Issuu, a publishing platform for digital magazines, newspapers and catalogs, released its first mobile app for Android-powered devices. Issuu's new EasyRead (beta) technology automatically enhances the text of any publication enabling users to read text on small-screen devices while still maintaining the visual layout. EasyRead helps a longstanding problem in digital publishing where rich publications such as magazines, newspapers and catalogs are almost impossible to read on small screens. Available as a free beta version Issuu Mobile gives readers access to their favorite publications and must-read documents everywhere they go. http://www.issuu.com/mobile
December 2009 Archives
Design Science announced the release of MathType 6.6 for Windows, featuring support for Windows 7's handwriting recognition feature as well as extending its support to over 350 applications and websites in areas such as education, elearning, calculation, word processing, presentation, email, blogs and wikis. Among the newly supported applications and websites are Google Docs, Gmail, Blackboard and many others. For the last year, the company has been implementing its Equations Everywhere and Anywhere! initiative, enhancing MathType to eventually work with virtually all the applications and websites used by students, teachers, professors, elearning authors, scientists and engineers. With this new release, MathType now works with over 350 applications and websites. It also features an accompanying "Works With ..." web application that shows detailed instructions on how best to use MathType with each product. MathType is US $57 for academic users, $97 for non-academic users; upgrades are US $37 for academic users, $49 for non-academic users. Anyone can download MathType from the Design Science website and try it free for 30 days. http://www.dessci.com
Syncro Soft Ltd announced the immediate availability of version 11.1 of its XML Editor and XML Author. Oxygen combines content author features like the CSS driven Visual XML editor with a fully featured XML development environment. It has ready-to-use support for the main document frameworks DITA, DocBook, TEI and XHTML and also includes support for all XML Schema languages, XSLT/XQuery Debuggers, WSDL analyzer, XML Databases, XML Diff and Merge, Subversion client and more. Version 11.1 of <oXygen/> XML Editor improves the XML authoring capabilities, the support for XML development and also a number of core features. The visual XML authoring now uses schema information to provide intelligent editing actions that help keep the document valid and provide a better editing experience. The new compact representation of tags and the quick up/down navigation features improve the ergonomics and the usability. <oXygen/> can use any XQJ compliant XQuery processor for XQuery transformations, different error levels and external references can be specified for Schematron messages and the XProc support was improved with better editing and execution. The XML format and indent operation can use DTD/schema information to provide better formatting and the find and replace is now XML-aware and can accept XPath filtering to delimit the search scope. Starting with version 11.1 the diff and merge support from oXygen is available also as a separate application, oXygen XML Diff. Oxygen XML Editor and XSLT Debugger is available immediately in three editions: Multi-platform Academic/Personal license costs USD 64.00 (includes the one year support and maintenance pack)
Multi-platform Professional license costs USD 349.00; Multi-platform Enterprise license costs USD 449.00. Oxygen XML Author is available immediately in two editions: Multi-platform Professional license costs USD 199.00; Multi-platform Enterprise license costs USD 269.00. http://www.oxygenxml.com, http://www.syncrosvnclient.com
Alfresco Software, Inc. and RightScale, Inc. announced the availability of a joint solution aimed at speeding the deployment time and automating the scaling of Alfresco software in the cloud. Utilizing RightScale's software-as-a-service (SAAS) cloud management platform. RightScale's cloud management platform is aimed at enabling organizations to deploy Alfresco open source ECM quickly and create a fully-configured, fault-tolerant and load-balanced Alfresco cluster using RightScale ServerTemplates. http://www.alfresco.com/, http://www.rightscale.com/
IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Lombardi, a privately held software company based in Austin, Texas. Financial terms were not disclosed. Lombardi, a provider of Business Process Management (BPM) software and services, helps organizations automate and integrate business processes to increase efficiencies and reduce costs. According to IDC, the market opportunity for BPM software will increase at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 15 percent over the next four years, from $1.7B in 2009 to $3.0B by 2013. Lombardi’s department-level approach to delivering process management complements IBM's existing strengths in enterprise-wide process management software and adds a new and compelling dimension for customers looking for an integrated solution that automates human tasks and workflows. One of the earliest supporters of WebSphere, Lombardi brings capabilities that complement the recent product upgrades and new product announcements in IBM’s WebSphere portfolio. Investments of clients and partners in existing IBM and Lombardi technologies will be preserved, allowing customers to take advantage of the broader set of capabilities without needing to replace existing systems. Following regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, the acquisition will be completed and Lombardi integrated into IBM. http://www.lombardisoftware.com
