Document creation and management software house Interleaf Inc has lost its way in recent years and has been posting alarming losses. Now it hopes to claw itself back into fashion with the acquisition of the Jamba Java authoring tool from Bellevue, Washington-based Asymetrix Learning Systems Inc, on undisclosed terms. Asymetrix, a company formed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen isn’t interested in Jamba, which it acquired from Aimtech Corp back in June (CI No 3,192), and is concentrating instead on online learning tools. It is keeping Aimtech’s CBT Express training suite in order to boost that side of the business. For Interleaf, Jamba offers a route into Java and web based publishing, which its been working towards for the last year or so. Jamba fits into its existing publishing and document distribution products, aimed at the high-end of the market, Interleaf claims. It is aimed at web content creators who want to add functionality and interactivity to static HTML pages. Interleaf will distribute the product, now on version 2.0, through it existing channels, priced at $350. Asymetrix says it will retain the rights to Jamba technology for its own use, while allowing Interleaf to promote and market the product to the world. Asymetrix’s other Java-based development technology, SuperCede, has been spun-off into a separate unit, SuperCede Inc (CI No 3,199).
