on MarketSite as well as other business-to-business Internet portals on the Commerce One Global Trading Web. This will allow for more efficient intra-company workflow, enhanced information-sharing capabilities, and more closely integrated buyer-seller relationships. HAHT and Commerce One will define open XML-based solutions spanning product configuration, quotation, requisition, order management, fulfillment and payment processes. In addition, HAHT and Commerce One intend to collaborate on XML schemas and business document definitions and interfaces, enabling accurate document exchange between heterogeneous systems and multiple trading partners. HAHT's solutions will support Commerce One's XML-standard, xCBL (Common Business Library), and utilize Commerce One's XCC (XML Commerce Connector) toolkit to implement the joint business libraries. XML-based solutions provide a basis for rapid development and deployment of transactions and business processes across dissimilar applications, systems and software. www.commerceone.com, www.haht.com

So did Commerce One need more sellside SAP integration capability?

W3C Issues First Public Working Draft of XForms Data Model
4/18/2000

The World Wide Web Consortium announced the release of the first Public Working Draft of the XForms Data Model. The XForms Data Model Working Draft, along with the XForms Requirements document, provide the first cross-industry efforts in seven years to produce the next generation of Web-based forms. When HTML Forms were introduced to the Web in 1993, they provided a means to gather information and perform transactions. The structure of forms served the needs of many users at that time, as well as the devices used to access the Web. Seven years later, the Web is a space where hundreds of millions of users expect to use many different devices to perform increasingly complex transactions, many of which exceed the limitations of the original forms technology. The XForms Subgroup has produced a forms architecture that separates data modeling, logic, and presentation. XForms aims to ease the transition of the Web from HTML to XML. As XHTML 1.0 allows HTML content authors to make a smooth entry into the XML world, XForms allow Web application authors to combine the modularity of XML with the simplicity of HTML to gain key advantages in the areas of device independence, accessibility, business-to-business and consumer e-commerce, and embedded devices. The XForms Data Model deliberately separates the purpose of a form from its presentation. This allows the application author to rigorously define the form data, independent of how end-users interact with the application. The separation facilitates the development of Web applications with user interaction components, and provides advantages to Web application developers. In the XForms suite of specifications, the rules for describing, validating, and submitting application data are expressed in XML, as well as the submitted data. By providing the rules and data in XML, XForms lays the foundation for combinations with other XML applications, supporting the extensible Web. Separating purpose and presentation also makes device independence easier to achieve by allowing Web application authors to write the data model once for all devices. Because the data model is not tied to presentation, developers may customize the presentation in a way that best suits each device's user interface. Support for device independence paves the way for a Web that is accessible to all users. www.w3c.org

We assumed the "1993" that HTML forms were first introduced to the web was a typo at first, but there follows a statement about "Seven years later…"! Were HTML forms really in use at CERN back then?

Interwoven & KPMG Consulting Announce Global Alliance
4/18/2000

Interwoven, Inc. and KPMG Consulting LLC announced a global strategic alliance to help enterprises more quickly build eBusiness Web sites. As part of the Alliance, KPMG Consulting is building a global Interwoven practice supported by key KPMG Global Solutions Centers. The alliance is designed to meet the needs of companies ranging from Web-based businesses to the Fortune 1000. KPMG Consulting will be a preferred systems integrator of Interwoven's products and will include Interwoven TeamSite software in its eBusiness solution portfolio. www.kpmgconsulting.com, www.interwoven.com

