Month: August 2000 (Page 2 of 4)

eGrail Inc. released the kernel of its commercial software product to the Open Source development community. The eGrail Source software will be available at www.egrail.org. This site will focus solely on providing technical services to Open Source developers. eGrail also announced its adoption of a hybrid business model that represents a new and improved approach for the building, distribution and support of Internet software. eGrail is committed to developing efficient Open Source software that can be produced at a lower cost than most vendors currently in the market. eGrail is an enterprise-capable content management software that runs completely on Open Source infrastructure. www.egrail.com

OverDrive, Inc. announced the release of its ReaderWorks Standard software which is available as a free download at www.readerworks.com. ReaderWorks Standard is an authoring tool that allows educators, authors, publishers, business professionals and others to convert their documents, text, images, or web content into Microsoft Reader eBooks. Concurrent with the release of the free Standard version, OverDrive also announced the release of its commercial eBook product, ReaderWorks Publisher. Publisher provides all the capabilities of Standard plus the ability to customize cover art and other title data used by resellers and eBookstores to promote, manage and protect digital rights for online sales. Publisher is available at the readerworks.com web portal at an introductory price of $119, a 20% discount off the suggested list price. The announcement also included the release of ReaderWorks Software Developers Kit (SDK), Version 1.0, which provides an ActiveX toolset to automate the production of eBooks in Reader format, and allows developers to add “save as Reader” capacity to their applications or for development of large eBook conversion applications. ReaderWorks software brings point and click technology to the ePublishing industry for conversion of text, HTML, images, and other content to Microsoft Reader and Open eBook format. The Commercial ReaderWorks suite is designed to support marketing and metadata in XML, XrML, OEB, ONIX formats for eBook resellers. www.readerworks.com

Microsoft Corp. announced the public availability of the beta version of Microsoft BizTalk Server 2000. A member of the .NET Enterprise Server family of products, BizTalk Server 2000 will unite, in a single product EAI, B2B integration and the BizTalk Orchestration technology to allow developers, IT professionals and business analysts to easily build dynamic business processes that span applications, platforms and businesses over the Internet. BizTalk Orchestration technology builds on the Visio diagramming platform for building dynamic, distributed business processes, and an advanced orchestration engine for executing and managing those processes. BizTalk Server 2000 supports a multitude of transports and protocols in addition to XML, including EDI (X12 and UN EDIFACT), HTTP, HTTPS, Microsoft Message Queue Server (MSMQ), SMTP (e-mail), and flat file transfer. BizTalk Server 2000 also supports industry-standard security technologies such as public key encryption and digital signatures to ensure secure document exchange with trading partners, and XLANG, an XML-based language for describing business processes. The beta version of BizTalk Server 2000 is available immediately for download at www.microsoft.com/biztalkserver

MobileQ, Inc. announced an upgraded version of its software that enables companies to provide easier access to information and a more intuitive user experience for employees and customers using any wireless device. XMLEdge 2.5 is the latest iteration of MobileQ’s enterprise-grade infrastructure software. Based on XML, XMLEdge enables companies to deliver banking, customer relationship management, road-side assistance and other vertical applications to numerous mobile devices. Companies can deliver information to users in a manner that is easy to manipulate, consistent across all devices, and optimized for the features and functionality of each appliance, enabling every user to work in a way that’s most efficient and intuitive for them. XMLEdge is flexible enough to support any business application, from personal information management and messaging to custom line of business applications. The upgraded version allows enterprises to: Deliver data to the newest mobile devices, including Palm III and V through Omnisky, RIM 957 and 850, Compaq Pocket PC’s and newly available WAP phones such as Nokia 7110. Support for Denso, Ericsson, HP, Mitsubishi, Motorola, NeoPoint, Nokia, Palm VII, Phillips, Qualcomm, RIM, Samsung and Sanyo were already included in XMLEdge 2.0; Ensure more powerful security through data encryption; Deliver applications in Far-East and European languages; Create applications from distributed data sources over multiple locations; Send alerts to mobile customers and employees based upon personal settings; and tailor logging components to facilitate application and IT management while integrating with existing billing systems. www.mobileq.com

The OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) published its Version 1 specifications that gives the travel industry one universal format for collecting and exchanging customer preferences among airlines, hotels, car rental companies, tour operators, travel agencies, and related services. The OTA customer profile has innovative features to make life easier for travelers. The common format allows the travel industry and its web sites to collect information on identification and preferences only once and exchange it with suppliers of travel services as well as their intermediaries. The specification lets customers define collections of travel service in terms of their own varied needs, such as business travel or the annual church retreat. OTA Version 1 also contains comprehensive privacy features that enable the customer to control any transfer of personal data. The built-in controls allow only specified parts of the profile to be exchanged. The specifications include DTDs, as well as many sample OTA messages. The drafts of these that were issued in February 2000 generated comments from all over the world, from both inside and outside the travel industry. The final specifications released today incorporate these, which have significantly strengthened Version 1. They can be freely downloaded from www.opentravel.org. OTA participates in the ebXML initiative to develop a single XML message infrastructure to facilitate communication between different businesses and industries in different countries. ebXML used OTA’s draft sample messages as part of its proof of concept tests at its May meeting in Brussels, Belgium. As a further contribution to ebXML, OTA is providing its Version 1 specifications. OTA is keen to align its specifications with those in other industries, including the work of the CPExchange initiative, and sees ebXML as an effective way of doing this. With over 150 members representing influential names in all sectors of the travel industry, including air, car, hotel, travel agencies, technology providers and other travel related suppliers, the Alliance is comprised of five work groups air, car, hotel, leisure supplier, and non-supplier. These groups, together with an interoperability committee to coordinate their efforts, are developing open Internet-compatible messages using XML data terms. www.opentravel.org

Xyvision Enterprise Solutions, Inc. announced it has joined the Citrix Systems, Inc. Citrix Solutions Network as a Gold Solutions Provider. XyEnterprise will sell and support Citrix application server computing solutions, including the MetaFrame product to companies in the aerospace, automotive, high technology, financial, and commercial publishing markets. Through this agreement, XyEnterprise will offer its Parlance Content Manager and XML Professional Publisher (XPP) software solutions via Citrix thin client connections. This solution will provide users with remote access to desktop or server based applications such as Parlance or XPP without requiring the installation of client software on the local desktop. It will also enable XyEnterprise Professional Services to deliver a full line of customer services through remote system control, diagnostics and software updates. As a CSN member, XyEnterprise will provide consultation, installation, integration and support for the Citrix application server product line, which offers a high-performance, cost-effective way to deploy, access and manage business-critical applications throughout an enterprise. www.xyenterprise.com

Accrue Software, Inc. announced that it has signed a letter of agreement to acquire Pilot Software, Inc. The terms of the proposed stock for stock transaction have not been disclosed. Pilot Software develops Web-enabled decision support and business intelligence applications for the enterprise. This acquisition complements Accrue’s existing applications for campaign, content, commerce and affiliate analysis by adding several new clicks-and-mortar applications for the analysis of merchandising, inventory, and operations for both on-line and Point-Of-Sale (POS) transactions. These applications provide instant access to detailed SKU information for markdown and promotions planning, pricing and cannibalization analysis, return on inventory, and stocks and returns. When coupled with Accrue’s existing assortment optimization and seasonal demand profiling applications, Assort and Profile, clicks-and-mortar businesses can avoid unnecessary discounting, minimize out-of-stocks, exploit hidden buying patterns, and better personalize the buying experience to individual shoppers. www.accrue.com