The Motley Fool says that Cisco’s deal to buy Latitude Communications was a very sound move and an absolute steal for Cisco. The article goes on to explain that businesses need to communicate — whether with employees, partners or prospects — and online solutions are much cheaper. Latitude developed its product to make it easy for Cisco to integrate, since it can be used seamlessly with Lotus Notes, Microsoft Outlook, Sametime instant messaging, and CallManager (which allows scheduling through Cisco’s IP telephones). What’s more, Cisco can rapidly scale the Latitude product through its immense distribution network.

Visto Corporation has signed an agreement with KPN Mobile to bring wireless email services to KPN customers in the Netherlands. KPN’s Office Mode is Visto’s first wireless email service on the i-mode platform designed to offer mobile email solutions for the enterprise users. OfficeMode uses Visto technology to provide mobile access to existing office email systems, such as Lotus Notes or Microsoft Exchange so mobile users can access email, contacts and calendar from any i-mode enabled handheld device.

ArmorPost announced the expansion of its ArmorPost Private Email Service to a broader range of users. Enterprise users with Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange Server can now send and receive encrypted email without prearranging secure keys. Encrypted messages can be recalled even if recipients are not served by the sender’s Exchange server. Recall works consistently whether the recipients have read the message or not.

Coredge Software announced the release of Logik 2.5. This newest release features a WorkGroup Edition that can support multiple users in a client/server environment. Logik 2.5 is available in both My Edition (stand alone) and WorkGroup Edition (client-server) as well as in two purchasing options — Standard and Professional. Standard provides the basic capabilities of Logik while Professional includes multi-language translation, ICR/OCR connectors for processing scanned documents and connectors to the Microsoft platform, Lotus Notes, Hummingbird DOCS Open and MAPI compliant email tools (including Microsoft Outlook/Exchange). WorkGroup Edition provides a robust client/server environment in which users can share and collaborate with server-based libraries.

Network Associates announced the availability of McAfee Internet Security Suite 6.0 (MIS 6.0), the comprehensive set of McAfee’s security and privacy solutions for home users and small businesses. MIS 6.0 includes the latest versions of McAfee VirusScan, McAfee Personal Firewall Plus, McAfee Privacy Service and, for the first time, a full version of McAfee SpamKiller. In addition, MIS 6.0 features enhanced spyware, adware, and stealth program protection.

SoftCab announces the release of Stealth Storage 1.1, a disk encryption program for Windows 2000/XP. Stealth Storage uses a combination of strong encryption algorithms to protect data. When you install the software, it will mount a hidden fake disk, so all the software applications (including Windows OS) will act as if there was an extra disk installed. Access to the disk is password-protected; all requests to files stored on hard disk are encrypted and decrypted on-the-fly.

Cisco Systems will acquire Latitude Communications Inc. Cisco agreed to pay approximately $80 million cash for all the outstanding shares of publicly held Latitude, an enterprise conferencing company. Computerworld reports that Latitude’s software already can be closely integrated with Cisco’s IP phones and CallManager software for IP call control, Proctor said. It also has been integrated with enterprise applications such as Microsoft Corp. Outlook and IBM’s Lotus Notes and Sametime.

Intermedia.NET announced the release of its exclusive VPN (virtual private network) Configurator Wizard. The VPN Connection to Intermedia.NET hosted Microsoft Exchange server, with its VPN Configurator Wizard for easy setup, is free to new and existing customers.

IXOS SOFTWARE AG announced the latest version of its email management solution for Microsoft Exchange. Version 2 of IXOS-eCONserver for Microsoft Exchange provides enhanced support for offline users, integrated full-text search, retention management, support for Exchange Server 2003 and Outlook 2003. IXOS-eCONserver for Microsoft Exchange enables organizations running Exchange to securely manage e-mail within one content repository.

Roaring Penguin Software released primary data that indicates system administrators in mid-size organizations bear the brunt of the spam problem. Roaring Penguin offers CanIt, an anti-spam and anti-virus solution. As a stand-alone gateway appliance, it can protect email environments running non-UNIX servers, such as Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes and Novell Groupwise.