NetObjects buys Web tools
The company is supplementing its Fusion publishing tool with two Web programming products it has acquired from Acadia Software.
NetObjects, which is backed financially by IBM, makes the Fusion Web publishing program. To supplement its line, the company bought two Web programming products from Acadia Software. The value of the deal was not disclosed. Acadia remains an independent company and will continue with its consulting and application business.
The two products, Infuse and JS Beanbuilder, let designers use scripting languages to create more complex Web sites.
Infuse is now called ScriptBuilder 2.0. It will support both client- and server-side scripting with JavaScript, JScript, and VBScript. The beta is available from NetObjects' Web site; a final version will ship within 60 days. JS BeanBuilder will remain part of Netscape's SuiteTools offering.
The acquisition of the products bumps NetObjects up to about 150 people, CEO and chairman Samir Arora said. It also creates a new division within the company. The new application development tools group is headed by executive vice president Morris Taradalsky and is responsible for relationships with large-scale application and enterprise developers, Arora said.
NetObjects opted to buy ScriptBuilder from Acadia, rather than build full scripting capability into its Fusion products, because it believes that there is a market for a scripting-only product, Arora said. NetObjects is due to ship Fusion 3.0 by April.