New Release of Softshare Delta Improves EDI & XML Translation
4/17/2000

Softshare announced the immediate availability of Softshare Delta 2.0. The new Softshare Delta release includes many user-friendly enhancements to further assist in the integration between e-commerce and traditional data formats. The latest version of Softshare Delta is built upon a core mapping product that translates EDI and XML documents into flat file or database formats -- and vice versa. Delta also supports mapping to text formats, such as HTML, to aid in Web integration. Softshare Delta 2.0 incorporates several new prominent features, including support of the Microsoft BizTalk Framework. Softshare Delta's support of this XML framework allows Delta users to integrate BizTalk documents into their business environment. Delta users can generate and automatically address BizTalk documents using the framework's approved set of XML tags as well as author BizTalk-compatible XML schemas for use throughout the trading partner community. Other features added in this release are Microsoft Visual SourceSafe integration for map version tracking, flat file optimizations for faster map execution, and improved trouble-shooting features. Available for $3,600-$5,800, Softshare Delta works with Softshare Vista 2.0 or Softshare's Electronic Commerce Server (ECS) application for data communications, tracking and map execution management. Current Delta users will receive the Delta 2.0 upgrade at no additional cost. www.softshare.com

Software AG Opens U.S. Subsidiary to Focus on Market for Native XML Products
4/17/2000

Software AG, headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, has opened a new U.S. arm, aggressively focused on marketing native XML technology to companies in the United States. Software AG's XML offering, Tamino, a native XML information server, is part of a full suite of native XML products Software AG is offering for mission-critical e-business. Tamino is a complete Web-enabled data management system for data exchange and application integration. Unlike relational databases, it stores, retrieves and exchanges data in XML as its natural format, without the need for conversion to other formats. www.softwareagusa.com

They have since started getting aggressive.

Ironside Technologies Delivers XML-Based Exchange Integration Module
4/17/2000

Ironside Technologies Inc. announced the Ironside XCHANGE trading exchange integration module. Available today, Ironside XCHANGE provides an XML-based transaction standard for online trading exchanges without a transaction protocol in place. Ironside XCHANGE provides online exchanges all of the essential business actions required for sellers and buyers to effectively conduct business, enabling static "informediary" exchanges to immediately support dynamic trade. Trading exchanges integrating sellers with this module are able to immediately broker real-time transactions and queries such as product availability, market-specific price and available-to-promise (ATP) status. Ironside XCHANGE is available free of charge to any online trading exchange without a transaction protocol in place. Once Ironside XCHANGE is in place, trading exchanges have immediate real-time access to the entire Ironside Network seller community, which is the industry's largest group of business suppliers. www.ironside.net

EBT Expands DynaBase Platforms
4/13/2000

eBusiness Technologies announced that DynaBase now runs on the Sun-Netscape Alliance's iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4 SP4, Microsoft Windows 2000 and Sun Microsystems' Solaris 7 Operating Environment. DynaBase includes server and client-side components. The server-side components run on Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Sun Solaris 2.6 and Sun Solaris 7. The client components, which provide access to the content management and production capabilities of DynaBase, run on Windows 98/NT, Windows 2000, Mac 8.6, Sun Solaris 2.6 and Sun Solaris 7. DynaBase will begin shipping immediately with support for iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4 SP4, Windows 2000 and Solaris 7 Operating Environment. www.ebt.com

Datawatch Announces XML Conversion Technology
4/12/2000

Datawatch Corporation announced an XML product suite that transforms legacy transaction documents and text data streams into XML on an automated basis. The suite, which will be available to Datawatch partners next quarter and to end-users in the fall, includes a Windows-based XML GUI designer and an XML Data Pump. The technology will also be incorporated into Datawatch's own line of enterprise reporting products. Datawatch's new XML Suite allows transaction data, statement data, EDI streams, and other structured document information to be extracted, scrubbed, transformed, validated, and converted to well-formed XML on an automated basis without new programming. Datawatch's product suite includes a Windows-based XML GUI designer and an XML Data Pump. Each product will be available first as an enabling technology for Datawatch partners and then as an end user product. The XML GUI Designer allows the user to view a sample copy of the input document and break it into templates and fields. Each template generates a table of records which can be logically filtered and extended through calculated fields and database joins. The designer also provides a visual interface for defining the relationship through which the input templates map to an XML schema. The XML Data Pump, when fed an individual input document or stream of documents, has the ability to search the document profile database and associate the appropriate profile with the input. Using the profile, the XML Data Pump generates and outputs a series of XML documents. www.datawatch.com

