Day: April 11, 1999

BlueGill Technologies, announced the BlueGill i-Series, a set of Web-based software applications and tools that enable companies to transform legacy data, such as billing, statements and business to business communications, into interactive customer applications (ICA). The i-Series assists companies in improving customer loyalty, increasing customer retention and building market share in the new Internet economy. The BlueGill i-Series consists of five Web-based software applications, including i-Banker, i-Broker, i-Biller, i-Telco, and i-Insurance, and is packaged around BlueGill’s experience in implementing interactive, customized communications and transactions between businesses and customers in several different industry segments. While many of these implementations were for consumer EBPP, BlueGill has also implemented several other applications outside of EBPP, including telco business-to-business communications, manufacturing applications (EDI RFQ response), insurance administration and online investment statement applications. With the BlueGill Engine, the i-Series combines a modular set of industry specific functions for billing management, business-to-business bills, statements, payment linkage, administration, e-commerce, customer service and marketing, and data management. The BlueGill Engine manages the transition of legacy data into XML-based “Smart Objects,” by transforming the data into an object model and storing it as an XML construct. BlueGill Smart Objects are used to transform customer data into interactive applications, creating a customized, flexible business applications. www.bluegill.com

Object Design, Inc.and Bluestone Software, Inc. announced a strategic partnership to integrate and jointly market Object Design’s eXcelon XML data server and the Bluestone XML Suite. When used together, Bluestone XML Suite and eXcelon provide an integrated XML data-management solution for companies seeking to build and deploy new XML e-business applications in areas such as EDI, enterprise application integration, supply chain management, thin-client device, and business-to-business and business-to-consumer e-commerce. Through April 30, 1999, Bluestone is offering a special “sneak peek” price of $995 to Object Design’s eXcelon customers, and Object Design is offering Bluestone XML Suite customers a special eXcelon developer license price of $695. www.objectdesign.com, www.bluestone.com

Pageflex Inc, A Bitstream Company, announced that it is shipping Version 1.5 of the Pageflex Applications Suite. Pageflex is an on-demand XML based publishing solution consisting of three components: Pageflex Designer, Pageflex Producer and Pageflex Server. Together, these components enable the design, compilation and printing of on-demand, customizable documents. Pageflex Designer is a graphical page design tool that creates flexible templates used by Pageflex Producer and Pageflex Server. Pageflex Designer provides a graphical user interface which enables full editing capabilities and drag & drop capabilities for images, text and graphics from database sources. In addition, Pageflex Designer includes a free export plug-in enabling the import of page designs from Adobes In-Design product expected for release later this summer. www.pageflexinc.com

Correlate Technologies, a privately held company, announced that it had shipped its new product, Correlate 1.0. Correlate 1.0 is an application that extends the functionality of existing desktop and enterprise applications allowing the user to collect, organize, and dynamically update information from all of their data sources in a single compound document that can be instantly shared via email or published to the web. Correlate also announced partnerships that include the integration of its products with those from leading information services and document management companies including Lexis-Nexis, NetRight Technologies and PC DOCS. Correlate is a Windows client designed to capture information from anywhere on the data spectrum — desktop applications like Microsoft Office, Outlook, Windows Explorer and Network Neighborhood, Internet Explorer and the next version of the Netscape browser, OLEDB databases and MRP, ERP, document management. Text, graphics and even stock charts can be dragged and dropped into the Correlate work space, organized and then shared with others via email or posted to the intranet or internet. Professional Correlate 1.0 sells for $199 and is available immediately. Correlate Xtras for Lexis-Nexis, NetRight and PCDOCs users are available for $49 each. Correlate Xtras are typically less than 100K downloads that provide very tight integration between Correlate and the respective partner application. Correlate expects to have as many as 20 Xtras in 1999. In addition, Personal Correlate 1.0 is available for personal use as a free download until through June 1999. www.correlate.com

IPNet Solutions Inc.announced that IPNet.Suite 3.0 will mark the first step of IPNet’s XML technology. XML support in IPNet.Suite will include: XML-based data import and export for all IPNet products; automated translation between XML and traditional business formats; support for leading ISV XML DTDs; and, automated HTML/HTTP Web translation from XML to HTML and other user-presentation formats. IPNet Suite 3.0 will support XML for data import and export functions with all IPNet.Suite products, including IP.web.link, IP.customer.link, IP.edi.link and IP.trade.link. XML data elements will be based on existing ANSI X12 standards, thereby leveraging the vast array of standard business terms and codes already used by EDI and related technologies. The 3.0 release will also support automated identification, scheduling, and transmission of XML documents between trading partners with configurable, granular management and tracking. IPNet Solutions will support many leading ISV DTDs as specifications are published, but chose to use the ANSI X.12 elements to define the structure of its business transaction DTDs. The elements used in ANSI X.12 are supported today by over 90 percent of the Fortune 1000 and over 175,000 businesses. www.ipnet-solutions.com.