Ingeniux Corporation announced the beta release of XPower Integrator, an XML application for publishing legacy data to the wireless web. The XPower Integrator pulls information from existing content management systems or databases and delivers it to wireless devices using Ingeniux’s XPower Server. The XPower Integrator provides a set of tools for querying and aggregating data sources, converting the data to XML format and delivering it to wireless devices. Companies can use the XPower Integrator to pull information from existing content management systems and make immediate use of it, without going through a painful conversion process or throwing away investment in previous technology. The Integrator supports familiar XPower features like Dynamic Device and Dynamic Branding, putting existing content on new devices and sharing it with other brands. XPower is currently available for Microsoft Windows, and will soon be available with support for Java and Unix. The XPower Application Suite is available now from Ingeniux and XPower Partners. www.ingeniux.com

POET Software announced the release of the POET eCatalog Suite-Service Provider Edition (eCS-SP). The new application, which began shipping at the end of June, is a multi-supplier solution designed specifically for ASPs and eMarketmakers. POET eCS-SP enables eMarketmakers and ASPs to provide suppliers with a user-friendly application for aggregating, cleansing and customizing their eCatalog content, using no more than a browser. The resulting eCatalogs, which are customized for each buyer or eMarketplace, are then distributed in any format, XML or legacy. This enables eMarketmakers to immediately connect thousands of suppliers and build instant liquidity for their eMarketplace. Until now, supplier access to eMarketplaces has required a significant investment creating a barrier to adoption for small- and medium-sized suppliers. POET eCS Service-Provider Edition lowers these barriers to entry, enabling small suppliers to compete fairly with the very largest suppliers. POET eCS-SP is an application that suppliers utilize through a Web browser. Each supplier logs into the system and is presented with a secure work environment where they manage their catalog data, pricing and buyer information. This information is then combined to create custom catalogs that are tailored to the needs of each buyer or eMarketplace. This supplier self-service model is analogous to the ATMs employed by banks. The consensus among industry analysts is that the growth and ROI projected for eProcurement solutions and eMarketplaces is being constrained by a dearth of eCatalog content. POET eCS-SP solves this problem by providing “instant enablement” by any supplier with a Web browser. POET eCS-SP enables the supplier and eMarketplace to share responsibilities based on their needs and their level of sophistication. For example, some suppliers may simply upload a catalog. While others may choose to create cleansing rules, map to various commodity codes, build sophisticated pricing schemes and more. Similarly, eMarketplaces can use POET eCS-SP to create and schedule cleansing rules across their suppliers to normalize data, cleanse individual supplier eCatalogs and more. POET eCS-SP provides the power, flexibility and ease-of-use necessary to support this sharing of responsibilities between eMarketplaces and suppliers. For ASPs, POET eCS-SP provides an attractive lure for new customers, and a supplemental revenue stream from existing clients. With the Fortune 1000 eProcurement implementations taking root, and B2B eMarketplaces gaining acceptance, the pressure on lower and middle tier suppliers to become eCatalog-enabled will continue to rise.

Bluestone Software, Inc. announced that it has acquired Arjuna Solutions Limited of Newcastle, England for $13.23 million. The acquisition of Arjuna adds to Bluestone’s Internet Operating Environment an embedded, high-performance, pure Java Transaction Service. Transactioning technology is essential to ensuring the absolute completion and accuracy of business processes when a transaction is performed. Most traditionally associated with financial and telecommunications applications, a transaction engine is now increasingly required for virtually all e-business services to ensure that a company’s multiple systems, from order management to shipping to billing, are accurately updated as a single complete transaction, and that the customer is readily informed of the transaction status. Bluestone plans to embed JTSArjuna into its Total-e-Business platform, as well as offer it as a standalone product, in the fall of this year. Initially launched as a think tank at the University of Newcastle, and later funded by Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Marconi, and Nortel, Arjuna researched and developed distributed object systems for transactioning and workflow in 1989. Arjuna became an independent software company in 1998, operating out of Newcastle and London. www.bluestone.com

Inso Corporation announced that it has sold the Company’s Information Exchange division (“IED”) to IntraNet Solutions, Inc. for approximately $55 million in cash. The exact net cash proceeds to the Company and net gain from the transaction will not be finalized until both parties have agreed to the post-closing balance sheet for IED. However, based upon the Company’s preliminary post-closing balance sheet for IED, estimated transaction-related costs and income taxes, the Company’s net cash proceeds are expected to approximate $48 million, and the Company’s net gain from the transaction is expected to be approximately $38 million. www.ebt.com.

netLibrary Inc. announced the availability of the netLibrary eBook Reader, a free personal software application that users can download to their PCs to read eBooks without being connected to the Internet. netLibrary distributes full-length digital versions of publishers’ books that can be searched, previewed, and accessed over the Internet. Currently, patrons of more than 1,000 academic, K-12, corporate, and public libraries around the world have access to eBooks through netLibrary. The netLibrary eBook Reader enables those library patrons to check out eBooks from their library’s eBook collection, download them to their PCs, and read them offline. This capability is paired with netLibrary’s online eBook reading solution, which enables searching, previewing, and checking out eBooks through a Web browser and live Internet connection. netLibrary also is working to make its publishers’ eBooks available through additional eBook reading platforms such as the Glassbook readers for PCs and the Peanut Reader for Palm and Windows CE handheld computers. The netLibrary eBook Reader(TM) is available now as a free download from the netLibrary Web site. The software application requires approximately 5.5 megabytes of hard disc space, and takes about 20 minutes to download on a 56k modem. The hardware requirements for running the netLibrary eBook Reader are a Pentium 100 or equivalent processor, 32 megabytes of RAM, and 20 megabytes of free hard disk space, and Windows 95/98/NT 4.0 or greater. www.netLibrary.com

Cell Network and VIOMA AB are investing jointly in VIOMA’s Content Manager–a new concept for managing and structuring information, design and function in complex web and mobile solutions. Cell Network will be responsible for consultancy work to implement and integrate business solutions based on VIOMA’s products. VIOMA is a Swedish software company that develops dynamic, flexible Content Management solutions and mobile Internet platforms for companies and organizations. VIOMA’s main product is VIOMA Content Manager, which gives companies and organizations the possibility of assembling, structuring and controlling information of many different formats in one database. The program is based entirely on XML and Java technology. The system is independent of the customer’s graphic design and business logic, the format of the content and the distribution media, and gives the customer complete control over their information management. www.bit.se