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News

• XML patent saga ends with Microsoft withdrawing application

  Microsoft has withdrawn an application for a patent for word-processing XML documents, several years after it originally filed the application in New Zealand.

• Costs to dip as banks standardise on XML

  Firms could save time and money as banks move to adopt a standardised format for communicating with businesses' accounting software.
  XML is a widely used method for labelling data so it can be easily recognised by different software programs. HSBC has implemented XML file exchanges for financial data in what it says is a first for New Zealand.
  Spokeswoman Cath Henry says some clients are now using the format, which lets them download statements into their systems and submit payment instructions to the bank.
  Banks use a range of messaging formats and firms sometimes have to tweak their systems to communicate easily with those used by banks, she says. "This single universal standard is saving corporates a lot of money and makes life easier for them in terms of not having to use the alternative proprietary formats with each of their banking relationships."
  BNZ spokeswoman Erica Lloyd says it is about to launch a "processing channel" for business clients that will let them use XML to access account information and facilitate payments.
  ASB chief operations officer Russell Jones says it tailors XML file format support for business customers, "depending on their business needs and commercial constraints".
  Computer Society chief executive Paul Matthews says most data transfers between computer programs today are done using an XML format.
  The move by banks to pick up the format will not revolutionise the way businesses interact with banks, but will make it easier for software developers building accounting packages, he says.
  "It is quite important from a software perspective because in the current situation banks sometimes do use different formats. For example, the Quicken Interchange Format is the most common one, but the problem with that is some banks use four digits for the year, others use two and some banks have the month and the date around in the American style."
  Most banks support four or five different formats for exchanging data, and most of the main business software programs should support XML or be close to doing so, he says.
  Deloitte partner Faris Azimullah says banks will be able to easily assess their business activities, such as credit lending and exposure, if they know exactly what data firms have supplied them with.
  Businesses will benefit more from the move because they will no longer have to clarify with banks what data they have sent through.
  "Once you've cracked the nut in terms of what the bank wants and established and tagged that data ... you can share that information by pressing a button."

• Oracle loses XML co-inventor to Google

  One ex-Sun Microsystems employee who will not be cashing an Oracle paycheck is XML co-inventor Tim Bray, who has opted instead to work for the Google.

• OOXML not suitable for Norwegian government, says study

  Microsoft's XML-based office document format, OOXML, does not meet the requirements for governmental use, according to a new report published by the Norwegian Agency for Public Management and eGovernment (DIFI).

• Microsoft gets reprieve in Word case

  An appeals court has granted Microsoft's request to put off an injunction that could have forced it to stop selling its Microsoft Word software next month.

• Microsoft planned to bury XML developer, says federal judge

  Microsoft knew of the patent held by i4i as early as 2001, but instead set out to make the Canadian developer's software "obsolete" by adding a feature to Word, according to court documents.

• Quark acquires XML specialist

  Quark has acquired In.vision Research, makers of Xpress Author for Microsoft Word. Details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

• NZ Open Source Society warns of Open XML patent threat

  The New Zealand Open Source Society is warning government and business users that the Microsoft-sponsored Open XML file format is "peppered" with potential patent liabilities.

• Tech Ed: Robinson calls on devs to 'encourage' Open XML standard

  Microsoft New Zealand managing director Helen Robinson used her opening remarks at the Tech Ed conference in Auckland today to ask developers to "encourage" Standards New Zealand to support the Open XML file format.

• SSC pushes for improved XML interoperability

  XML is the latest facet of government IT processing to be encompassed by e-GIF, the e-government interoperability framework.

• Legal battles face incoming NZOSS leader

  The presidency of the New Zealand Open Source Society is up for grabs, as the current president, Peter Harrison, is not standing for re-election.

• Open Source Society claims patent win

  The New Zealand Open Source Society (NZOSS) is claiming a moral victory over Microsoft’s patent of XML schema after the software giant made changes to its patent.

• Sun’s spanning tree creator speaks out

  One week I get to see Tim Berners-Lee, the Father of the web, and the next week I get to meet with the “Mother of the internet”. What more could a networking editor ask for?

• Layer 7 pumps up XML security with upgrade

  Layer 7 Technologies has upgraded the operating system of its XML network appliances, adding features that let users apply consistent security policies across device clusters.

• M-co made its own way to SOA

  Electricity wholesale market platform company M-co, also called the Marketplace Company, has been on an adventurous journey towards service-orientated achitecture (SOA). It is set to become a web-service enabled organisation, with the aid of internet-based trading system, Comit.