Fonts creator Bitstream Inc – the Cambridge, Massachusetts company likes to call itself a developer of software products and technologies for the enhancement, creation, transport, viewing and printing of electronic-text based information, but most people think of that as fonts – has re-announced its plans to acquire Archetype Inc, privately-held developer of server-based information management software for the graphic arts industry – products intended to accelerate pre-press and Internet publishing through advanced information object management. Burlington, Massachusetts-based Archetype’s products include the MediaBank publishing and document management database application. Bitstream plans to acquire Archetype for an undisclosed sum in cash and shares. And Be Inc, Menlo Park, California has licensed Bitstream’s TrueType and PostScript Type 1 font processors and a core set of fonts for incorporation into BeOS. The initial implementation is in the BeOS DR8.3 update, and the technology will be fully integrated in the BeOS Preview Release, set to ship to developers and customers next month.