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has published new Drafts of XQuery 1.1, XPath 2.1 and Supporting Documents. As part of work on XSLT 2.1 and XQuery 1.1, the XQuery and XSL Working Groups have published First Public Working Drafts of "XQuery and XPath Data Model 1.1," "XPath and XQuery Functions and Operators 1.1," "XSLT and XQuery Serialization 1.1" and "XPath 2.1." In addition, the XQuery Working Group has updated drafts for "XQuery 1.1: An XML Query Language," "XQueryX 1.1" and "XQuery 1.1 Requirements." http://www.w3.org/News/2009#entry-8682
Advanced Publishing Corporation has announced the launch of its iPhone viewer to the publishing market. Some features include: Live links on ads: All websites and email addresses on ads (and in the content) are linked to allow readers to click to get more information and connect with advertisers; Full issue search: Enter search terms and see each page that the search term appears on as well as color highlighting on each page to easily find what you are looking for; iPhone Reporting: Publishers will be able to see how many people are using the iPhone to read their magazine from Advanced Publishing's realtime Publishers Access Center Portal; Video can be added to any page of the iPhone digital magazine; iPhone readers can share magazine content with their friends via email, or post links to their Facebook or Twitter page directly from the iPhone version; Seamless access to digital magazines using a single URL that will automatically detect the source, PC or iPhone and deliver the appropriate version. No need to download an iPhone App. Readers can just use their iPhone (or iPod Touch) with its standard Safari browser. This iPhone version will be rolled out to existing customers over the next few weeks. http://www.advancedpublishing.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced that Kindle for iPhone App for iPhone and iPod touch is now available from the Apple App Store in more than 60 additional countries. The Kindle for iPhone App features Amazon's Whispersync technology that saves and synchronizes a customer's bookmarks across their Kindle devices and Kindle cross-platform applications, which include Kindle for iPhone and iPod touch, Kindle for PC, and in the coming months, Kindle for Mac and Kindle for Blackberry. Kindle customers can read a few pages on their Kindle, a few more pages on their Kindle-compatible device such as an iPhone and never lose their place. With Kindle for iPhone customers in over 60 countries can: Purchase, download and read hundreds of thousands of books available in the Kindle Store; Read the beginning of books for free before they buy; Add and automatically synchronize bookmarks and last page read; Access their library of previously purchased Kindle books stored on Amazon’s servers for free; Choose from six different font sizes and adjust words per line; Add and view notes and highlights marked on Kindle and Kindle DX; and, Read books in full color including children’s books, cookbooks, travel books, textbooks and graphic novels. The Kindle App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at http://www.itunes.com/appstore/, http://www.amazon.com
EPiServer announced the addition of a complete, integrated e-commerce platform to its existing web content management and community platform. Through a strategic partnership with Mediachase, the EPiServer platform will provide commerce, content and community, and is aimed to enable companies in the retail and B2B vertical markets to deliver a compelling online experience. The Mediachase .NET e-Commerce Framework (ECF) provides an agile best practices architecture, with user experience controls, loosely coupled subsystems, like catalog management, order management, customer management, merchandising, promotions, and a fully exposed .NET developer framework (API). Combined with the extensible EPiServer content management system (CMS) and EPiServer Community platform, .NET web developers can build and deploy online stores, including multi-branding, multi-language, and multi-channel capabilities. Marketing tasks are streamlined through the interface and new capabilities to correlate visitor feedback and experience with store operation and order status at every step of the process. The EPiServer and Mediachase platforms are available now. The EPiServer integrated e-commerce platform is expected in the first half of 2010. http://www.episerver.com
Content Management Professionals is pleased to announce the call for nominations to the CM Pros Board of Directors. Nominations for election to the board will be open on December 11, 2009. Nominations close on January 6, 2010. More information about the Election Timeline is available on the website. The board is seeking enthusiastic candidates to run for three seats, bringing the board to five members. To qualify as a candidate, you must be a member "in good standing" of CM Pros. This is an opportunity for anyone who is passionate about content management in its many forms to help define the future path of the organization. The CM Pros Board of Directors is both strategic and tactical. Each position may require a time commitment of up to 5–10 hours per week, including attendance at a weekly conference call meeting. To nominate yourself or someone else who you believe would make a great candidate, please see the How to Nominate page on the CM Pros website and email the Elections Oversight Committee at elections@cmprofessionals.org before Wednesday, January 6, 2010. http://www.cmprofessionals.org
