The dbXML Project have released beta 2 of their Core XML database; IXIASOFT have released TEXTML Server 2.0, and X-Hive's XML database has found employment in Formula 1 motor racing.

• The dbXML Core is an open source native XML database, aimed at managing large collections of small XML documents. It supports XPath queries, and implements the XML:DB XML Database API. It is licensed under an Apache-style open source license.

  This second beta release of dbXML core includes "significant enhancements" to capacity and stability, according to Kimbro Staken of the dbXML Project. He writes that the server "has now been validated with over 1 million documents in a single collection and with several hundred collections each containing thousands of documents." The database can be found at the dbXML web site. A mailing list is also available.

• Canada-based IXIASOFT have released TEXTML Server 2.0. The latest release of this Windows-based product adds performance and scalability enhancements, as well as Unicode and numerical data indexing support.

• X-Hive's database, X-Hive/DB, has been adopted by the Renault Benetton Formula 1 team as the native XML storage foundation for their new race care analysis system. X-Hive have posted a case study on their web site.