Vignette Introduces V/5 eBusiness Platform
4/11/2000

Vignette Corporation introduced its new V/5 eBusiness Platform, the largest product release in the company's history and the cornerstone of Vignette's new V/Series architecture and strategy. The Vignette V/5 eBusiness Platform provides an enterprise-ready architecture that helps eBusinesses build and adapt their applications quickly to meet changing market demands. It provides a scalable, reliable, and high-performance foundation for delivering content and managing interactions across multiple communication channels such as the Web, pagers, mobile phones, and e-mail. The V/5 eBusiness Platform ships with the Vignette Application Foundation (VAF). The VAF extends Vignette's applications with an application architecture and framework for building componentized, re-useable, application modules. The V/5 eBusiness Platform offers an open application environment. The V/5 eBusiness Platform operates natively in both a COM/ASP environment and an EJB/JSP environment. ASP support will be available in the first release of V/5 while JSP support is planned in a follow-up Q4 release. VAF is now available and is included in the price of the V/5 eBusiness Platform, which will begin shipping at the end of Q2 2000. www.vignette.com

So should we now be comparing Vignette to BEA instead of Broadvision?

Input Software Announces InputAccel 3.0
4/11/2000

Input Software Inc. announced a new release of its InputAccel information capture solution. InputAccel 3.0 transforms mission-critical information trapped on traditional paper and fax documents into e-business ready content such as XML. InputAccel delivers this e-content to customer databases and the Web, or uses the information to trigger e-commerce transaction workflow processes. InputAccel 3.0 includes new automation technologies that allow Internet businesses to significantly increase the speed and accuracy with which they can transform paper into e-content. InputAccel 3.0 includes: InputAccel/Forms, a suite of InputAccel modules that incorporate advanced recognition technologies to automatically extract critical business data from paper or faxed forms; InputAccel/Document ID, which automatically distinguishes between hundreds of different document types so that each may be routed to the appropriate capture process; and InputAccel/Index, which enables high-speed data entry operations for those documents requiring human intervention. InputAccel 3.0 is scheduled to ship to Beta at the end of Q2 2000. www.inputsw.com

Note that Input is now ActionPoint.

arcadiaOne Introduces Online Service for Content Exchange Networks
4/11/2000

arcadiaOne, Inc. announced arcadiaOne Online, an ASP-style online service that allows businesses to automate content exchange with their partners over the internet with minimal IT infrastructure. The Online service is powered by the company's new 2.0 release, its technology for business-to-business electronic syndication. Built on XML, HTTP, and Java, and completely ICE-compliant, arcadiaOne 2.0 is an eSyndication architecture to enable ASP-style services that allow multiple partners to exchange content with each other via remote servers. arcadiaOne Online is a flexible, online solution that enables a business to quickly and cost-effectively build a content exchange network. Once registered for the service, customers can immediately begin exchanging content with their partners and suppliers. ArcadiaOne Online is available 24 hours a day and features an easy-to-use graphical interface that can be quickly learned by any distributor or receiver of content. It is ideal for firms that wish to quickly establish an online presence with minimal IT cost and maintenance. The new 2.0 eSyndication platform is a complete solution to establish and manage syndicator/subscriber relationships and the scheduling and automatic delivery of content between them. Its flexible data architecture supports all types of content sources including file systems, SQL databases, web servers, and proprietary APIs. Being content neutral, arcadiaOne 2.0 can handle all data formats, including: text, HTML, XML, Mp3, jpeg, mpeg, and is applicable to content types as diverse as news, financial data, catalogs and multimedia audio/video. In addition to the ASP-style Online service, arcadiaOne 2.0 is available in two licensing models: Enterprise and Lite. arcadiaOne Enterprise is a scalable server that allows customers to setup exchange relationships with any number of partners for frequent, complex, and high-volume content exchanges. Enterprise is a self-sufficient exchange platform that enables customers to quickly and painlessly add new partners to their network. arcadiaOne Lite is best suited for occasional content exchange with a single partner, and requires minimum IT overhead. The Enterprise and Lite products, as well as the Online service are all fully capable of both syndicating (sending) and subscribing to (receiving) content, and can seamlessly communicate with each other. arcadiaOne 2.0 is immediately available for production deployment on Windows NT, Linux, and Sun Solaris. www.arcadiaOne.com

We think this is a good idea, although we are curious about what an "ASP-style service" is.