AgileDelta, Inc., developer of XML optimization software, announced the release of Efficient XML 4.0. This major release adds several new features and complete support for the latest version of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) specification published earlier this week. AgileDelta created the technology on which the EXI specification is based. In addition to support for the Java and .NET platforms, Efficient XML 4.0 also introduces a high performance, small-footprint, low-power version of Efficient XML for native C/C++ applications, smart phones and embedded devices and a very small footprint Efficient XML processor for Java-powered devices. Efficient XML optimizes the bandwidth, CPU and power requirements of web services and web applications. A fully-functional free evaluation of the Efficient XML 4.0 product-line is available for download from AgileDelta's web-site. The download includes performance measurement tools that anyone can use to quickly determine how much smaller and faster Efficient XML makes their own data. http://www.agiledelta.com/
Atex announced the latest release of its Polopoly Web content management system, designed to support a widget plug-in framework for adding third-party components to a website with little software development required. The new release, version 9.14, represents the latest phase of the Atex “Polopoly as a Platform” initiative, where media companies can pick and choose the applications to add to websites, aimed to give more control and flexibility over how sites are built and deployed. Software developers can create and exchange elements with other developers using the Polopoly widget plug-in model. This could help reduce the overall cost of Polopoly website development as companies can acquire new elements instead of building them in-house. Atex plans to create a “storefront” to sell and swap digital components. Atex has a plug-in available to allow connectivity between Polopoly and its A-Series Digital Asset Management system so that editors can instantly publish archive material online. Polopoly 9.14 sites can also take advantage of products offered by third-party vendors to provide fully packaged and validated integrations. Services like video streaming, social media apps, content gating, pay-per-view models, and other Internet functionalities can be added via Polopoly widget plug-ins. http://www.atex.com/
Systems Alliance Inc. announced the release of Enhancement Pack 6 (EP 6), a software update for the SiteExecutive Web content management system (CMS). EP 6 introduces a new application layout editor, event calendar application, SiteExecutive Developer Edition, and enhancements to a number of other SiteExecutive components and capabilities. Designers will take notice of the new application Layout Editor, which provides a graphical user interface for arranging and styling dynamic content. The new Event Calendar Application extends the functionality of the existing SiteExecutive Event Calendar Module. It addresses client requests for enhanced event and calendar management, search and display capabilities, including: Better categorization - create and maintain event categories, associate event content with other site content; Layout editor and extensive set of reserve classes enhances visual integration of calendar and event content with site graphics; database enhancements for sites with multiple event calendars and large numbers of events. With EP 6, Systems Alliance is introducing enhancements to the SiteExecutive API which should accelerate development of custom applications, modules and integration with third-party applications and data sources. http://www.systemsalliance.com/
Atlassian announced the release of Confluence 3.1, the latest edition of Atlassian's enterprise wiki. New features include: OpenSocial gadgets: Confluence 3.1 lets you embed Gadgets from other Atlassian tools like JIRA, Bamboo and FishEye directly into Confluence pages. And because OpenSocial is an open standard, you can use Gadgets to integrate with 3rd party applications behind the firewall and thousands of applications on the web; Drag and Drop your attachments: The new Drag-and-Drop feature makes sharing files in Confluence easier. Complete Office 2007 Support; and Core editing improvements: so it's easier to rapidly create, edit and organise pages. http://blogs.atlassian.com/
TEMIS announced the launch of Luxid Content Pipeline, a new content collection module integrated within the latest version of its content discovery solution, Luxid 5.1. This platform collects content from a range of information sources and feeds them into Luxid. After annotating content with relevant metadata, Luxid then applies search, discovery and sharing tools to the enriched content and provides users with content analytics and knowledge discovery. Luxid Content Pipeline accesses content by three different methods: Structured Access connects and automates the collection of documents from structured content sources such as Dialog, DataStar, ISI Web of Knowledge, Ovid, STN, Questel, EBSCOhost, Factiva, LexisNexis, MicroPatent, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Minesoft, Esp@cenet, and PubMed. Enterprise Content Management Access connects to corporate knowledge repositories such as EMC Documentum, EMC Documentum CenterStage and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. To be as compatible as possible with a wide variety of document sources, Luxid Content Pipeline also supports the integration of UIMA (Unstructured Information Management Architecture) collection readers, enabling the connection to these sources using UIMA standard protocol and format conversion. http://www.temis.com/
