SDL plc ("SDL International"), the globalization products and solutions company, today announced the launch of a new version of its Computer Aided Translation product, SDLX. This upgrade includes major enhancements to SDLX Translation Memory maintenance, a new Terminology management application and enhancements to fuzzy matching functions. Simultaneously, SDL International today also announced the acquisition of Translation Craft, a Dublin-based development company. As part of the purchase, SDL International has acquired intellectual property rights to the entire product inventory of registered products.

 Launch of SDLX Version 3.2

SDLX Version 3.2 provides the cost-effective pathway for corporations to benefit from the latest technology in the localization industry. The new product, which is being launched this month, is a low cost software package aimed at the SME market. Large global corporations through to individuals translating the language of their origin to that of the target market will all be able to make extensive use of SDLX. It is estimated the market size for this activity is over $15bn according to Allied Business Intelligence. SDL International's clients purchasing SDLX include Information Builders, FileNET and Autodesk.

"SDLX 3.2 heralds a new era in the Computer Aided Translation product marketplace," commented Mark Lancaster, CEO of SDL International. "In the current marketplace, CAT tools are becoming ever more sophisticated and these tools must be at the cutting edge of technology. SDLX is at this cutting edge and enables all personnel engaged in localization activities to gain advantage from it. Project Managers and software engineers are an expensive commodity for the localization industry and more efficient use of their time is of paramount importance in meeting delivery deadlines and reducing costs. SDLX maximizes efficiency, not just for translation, but for the complete localization process".

Acquisition of Translation Craft

The acquisition of Translation Craft further strengthens SDL International's position as a leading provider of globalization products. Translation Craft had previously developed two of the industry's standard quality assurance products for online multilingual content material including Web HTML and online help formats. These products complement SDL International's existing Computer Aided Translation (CAT) product SDLX and multilingual content management (MCM) product SDLWebFlow.

In addition to the HelpQA and HtmlQA products, SDL International has also acquired Translation Craft's Html-CAT, an end-to-end localization environment for HTML projects suitable for both translators and project managers, and LocSmith, a complete software localization environment for translating and re-engineering software text resources. The acquisition of this Translation Craft technology adds additional quality assurance strength to SDL International's existing product set and reaffirms the company's focus to provide the most comprehensive suite of globalization tools for the Internet age.

"The products SDL International has acquired from Translation Craft are some of the best of breed, industry standard globalization products on the market," commented Mark Lancaster, CEO of SDL International. "SDL is committed to embracing the need for global e-commerce and global product development solutions and is continually improving and expanding its product portfolio to meet and exceed demand. Simply stated, SDL International is committed to being a leader in the globalization space through a superlative range of products. The integration of the above products into our portfolio get us progressively closer to an end to end high quality automated solution".