CardoNet Joins Ariba to Provide Catalog Content Aggregation & Automation
4/11/2000

CardoNet joined the Ariba Supplier Link program as a technology member to aid supplier enablement on the Ariba B2B Commerce Platform by offering access to CardoNet's catalog content aggregation solutions. CardoNet's MarketStand solution will facilitate the syndication and aggregation of catalog data between the Ariba B2B Commerce Platform and suppliers. As part of Ariba's supplier ecosystem, CardoNet will be able to expand its catalog content aggregation solutions to suppliers involved in various forms of trade, including online auctions. CardoNet's MarketStand technology enables suppliers to rapidly build and manage clean, integrated multi-vendor catalogs. In addition, MarketStand offers an advanced, scalable cost-effective solution that eliminates the complexity of managing catalog content. Moreover CardoNet's catalog content aggregation solutions helps suppliers develop and maintain complete, up-to-date, accurate catalogs. Through its open Ariba B2B Commerce Services, the Ariba B2B Commerce Platform provides CardoNet with a single, Internet-based point of access and integration with buyers and e marketplaces worldwide. Ariba B2B Commerce Services will also provide CardoNet and its customers with access to efficient trading mechanisms and commerce processes such as content management services, global supplier directories, sourcing tools, B2B auctions and reverse auctions, electronic payment and streamlined transaction services. CardoNet also announced that it will collaborate with Ariba on the continued development of cXML. CardoNet will use cXML to make its MarketStand product available via the Ariba B2B Commerce Platform. www.cardonet.com

Treev & Sequoia Join Forces on E-Business Portals
4/10/2000

TREEV, Inc. announced a new agreement with Sequoia Software Corporation. TREEV will integrate Sequoia's XML Portal Server (XPS) as a core component of its strategic e-business solutions. Using the new integrated solution, customers will increase their ability to access and leverage information stored within TREEV products, legacy information spanning multiple platforms and dynamic Internet-based services and repositories. This partnership will combine TREEV's broad range of content and process management solutions with Sequoia's interactive e-business platform to provide customers with a faster, more effective way of interacting with stored information. With this solution, businesses will be able to provide their employees, customers and partners with personalized Web pages to access and act on information aggregated from within an organization's valuable corporate resources, external Web content and supply chain partners. This technology addresses the process automation and content management challenge with a solution that organizes existing corporate content concurrently with Web content. This combined solution will meet a growing need for software products that can sift through the increasing volumes of corporate and Internet-based information to identify, facilitate and automate e-business opportunities. By using XML, the combined technologies of TREEV and Sequoia XPS will be capable of integrating, extracting and aggregating user-defined data and content from any variety of disparate information sources, enabling access and interaction with the most relevant information available and personalizing it according to individual user or supply chain partner needs. www.sequoiasoftware.com, www.treev.com

