The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Forum and the W3C announced a formal liaison relationship to define next-generation Web specifications that support the full participation of wireless devices on the World Wide Web. The WAP Forum and W3C are working together to develop a common process of producing next-generation, XML-based Web specifications, define testing and implementation processes, and promote these specifications to the industry at large. By working together, the WAP Forum and the W3C will enable wireless devices to participate as full peers in the universal information space of the Web, largely through the incorporation of WAP’s Wireless Markup Language (WML) features into the W3C’s XHTML, the next-generation markup language for the Web. Coordination between the two bodies began this week in Sydney, Australia, in conjunction with the WAP Forum’s members meeting. The WAP/W3C coordination committee will meet on a regular basis to maintain consistency between the specifications of the WAP Forum and the W3C, promote common specifications wherever possible, and enable cooperation between the working groups in the WAP Forum and the W3C. Work items include the joint work on XHTML; compatibility with SMIL, the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language; ensuring user control over privacy information; and CC/PP, a universal device profiling system based on W3C’s RDF Metadata technology. The two organizations are also producing a joint workshop in position-dependent information services, to be held in Sophia-Antipolis, France, in February 2000. The WAP Forum is dedicated to enabling advanced services and applications on wireless devices. The W3C is dedicated to leading and advancing the development of the World Wide Web. Together, the two organizations will face the technical challenge of mobile access to information on the Web. WAP Forum and W3C will coordinate on the future development of XML applications and in content adaptation through the use of vector graphics and style sheets. Instead of developing diverging sets of solutions, it is the intent of both groups to find common solutions that will address mobile requirements. www.w3.org, www.wapforum.org

GoToWorld.com announced the launch of their Universal Translator Dictionary, an online translation dictionary offering translation in 33 languages. While most translation dictionaries focus on translating from or into English, Universal Translator Dictionary can translate directly between any of 33 languages, allowing both English and non-English speakers access to a multitude of languages. The result is instant understanding and comprehension of information. GoToWorld.com’s free Universal Translator Dictionary and Universal Translator Messenger are available at www.GoToWorld.com

In a joint announcement announced a partnership to deliver advanced XML industry solutions. Extensibility will create a validated schema for DataChannel’s Portal Markup Language 1.0. (PML 1.0). PML 1.0 has been submitted to OASIS as an industry standard markup language for content display and management by an Enterprise Information Portal. XML Authority, Extensibility’s schema processing and validation server will contain PML 1.0 support in its next release. DataChannel will accelerate its lead in providing XML training and solutions by becoming the lead training partner for Extensibility, creating new curriculum and certification for XML Authority as well as other company offerings. These courses, along with other advanced tutorials from DataChannel will be offered in both open enrollment and customized training sessions, available the first half of next year. Additionally, DataChannel will include an evaluation copy of XML Authority in the SDK of its XML-based Enterprise Information Portal, DataChannel Server 4.0 scheduled for first quarter of 2000. As part of the agreement, Extensibility joins DataChannel’s XpertPartner Program. Other aspects of the agreement include joint development efforts on future offerings that were not disclosed by the companies. www.extensibility.com, www.datachannel.com

Northern Light Technology, Inc. and DeepCanyon announced a partnership agreement in which DeepCanyon will deploy Northern Light

Datalogics announced a partnership with SoftQuad to resell XMetaL. With the addition of XMetaL to the product portfolio, Datalogics will round out its software solutions offering to include a comprehensive XML publishing solution encompassing everything from the authoring and editing of content to the output delivery and final publishing. Datalogics is known for its applications targeted at the high volume publishing market. Not only do these products offer high-speed composition and some of the most typographically sophisticated applications, but they also provide for flexible output delivery options. Customers are able to take one input source and generate multiple outputs including PDF, HTML, AFP, SEC Edgar, etc to support a variety of printer types as well as enable document delivery on the World Wide Web. With the addition of XMetaL, Datalogics will facilitate customer’s ability to author and edit the content of their documents. Since Datalogics composition products such as DL Pager, accept XML and SGML tagged input, the use of XMetaL in the authoring process can provide an efficient way for users to author XML content that can be used in DL Pager for print or web delivery. www.datalogics.com

Bluestone Software, Inc. announced complete support across its entire product line for the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE), Sun Microsystems Inc.’s unified platform for developing, deploying, and managing enterprise-class software in a diverse corporate environment. Bluestone believes compatibility testing will demonstrate compliance with the J2EE specification for Bluestone’s Total-e-Business comprehensive e-business platform, its Sapphire/Web Application Server infrastructure, and the Bluestone XML Suite Integration Server – all based on the Java 2 platform and XML standards. Bluestone’s support of the JavaServer Pages (JSP) technology, the Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) component architecture, and the Java Servlets API – core enterprise technologies which are unified in J2EE – simplifies enterprise application development by providing a comprehensive set of component services, and automatically handles many details of application behavior, without complex programming. Developers will also benefit from Bluestone’s “in-process” methodology for hooking JSPs to JavaBeans and EJBs, via an XML interface within a single Java Virtual Machine. By employing one Java Virtual Machine to execute application tasks, Bluestone enables e-business applications to run faster and more efficiently. www.bluestone.com