Category: Content technology news (Page 621 of 642)

WavePhore, Inc. announced the availability of the beta release of WavePhore NewsPak. NewsPak enables easy integration of streaming real-time news, selected from more than 70 industry categories, into web sites. NewsPak includes both real-time news feeds and the NewsPak Software Developers Kit. The NewsPak SDK is based on XML, the new universal standard for information exchange. The SDK contains the tools necessary for web site owners to accept a real-time streaming XML news feed from WavePhore, store extracted content on their local server, then display this content in a style consistent with the rest of their site. The NewsPak architecture supports such enhancements as Internet broadcasting of streaming audio and video. www.wavephore.com, www.newspak.com

Alpnet, Inc. announced that it has signed a Letter of Intent with EP Electronic Publishing Partners GmbH in Nuremberg, Germany, which is expected to result in the acquisition of all shares of EP Electronic Publishing Partners by Alpnet before the end of May 1999. Completion of the transaction is subject to due diligence and the execution of a definitive acquisition agreement. EP designs and develops custom-built systems for document, information and translation management. During the past three years, EP has developed and implemented a sophisticated translation management system for a large European institution, providing a unified translation management tool for more than 2000 users. EP was created in 1993 and was formerly the research division of TA Triumph Adler. The company employs 15 people who are active in system integration and consulting projects for German publishing companies. EP also has ongoing projects for a large European institution developing and maintaining translation and information management systems. EP currently projects 1999 revenues, prior to being acquired by Alpnet, to be approximately $1.3 million with profitable operations. www.alpnet.com

Microsoft Corp.and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) jointly announced newly proposed guidelines for the Privacy Preferences Project (P3P). The new technology and standards-based solution is designed to accelerate the widespread adoption of P3P. The proposed guidelines, which will be submitted to the W3C, simplify the process by which Web sites of all sizes can post privacy policies. Microsoft and EFF’s proposed P3P guidelines are intended to simplify the process by which P3P-ready privacy policies can be created and posted. A P3P-based privacy statement is an XML document that states the information practices of a Web site or page. The first application of the P3P syntax to privacy statements will be available as a Web-based service called the Privacy Wizard. It is a simple-to-use and easy-to-implement privacy solution for Web site owners who have limited technical and policy resources. The Privacy Wizard was developed by Microsoft and TRUSTe, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building consumer trust on the Internet, and will be available by the end of the week through MSN LinkExchange ). MSN LinkExchange is a provider of services that helps small businesses and Web site owners promote, improve and earn revenues from their Web sites. More information about the development and deployment of practical solutions for online privacy can be found in a case study, co-authored by EFF, Microsoft, and Ernst and Young, titled “Architecture Is Policy: Cooperative Development as a Means for a Standards-Based Implementation for Privacy on the Internet” www.eff.org/privacypaper/, www.microsoft.com

Xerox Canada and PC DOCS/Fulcrum Canada announced a nation-wide reseller agreement to add the PC DOCS/Fulcrum suite of products to the Xerox Professional Business Services (XPBS) portfolio. Under the agreement, Xerox Canada will offer the DOCS Enterprise and DOCSFulcrum suite of products on a national level through its established sales channels focusing on industry and vertical markets including Legal, Manufacturing, Financial Services, Graphic Arts, Engineering and the Public Sector. Xerox is also making a nation-wide commitment to training and support for their XPBS sales team on the PC DOCS/Fulcrum solutions suite. www.xerox.com, www.pcdocs.com

Rick Thoman was elected chief executive officer of Xerox Corporation by the Board of Directors. The announcement was made by Paul A. Allaire, who is relinquishing the title of CEO but remaining as board chairman for about another year. Also today, two executive vice presidents, William F. Buehler and Barry D. Romeril, were elected to the board and named to the newly created position of vice chairman of the board. Buehler is also president of Industry Solutions Operations for Xerox and Romeril is also the company’s chief financial officer. Allaire became CEO in 1990 and chairman the following year. Richard “Rick” Thoman, 54, joined Xerox in June 1997 from International Business Machines. From 1994-1995, he was senior vice president and general manager of IBM’s personal systems group, which included the PC Company; and later he became IBM’s chief financial officer. Prior to joining IBM in 1994, Thoman was president and CEO of Nabisco International, beginning in 1992. Before that, he was president and CEO of American Express International and chairman and co-chief executive officer of American Express Travel Related Services Company. Before joining American Express in 1979, Thoman was a senior associate with McKinsey and Company. Buehler, 59, joined Xerox in 1991 after 27 years with AT&T. His organization, Industry Solutions Operations, is responsible for developing and delivering industry-specific document solutions to customers in North America and Europe. Romeril, 55, joined Xerox in 1993 from British Telecommunications in London, where he had served as group finance director since 1988. At Xerox, he is responsible for all finance, treasury, tax and audit aspects of the company, as well as its internal services and real estate operations. In addition, he is responsible for Xerox Technology Enterprises, which oversees emerging businesses; the company’s intellectual property unit; and Xerox Engineering Services. www.xerox.com

Verity, Inc and EarthWeb, Inc. have announced a strategic relationship. The companies stated that EarthWeb is now using Verity as the core information retrieval technology for its Web site, and that together the two companies are looking at ways to use Verity products to package EarthWeb’s information technology content for delivery on corporate networks. www.verity.com

InfoAccess Inc. has released the HTML Transit 4 beta to select partners and customers. This release, labeled “The Virtual Webmaster,” automates the creation and maintenance of, Websites from standard business documents. HTML Transit 4 builds Websites from standard business documents that have been created using popular authoring tools such as Office 2000, Lotus SmartSuite Millennium or less traditional tools such as a CrossPad or a scanner. It can also import XML, HTML and PDF files. Transit Templates, Cascading Style Sheets and sophisticated frame layout capabilities facilitate precise control over the look and feel of Web pages generated by HTML Transit. HTML Transit also supports custom tagging and Java, giving Web developers more options when developing complex corporate Websites. Using a new technology called Abstraction. HTML Transit analyzes inconsistently styled business documents, infers their structure and creates consistent looking Websites. Tables of contents, indexes, metadata and other reference materials are created automatically providing rich navigational options and search support across virtually unlimited levels of hierarchy. HTML Transit 4 is scheduled for public release in May 1999. Suggested Retail Price for HTML Transit is $495. HTML Transit is available from InfoAccess directly or from select partners and resellers.www.infoaccess.com