webMethods Launches webMethods B2B for RosettaNet
4/10/2000

 webMethods, Inc. announced webMethods B2B for RosettaNet, an out-of-the-box, production-proven solution that enables real-time B2B e-commerce across the supply chain while providing full integration to a variety of back-end, legacy and ERP systems. webMethods B2B for RosettaNet fully supports all common message standards of RosettaNet in addition to providing broad support of other industry leading B2B protocols such as XML, cXML, OBI, OAG, ACORD, Microsoft BizTalk and legacy EDI. RosettaNet is the standards body and consortium dedicated to delivering pre-defined B2B interface processes for the IT and electronic components industries. webMethods has been actively involved with developing RosettaNet solutions and has long recognized the potential of the consortium to revolutionize business-to-business processes. webMethods B2B for RosettaNet allows companies to securely expose business processes over the Internet for complete real-time integration with trading partners, suppliers, customers and B2B trading exchanges. webMethods B2B for RosettaNet fully supports all RosettaNet PIPs and is available on all platforms that support Java, including Microsoft Windows NT, Microsoft Windows 2000, Sun Microsystems Solaris, Linux, Hewlett Packard HP-UX, Compaq Unix, and IBM AIX and AS/400. The product integrates with DBMS products such as Oracle, Informix, DB2 and Microsoft SQL Server, as well as ERP applications from Baan, SAP, Oracle and PeopleSoft. In addition, webMethods B2B for RosettaNet may be deployed in a variety of security and firewall configurations, depending on the individual security requirements and concerns of each organization. www.webMethods.com

Supporting "all RosettaNet PIPs" is pretty cool, especially if it is product rather than policy. We don't mean to be snide - even the policy would be great.

PassCall & Jacada Partner to Deliver Enterprise WAP Solutions
4/10/2000

Jacada Ltd. and PassCall Advanced Technologies Ltd. announced a strategic alliance to market and deliver solutions that will provide immediate and complete connectivity to any Internet and mainframe application from any wireless device. Under the agreement, PassCall and Jacada will work together to deliver WAP-based solutions to AS/400 and mainframe customers worldwide. PassCall has developed a new technology that provides users of mobile phones and other wireless devices with Internet access utilizing existing Internet web sites. PassCall's GateWave technology enables access to any Internet site, in any language, via any cellular device. Jacada Wireless is a suite of solutions enabling wireless devices to quickly and easily integrate with existing legacy applications. Jacada Wireless supports any WAP enabled device such as mobile phones, as well as PDAs such as the Palm VII. Jacada's offerings also include Jacada for Java, Jacada for HTML and Jacada Connects. www.jacada.com, www.passcall.com

Eprise & Teijin Release Japanese Version of Content Management Solution
4/10/2000

Eprise Corporation and Teijin Systems Technology Ltd. (TST) announced commercial availability of Eprise Participant Server for the Japanese marketplace. The Japanese version of the Eprise dynamic content management platform is the result of a joint-development partnership with TST, which will sell and service Participant Server throughout Japan. Participant Server is a platform that enables business professionals to create, update, and target Web-based communications via the Internet, intranets, or extranets. The Asia/Pacific region, including Japan, presents a significant market opportunity for advanced content management solutions as Internet usage increases. According to TST, Participant Server's open architecture and features, such as the ability to control content access, editing, and submission based on an organization's own management structure, as well as language management for international sites, position Participant Server strongly for Japan and Asia/Pacific's e-business opportunities. Like the company's main product, Eprise Participant Server, the Japanese version operates as a Web server plug in providing event driven services for controlling content contribution, management, and distribution. No specialized server scripting language is required, as all functions are accessible via easy-to-use Web browser forms. Eprise Participant Server is available through TST in Japan this month. Participant Server supports Windows NT 4.0, Internet Information Server, and SQL Server 6.5 or 7. www.tjnsys.co.jp, www.eprise.com

We agree that this is an up-and-coming market and it would be wise to be in place early.

EDGAR Online Joins Global Initiative Launching XBRL
4/6/2000

EDGAR Online, Inc. announced it is working with over 30 other companies and organizations on the XBRL Project Committee to develop and launch XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language). XBRL, formerly code named XFRML, is a free, new XML-based specification that uses accepted financial reporting standards and practices to exchange financial reports across all software and technologies, including the Internet. Members of the XBRL Project Committee represent the financial, accounting, software and governmental communities from around the world. XBRL for financial statements, developed by the Committee as the first product in a future family of XBRL-based products, is currently under review for comments by the accounting profession and is anticipated to reach the market in July 2000. XBRL streamlines the financial information supply chain that includes public and private companies, the accounting profession, data aggregators, the investment community and all other users of financial statements. XBRL offers several key benefits: technology independence, full interoperability, efficient preparation of financial statements and reliable extraction of financial information. Information is entered only once, allowing that same information to be rendered in any form, such as a printed financial statement, an HTML document for the company's Web site, an EDGAR filing document with the SEC, a raw XML file or other specialized reporting formats such as credit reports or loan documents. www.XBRL.org

