Aladdin Acquires Trexar -- Aladdin Systems has announced its acquisition of Trexar Technologies, makers of specialized Mac OS Internet utilities MacTuner (for finding and connecting to Internet-enabled radio and television stations around the world), MacHeadlines (a desktop news ticker), and the long-popular WeatherTracker (which presents weather and forecast information for cities around the world). Trexar's privacy utility MacWasher is now available from Webroot Software, the company for which it was originally developed. Terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed, but Aladdin will be retaining Trexar's employees and supporting Trexar's products, although they overlap somewhat with other recent acquisitions, IntelliNews and MacTicker. Aladdin obviously feels that svelte, dedicated Internet information utilities have concrete benefits over enormous, general purpose Web browsers, particularly as Aladdin enters the Palm OS marketplace. Aladdin Systems is a current TidBITS sponsor; Trexar sponsored TidBITS in 1999. [GD]

<http://www.aladdinsys.com/company/news/releases /aladdin/032100-trexar.html>
<http://www.webroot.com/macwasher.htm>