Kentico Software launched a new version of their Partner Program for Web design agencies, supported by a new Partner Portal. The new portal is used by 900 active Kentico Solution Partners located in 80 countries. The main goal of the new program is to support partners in delivering Web sites with Kentico CMS for ASP.NET. The Partner Program divides partners into 3 levels: Partner, Certified Partner and Gold Certified Partner, based on Partner Points. 39% of their partners come from Europe, 35% from North America, 11% from Asia, 10% from Australia, 3% from Africa and 2% from South America. The top 10 Kentico partners are: 1. Reed Business Information, Australia; 2. IBL-Software BV, Netherlands; 3. orange8 interactive ag, Switzerland; 4. DATA, Inc., USA; 5. Supremo Sp. z o.o, Poland; 6. Get Started Pty Ltd, Australia; 7. Gatesix Inc., USA; 8. Biznet IIS, United Kingdom; 9. Datacom, New Zealand; 10. DPS Technology, Czech Republic. http://www.kentico.com/
Open Text Corporation announced that it has expanded its portfolio of ECM solutions for Oracle Applications with the introduction of new content access and accounts payable solutions. Using these Open Text offerings, enterprises can associate Oracle transactions with business content. Open Text Content Access for Oracle is a new offering that provides a single point of access to Oracle and non-Oracle data and content assets from either the Oracle user interface or from the Open Text ECM Suite to enable companies to organize and manage all content, including legacy content, in virtual folders and provide a way to archive documents. This approach helps eliminate bottlenecks and distributes workload by allowing the people “in the know” to review, approve, and enter the invoice data directly into the Open Text solution without the need for direct accounts payable involvement. Open Text is a partner in the Oracle PartnerNetwork. http://www.opentext.com/
Canto announced the availability of Canto Cumulus 8.1, available free of charge to all customers on active software maintenance contracts with Canto or Canto Certified Partners. Cumulus 8.1 is the product line’s first scheduled upgrade since May’s release of Cumulus 8, which introduced a new core architecture. A new version of the Cumulus Client enables users to work with Cumulus Server-based catalogs, or catalogs created and stored locally for personal use. The metadata of Cumulus Server-based catalogs can be edited offline. Once reconnected to the Cumulus Server, local metadata edits can update the Cumulus Server, or vice versa. Included with Cumulus Workgroup, Enterprise and Complete systems, the new Cumulus Web Client helps users connect to Cumulus via Web browsers to find and download assets, edit metadata and upload new assets. The statistics and usage tracking introduced with Cumulus 8 includes new reporting options that include new report types and PDF output options. http://www.canto.com
The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) XML Schema Working Group has published Last Call Working Draft of "W3C XML Schema Definition Language (XSD) 1.1 Part 1: Structures" and "Part 2: Datatypes. The former specifies the XML Schema Definition Language, which offers facilities for describing the structure and constraining the contents of XML documents, including those which exploit the XML Namespace facility. The schema language, which is itself represented in an XML vocabulary and uses namespaces, substantially reconstructs and considerably extends the capabilities found in XML document type definitions (DTDs). The second publication defines facilities for defining datatypes to be used in XML Schemas as well as other XML specifications. Comments are welcome through 31 December. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity. http://www.w3.org/TR/2009/WD-xmlschema11-1-20091203/
The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) Voice Browser Working Group has published a Working Draft of "Voice Extensible Markup Language (VoiceXML) 3.0." The primary goal of this document is to bring the advantages of Web-based development and content delivery to interactive voice response applications. VoiceXML 3.0 is a modular XML language for creating interactive media dialogs that feature synthesized speech, recognition of spoken and DTMF key input, telephony, mixed initiative conversations, and recording and presentation of a variety of media formats including digitized audio, and digitized video. http://www.w3.org/TR/2009/WD-voicexml30-20091203/
Inmedius, Inc. announced the general release of iConvert, a comprehensive environment for the conversion of documents into structured eXtensible Markup Language (XML). The software supports conversion from legacy paper, Microsoft Word or PDF files. iConvert also comes pre-configured for XML conversion of original S1000D, 40051B and ATA documents, and supports any Document Type Definition (DTD) or XML schema. iConvert synchronizes the original document with the converted XML document in a multi-pane, on-screen display. This approach to XML conversion should allow for the continuous fine-tuning of document conversion rules for increased automated transfer. iConvert’s has modified its user environment and workflow design that guides the user through the XML conversion process. At the same time, iConvert provides a visual inspection of the original document that is synchronized with the configured XML output. During this step, the end-user should be able to drag and drop both unconverted pieces of data, as well as content that has been transformed properly. User defined rules files applied to create the original conversion are updated, allowing for a second pass with increased accuracy. http://inmedius.com/
Gilbane Boston 2011