It is mind-boggling to think of what will be possible when this kind of information is accessible in XML with rich metadata.

eWebEditPro, Offers New Features for Well-Formed HTML, Office 2000 & XML
4/5/2000

Ektron, Inc. announced the newest version of its eWebEditPro with new functionality including well formed HTML and Office 2000 compatibility. eWebEditPro now provides HTML that conforms to the rules of XML, and it easily allows users to cut and paste from Office 2000 without losing formatting. eWebEditPro is a business-user-friendly content editor designed for dynamic Web sites. This browser-based tool puts content authoring in the hands of business users, while allowing Webmasters to maintain control over the look and feel of their sites. eWebEditPro offers a familiar Word-like toolbar that is used directly within a site or browser-based application. It allows anyone to author and publish content (text, tables, images, links, etc.) - without requiring HTML proficiency. The new release of eWebEditPro opens up the tool for new XML enabled international language support that allows users to import text in their native language, e.g.: German, French. This feature allows the editor to be naturalized for any international language. It also offers secure ASP image upload capabilities for securely passing images over authenticated networks. Additionally, eWebEditPro now offers a custom tag for the content management portion of Allaire's Spectra. www.ektron.com

Vality Technology Unveils Catalog Indexing & Matching Engine
4/5/2000

Vality Technology introduced INTEGRITY eSearch, a product indexing and high-speed matching engine that makes it easy for consumers and businesses to find the products they are looking for in Web catalogs. The initial component of Vality's e-Quality Content Management ("eQCM") solution, eSearch guarantees rapid time-to-market for deploying Web catalogs. The software also improves matches between Web search requests and available catalog items, improving customer experience and driving more transactions. INTEGRITY eSearch optimizes the indexing and matching process for content with complex formatting or structure, such as product catalog information, materials, and parts databases. The software allows companies to leverage existing product data to quickly develop Web catalog indexes that deliver accurate, reliable search results. INTEGRITY eSearch's matching technology allows customers to employ their own terminology to successfully search an online catalog without knowing the product categories. The software's built-in tolerance for search term ambiguity simplifies searching while ensuring dependable results, making it easier for customers to find the products they want. INTEGRITY eSearch is based on probabilistic matching technologies. The software ranks search results based on a statistical score that provides a meaningful measure of how closely the result matches the query. This approach enables INTEGRITY eSearch to return the best set of matching candidates for any query - regardless of spelling errors, incomplete query information or quality of the indexed data. www.vality.com

News Industry Advances XML Initiative
4/5/2000

The news industry’s technical standards body has approved two major working papers for its latest XML initiative, NewsML, and authorized retention of a consultant to produce a working draft by this summer. At its spring meeting in Nice, the International Press Telecommunications Council also ratified improvements to the News Industry Text Format, the XML-based text markup standard, and expansions to its subject code list to provide for better coverage of the Summer Olympic Games. The two NewsML papers are part of the IPTC 2000 initiative launched last fall to develop an XML-based framework for structuring and managing news objects in a multimedia environment. They are: Requirements Specification (www.iptc.org/xn-2.htm.), and Encoding Decisions, a guideline on how XML is to be used to construct NewsML (www.iptc.org/xn-8.htm). The goal is to have a draft ready for review for the IPTC Annual General Meeting in early July in Geneva. .... Two NewsML working parties have scheduled meetings in London next month to continue their work. The News Structure and Management group will meet May 15-17, followed by the News Text group May 17-19. In other action at the spring meeting the NITF Maintenance Working Party won approval to streamline the text standard in two ways: (1) structural changes, to refine the organization of NITF documents, and improve definitions of container elements so their use is consistent; and (2) tag clarification, to eliminate redundant and unnecessary tags. The NITF Maintenance group was formed in January to manage changes to the standard and prepared these proposals at a meeting in February. Additional changes are pending and another meeting is expected before the July AGM. (The updated DTD is available at www.iptc.org or www.nitf.org). The IPTC also agreed to pursue contacts with groups developing other media standards as it develops NewsML and maintains the NITF. These include MPEG-7, a metadata standard for audio and video objects; PRISM, an XML initiative for magazine publishing; and SMPTE/EBU, an advanced authoring format for the broadcasting industry. www.nitf.org

Tumbleweed Unveils Integrated Messaging Exchange 4.0
4/5/2000

Tumbleweed Communications Corp. announced Tumbleweed Integrated Messaging Exchange 4.0. IME 4.0 includes significant improvements for both senders and recipients of secure communication. For example, IME 4.0 includes Tumbleweed Secure Inbox, a feature that enables e-businesses to create a protected repository for each customer to whom they send documents. A user with a Secure Inbox has a safe place to receive, store and manage confidential data, the means to securely reply to or forward documents they receive, and the ability to create and send their own secure documents via IME. Users can access their private Secure Inboxes via their existing e-mail clients or web browsers. Tumbleweed IME 4.0 also includes new features for senders of secure messages. With auto-enrollment, advanced policy controls and deeper message tracking capabilities, IME 4.0 provides the infrastructure to support the preparation and delivery of any type of business document online. IME 4.0 leverages a company's existing infrastructure and is easily integrated with back-end systems. It features a range of security options, including digital certificate integration, encryption, SSL and web-based implementation of S/MIME, which shipped as part of IME 3.0. www.tumbleweed.com

arcadiaOne & Intershop Announce the Content Syndication Cartridge
4/4/2000

arcadiaOne, Inc. and Intershop Communications, Inc. announced the Content Exchange Server (CES) cartridge. CES integrates arcadiaOne's syndication technology into Intershop enfinity, a sell-side e-commerce application. The CES cartridge is the latest development in a collaborative relationship initiated in June 1999. arcadiaOne and Intershop Communications have developed solutions that enable businesses to solve the problem of distributing up-to-date content to their partners and customers on the web. The agreement announced today enables Intershop to offer its customers an additional solution that seamlessly integrates catalog creation and management with syndication-based content exchange. arcadiaOne's technology is based on the XML ICE (Internet Content Exchange) application for content syndication. By standardizing content exchange, the ICE protocol enables businesses to reduce the costs of online distribution networks while increasing the value of business alliances. The Content Exchange Server cartridge will be available in the second quarter of 2000. www.arcadiaOne.com, www.intershop.com         

Multicosm Announces Maximizer Line of Portal Enhancement Products
4/4/2000

Multicosm Ltd announced its Maximizer line of products for Web portals, extranets and enterprise intranets. Using Multicosm’s text analysis technology, Portal Maximizer customers can crawl any Web site and determine which pages are related to the various content that a customer chooses for its portal. It then automatically creates links to those pages that can be easily accessed from one central location. Customers with existing portals can both expand the reach of their portal, and significantly lower the cost of managing their sites with Portal Maximizer. Intranet Maximizer builds on the technology used in Portal Maximizer, and enhances it with integrated summarization, search, monitoring, and expertise identification features. Portal Maximizer can crawl vast amounts of Web content and identify the important concepts, product and people’s names on those sites. These names and concepts are then used as the basis of linking related pages together, whether on the same site or to external sites. Those links are stored and maintained separately from the HTML documents, making the tedious task of link management significantly easier and less time consuming. By inserting links “on-the-fly” as Web pages are served to the browser, the number of links that must be inserted by hand into each page on the site are dramatically reduced. Pages can be added to the site more quickly, as they are automatically analyzed and cross-referenced with the other pages. In addition, companies running Web portals have complete editorial control over not only what links appear on which pages, but over the links themselves because they are fully editable. Portal Maximizer and Intranet Maximizer are available immediately. www.multicosm.com

BEA WebLogic 5.1 Application Servers Deliver WML & XML
4/4/2000

BEA Systems, Inc. announced new releases of the BEA WebLogic 5.1 product line, an integrated family of e-commerce application servers that include BEA WebLogic Server 5.1 and BEA WebLogic Enterprise 5.1. The BEA WebLogic 5.1 application servers deliver a platform for a wide range of e-business environments by incorporating significant new e-commerce technologies, including support for WML (Wireless Markup Language) and XML for rapid development of mobile applications and business-to-business market places. In the latest release of BEA WebLogic Enterprise 5.1 all the Java functionality in WebLogic Server 5.1 has been merged into WebLogic Enterprise 5.1, combining all of BEA's Java, CORBA and BEA Tuxedo application technologies in a single integrated product. With support for WML and integration with WAP servers from market leaders such as Nokia, BEA WebLogic 5.1 application servers enable companies to rapidly build personalized and reliable e-commerce applications for wireless devices such as mobile phones and PDAs. BEA WebLogic 5.1 application servers also provide a core set of services to facilitate business-to-business collaboration over the Internet by integrating XML with BEA WebLogic applications and J2EE services. This technology enables new E-Market Integration solutions such as BEA's upcoming eProcess Integrator, a Java-based business workflow engine, and "Project E-Collaborate," a dynamic B2B software infrastructure that allows companies to rapidly create Internet-based trading communities. BEA WebLogic Server 5.1 is available from BEA immediately and BEA WebLogic Enterprise 5.1 will be available in May 2000. www.bea.com

Infoteria Announces XSLT Processor For PC, PDA & Cellular Devices
4/4/2000

Infoteria Corporation announced the availability of iXSLT. iXSLT is a full-featured commercial XSLT processor. XSLT is the W3C recommended specification for transforming XML documents into other XML documents or into HTML. iXSLT is fully compliant with W3's XSLT Version 1.0. IXSLT is implemented in C++ and is available in three configurations: 1) an EXE module which can be run from the command line; 2) a DLL which can be accessed from within C++ programs; and 3) a COM version for those who will need to use it with Active Server Pages (ASP) or Visual Basic applications. The DLL configuration is capable of very high speed processing of multiple XML documents by pre-loading XSLT files. The EXE version can be used on a web server as a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) module. The Japanese version of iXSLT is available now for Microsoft Windows 95/98, Windows NT and Windows 2000. The English version will be available April 1st. iXSLT pricing starts at $8,000. In addition, it is sold as a part of Infoteria's XML Solution Components. Users of iHTML 1.0 are entitled to a free upgrade. www.infoteria.com

ATG's Dynamo Brings Personalization & E-Commerce to Wireless Web
4/3/2000

Art Technology Group announced that its Dynamo Product Suite now enables wireless device publishing, personalization and e-commerce capabilities for mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). ATG is working closely with Hewlett-Packard Company, as well as systems integrators such as Icon MediaLab, to deliver open, standards-based wireless access to personalized e-commerce applications based on Dynamo. ATG is actively supporting the WAP standard throughout its Dynamo product line. ATG's Dynamo offers a multi-channel e-commerce architecture that combines the necessary flexibility and scalability of a 100% Java-based application server with integrated personalization and e-commerce capabilities. Dynamo allows businesses to build personalized online relationships with their customers regardless of how they are accessing the Internet. ATG's multi-channel solution will enable organizations to take advantage of Dynamo's proven, robust e-commerce and personalization capabilities to build customer loyalty and satisfaction, increase yield from customers, and decrease the cost of customer service over both Web and wireless. www.atg.com

It won't be long before wireless device support won't be news at all. The "how" however, will take over as newsworthy controversy.

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